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Steve Biko
Steve Biko was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the black consciousness movement. While in police custody at Port Elizabeth, Biko was interrogated for a grueling 22 hours, which included torture and beatings that caused him to fall into a coma. While in prison, Biko suffered a major head injury and was allegedly chained to a window grill all day. Biko was then transported to another prison with hospital facilities in Pretoria, but died upon arrival. -
Rodney King
In 1991, a videotape circulated around the world of Rodney King being beaten by L.A.P.D. officers. King refused to comply, but eventually got out of the car and resisted an arrest. Once King got physical with some of the officers, they shot him with a Taser gun to knock him to the ground. He was then beaten multiple times with a baton and kicked repeatedly. -
Abner Louima
Abner Louima is a Haitian immigrant who was brutally attacked and tortured by a white New York police officer on Aug. 9, 1997. NYPD officer -
Amadou Diallo
Diallo didn’t follow the officers’ commands and when he reached into his pocket, the officers began shooting only to find out that he was unarmed and was holding his wallet in his hand. -
Timothy Thomas
The 19-year-old man had 14 open warrants at the time of the shooting, and, according to Officer Roach, he was given verbal commands to stop running but he did not comply. When Thomas began lowering his arms without instruction, Officer Roach opened fire and shot Thomas in the heart with a single bullet. There was no gun ever found on Thomas. -
Frank Jude
In 2004, 26-year-old Frank Jude was viciously beaten by several off-duty Milwaukee police officers as he was leaving a party. Harris’ face was cut with a knife, but he was able to get free and run away. Jude was repeatedly punched and kicked, as well as stabbed in the ears with a pen. Even the on-duty officer who was called to stop the fight began stomping on Jude’s head. -
Robert Davis
On the night of Oct. 9, 2005, Robert Davis, a retired elementary school teacher from New Orleans, was arrested and brutally beaten by police on suspicion of public intoxication. he was attacked by four police officers who said he was belligerent and resisted arrest by not allowing them to handcuff him. The beatings were videotaped by an Associated Press producer, who was also assaulted that night. -
Sean Bell
Sean Bell was killed by NYPD detectives who fired 50 times at the car Bell and his friends were riding. the officer thought he saw a gun in the car, so he and the other police opened fire on the car. After the nonjury trial came to an end, the judge found all three detectives not guilty of manslaughter and assault. -
Kathryn Johnston
The 92-year-old woman was alone inside her home when the officers burst in without warning. She fired at them with a handgun, injuring three of the men, and they fired back at Johnston, striking her five or six times. -
Robert Mitchell
the teen was resisting arrest after a traffic stop. Police used a Taser gun on Mitchell who was running from his cousin’s car and into an abandoned house. The Taser gun that killed Mitchell sent 50,000 volts of electricity into him.