CW: Police violence, anti-Blackness

As it turns out, most of the content I consume is not time-sensitive enough to make sense to make an end-of-decade list. (No, I’m not gonna do a top 100 mashups list.) So here’s my sole list contribution for the year:

100 Most Recent Confirmed Police Shootings of Unarmed Black People

(Taken directly from the Washington Post database of nearly 5000 police shootings over the last five years. Only indisputably unarmed victims included; cases with contested accounts excluded.)

100. Thomas Allen, February 28, 2015, St. Louis, MO*
99. Charly Leundeu Keunang, March 1, 2015, Los Angeles, CA*
98. Tony Robinson, March 6, 2015, Madison, WI*
97. Naeschylus Vinzant, March 6, 2015, Aurora, CO*
96. Anthony Hill, March 9, 2015, Atlanta, GA^
95. Bobby Gross, March 12, 2015, Washington, DC*
94. Brandon Jones, March 19, 2015, Cleveland, OH
93. Eric Harris, April 2, 2015, Tulsa, OK^
92. Walter Scott, April 4, 2015, North Charleston, SC^
91. Frank Shephard, April 15, 2015, Houston, TX*
90. William Chapman, April 22, 2015, Portsmouth, VA^
89. David Felix, April 25, 2015, New York, NY*
88. Brendon Glenn, May 5, 2015, Venice, CA*
87. Kris Jackson, June 15, 2015, South Lake Tahoe, CA*
86. Spencer McCain, June 25, 2015, Owings Mills, MD*
85. Victor Emanuel Larosa, July 2, 2015, Jacksonville, FL*
84. Salvado Ellswood, July 12, 2015, Plantation, FL*
83. Albert Joseph Davis, July 17, 2015, Orlando, FL*
82. Darrius Stewart, July 17, 2015, Memphis, TN*
81. Samuel DuBose, July 19, 2015, Mount Auburn, OH
80. Christian Taylor, August 7, 2015, Arlington, TX*
79. Asshams Pharaoh Manley, August 14, 2015, District Heights, MD*
78. Felix Kumi, August 28, 2015, Mount Vernon, NY*
77. India Kager, September 5, 2015, Virginia Beach, VA*
76. Keith Harrison McLeod, September 23, 2015, Reisterstown, MD*
75. Junior Prosper, September 28, 2015, Miami, FL*
74. Anthony Ashford, October 28, 2015, Point Loma, CA*
73. Bennie Lee Tignor, October 31, 2015, Opelika, AL*
72. Jamar Clark, November 15, 2015, Minneapolis, MN*
71. Nathaniel Harris Pickett, November 20, 2015, Barstow, CA*
70. Miguel Espinal, December 8, 2015, Yonkers, NY*
69. Michael Noel, December 21, 2015, Breaux Bridge, LA*
68. Kevin Matthews, December 23, 2015, Dearborn, MI*
67. Bettie Jones, December 26, 2015, Chicago, IL*
66. Keith Childress, December 31, 2015, Las Vegas, NV*
65. Antronie Scott, February 4, 2016, San Antonio, TX*
64. David Joseph, February 8, 2016, Austin, TX*
63. Calin Roquemore, February 13, 2016, Beckville, TX*
62. Dyzhawn L. Perkins, February 13, 2016, Arvonia, VA*
61. Christopher J. Davis, February 24, 2016, East Troy, WI*
60. Peter Gaines, March 12, 2016, Houston, TX*
59. Kevin Hicks, April 5, 2016, Indianapolis, IN*
58. Jessica Nelson-Williams, May 19, 2016, San Francisco, CA*
57. Michael Eugene Wilson Jr., May 22, 2016, Hallandale Beach, FL*
56. Vernell Bing, May 22, 2016, Jacksonville, FL*
55. Antwun Shumpert, June 18, 2016, Tupelo, MS*
54. Deravis Caine Rogers, June 22, 2016, Atlanta, GA
53. Dalvin Hollins, July 27, 2016, Tempe, AZ*
52. Donnell Thompson, July 28, 2016, Compton, CA*
51. Levonia Riggins, August 30, 2016, Tampa, FL*
50. Terence Crutcher, September 16, 2016, Tulsa, OK
49. Alfred Olango, September 27, 2016, El Cajon, CA*
48. Christopher Sowell, September 28, 2016, Philadelphia, PA*
47. Andrew Depeiza, November 11, 2016, East Point, GA*
46. JR Williams, January 9, 2017, Phoenix, AZ*
45. Darrion Barnhill, January 10, 2017, Reagan, TN*
44. Nana Adomako, February 5, 2017, Fremont, CA*
43. Chad Robertson, February 8, 2017, Chicago, IL
42. Raynard Burton, February 13, 2017, Detroit, MI
41. Alteria Woods, March 19, 2017, Gifford, FL*
40. Jordan Edwards, April 29, 2017, Balch Springs, TX^
39. Ricco Devante Holden, May 21, 2017, Converse, LA*
38. Marc Brandon Davis, June 2, 2017, Petal, MS*
37. David Jones, June 8, 2017, Philadelphia, PA
36. Aaron Bailey, June 29, 2017, Indianapolis, IN*
35. Dejuan Guillory, July 6, 2017, Mamou, LA*
34. Brian Easley, July 7, 2017, Marietta, GA*
33. Isaiah Tucker, July 31, 2017, Oshkosh, WI*
32. Charles David Robinson, August 25, 2017, Woodville, GA*
31. Anthony Antonio Ford, August 30, 2017, Miami, FL*
30. Dewboy Lister, October 19, 2017, Corpus Christi, TX*
29. Calvin Toney, November 13, 2017, Baton Rouge, LA*
28. Lawrence Hawkins, November 18, 2017, Prichard, AL*
27. Keita O’Neil, December 1, 2017, San Francisco, CA*
26. Jean Pedro Pierre, December 6, 2017, Lauderdale Lakes, FL*
25. Arther McAfee Jr., January 20, 2018, Longview, TX*
24. Ronnell Foster, February 13, 2018, Vallejo, CA*
23. Mario Dantoni Bass, February 23, 2018, Woodbrige, VA*
22. Shermichael Ezeff, March 14, 2018, East Baton Rouge, LA*
21. Cameron Hall, March 15, 2018, Casa Grande, AZ*
20. Stephon Clark, March 18, 2018, Sacramento, CA*
19. Danny Thomas, March 22, 2018, Greenspoint, TX
18. Juan Markee Jones, April 8, 2018, Danville, VA*
17. Marcus-David L. Peters, May 14, 2018, Richmond, VA*
16. Antwon Rose, June 19, 2018, Pittsburgh, PA
15. Anthony Marcell Green, June 20, 2018, Kingsland, GA
14. Rashaun Washington, July 7, 2018, Vineland, NJ*
13. Cynthia Fields, July 27, 2018, Savannah, GA*
12. James Leatherwood, September 5, 2018, Hollywood, FL*
11. Charles Roundtree, October 17, 2018, San Antonio, TX*
10. Jesse J. Quinton, November 2, 2018, Idaho Falls, ID*
9. Danny Washington, December 18, 2018, Franklin Township, PA*
8. D’ettrick Griffin, January 15, 2019, Aurora, CO*
7. Gregory Griffin, January 28, 2019, Newark, NJ
6. Kevin Bruce Mason, March 24, 2019, Baltimore, MD*
5. Marzues Scott, April 7, 2019, Blytheville, AR*
4. Marcus McVae, April 11, 2019, Boerne, TX*
3. Isaiah Lewis, April 29, 2019, Edmond, OK*
2. Ryan Twyman, June 6, 2019, Los Angeles, CA*
1. Atatiana Jefferson, October 12, 2019, Fort Worth, TX

*No indictments against police officers
^At least one police officer convicted of any charge

Akai Gurley and Michael Brown? Too long ago to qualify for this list (despite the fact that plenty of recent shootings are not included here because they’re still under investigation). John Crawford III and Tamir Rice? “Toy gun” is a separate category in the WaPo database. Laquan McDonald? “Knife” is also a separate category. Eric Garner and Sandra Bland? Non-shooting killings are not included in this list. Philando Castile and Alton Sterling? Both had actual guns (and in Castile’s case, he informed the officers of his legal gun possession). Charles Kinsey? He was shot but survived.

This list is an incredibly narrow set of the people who are administered the death penalty by police, a tiny sliver of roughly 1200 people who are killed yearly. (By comparison, roughly 1500 people have been executed by all state and federal governments combined since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.) And the list only goes as far back as 100 because comprehensive records were only created in the wake of the rash of shootings in 2014.

What strikes me equally, though, is how many 2015 shootings have Wikipedia pages, even if I didn’t recognize their name. Not so as time stretched on. These shootings were only notable when they were first pushed into the public consciousness. No longer, since we understand how normal they are.

There are so many names to say. And unless we fight, unless we refuse to take no for an answer, unless we continue to say their names, more will surely follow, in the 2020s or even beyond.