Jazmir Tucker Photo: from family video via social media
Jazmir Tucker lived just 15 years before being chased down and shot dead by two Akron, Ohio pigs on Thanksgiving night. After shooting Jazmir, they just left him on the ground without aid. Jazmir died in the hospital soon after—the latest cold-blooded murder of a Black youth by thugs with badges.
The two cops claim they were sitting in their car when they heard gunfire and went to investigate. They spotted Jazmir—who had no gun in his hand—and started chasing him on foot. Their body cameras were not turned on until just before one pig aimed a rifle and fired seven shots at Jazmir from the back.
More cops arrived at the scene, and just stood there—for 10 minutes—doing nothing to help Jazmir as he lay close to death. Instead, they kept shouting, over 30 times, “Stop moving, stop moving, put your hands out to your side!” When they finally approached Jazmir, they found a gun—inside a zipped-up jacket. The pig “justified” the killing by claiming Jazmir was “reaching with his right hand.” So far this cop has not been charged in this murder, and not even fired—the city police put him on paid leave.
Following the release of the bodycam video, there were nights of protest. A woman at one protest shared her thoughts on Jazmir's murder and the police:
There’s no way you can tell me you knew this child had a loaded gun because you don’t have X-ray vision. So, that could’ve been my son with a cell phone in his pocket, and you shoot first and ask questions later and I’m tired. I’m tired of worrying about my son when he walks out the door. The whole system needs to change from within. It’s not going to change with just this officer being reprimanded. It’s not going to change with that.
That’s right—even if the killer pig in this case were to be punished in some way (and that’s a big if), that’s not going to stop the intolerable outrage of police murder after murder, especially of Black and other oppressed youth. Look at what happened in Akron when another young Black man, Jayland Walker, was killed by police in June 2022. Jayland took off in his car after a supposed routine “traffic violation.” A few minutes later, he came to a stop, jumped out, and began running—unarmed. Cops gave chase, and at least eight of them fired over 90 shots, even after he fell to the ground. Jayland was struck 46 times—and then handcuffed. These pigs were acquitted of all charges—and the cop who murdered Jazmir was a part of that mob!
Police across the country have killed 1,250 people so far this year—already more than all of 2023. The reality is that unjust police murders have gone on decade after decade in this country, with the murdering cops almost always walking free with impunity. Why? Because murder, brutality, repression, imprisonment, and injustice against Black and other oppressed people are a cornerstone of this system of capitalism-imperialism. The “job” of the police is to serve and protect that system. Whoever puts on that uniform is required to be brutal, savage, murdering enforcers who will violently maintain this white-supremacist system so long as it exists.
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That's why our righteous resistance to these never-ending murders by police must continue, as part of building for an actual revolution to overthrow and abolish this whole system, and bring into being a radically new system. An inspiring vision of this new and much better society, based on the Constitution for the New Socialist Republic in North America written by revolutionary leader Bob Avakian, is in the declaration We Need and We Demand: A Whole New Way to Live, A Fundamentally Different System from the revcoms (revolutionary communists).
Contrast that with the Akron's mayor’s utterly bankrupt appeal for “our community to reserve judgement until more facts are shared…”
Who Was Jazmir Tucker?
On Sunday, November 30, about 100 people gathered in freezing temperatures, near where Jazmir was murdered, to be with his family and express their deep feelings for the youth whose life was stolen by the pigs. His older sister said, “He will be remembered as someone who always tried to help others out, to a fault.” His great-aunt said, “He was always laughing. Everybody loved Jaz and Jaz loved everyone else. He loved to do yard work. Our family is just devastated. He was my sweetheart. I know Jaz, he wouldn't hurt anyone or try to hurt anyone."
Others remembered Jazmir for his love of sports. Jazmir's middle-school basketball coach was near tears: “I am devastated. Jazmir was a kindhearted, good kid, good student, pure talent on the basketball court. One of my favorite players that I ever had in my team."
People celebrated Jazmir by releasing dozens of green and black balloons with shouts of “We love you Jaz.”
Righteous Resistance—and Digging into How to STOP Police Terror
Jazmir Tucker's grandfather said at one of the protests: “[The cop] needs to be arrested right now for murder. They shot my grandson in the back. Give us some justice." This outrage and the demands for justice for Jazmir Tucker are righteous. This was a cold-blooded execution—as was the murder of Jayland Walker, and as were so many, many others across this country. That's why, as people act on these outrages, it’s more urgent than ever to dig into why these police murders happen over and over, and why only a revolution can put an end to them and all the other intolerable outrages of the system we live under.
That revolution is what Bob Avakian is now giving leadership to, especially through his social media messages @BobAvakianOfficial. Go there—and become a part of this revolution.
