MOSCOW, October 9 (RIA Novosti), Daria Chernyshova – Extra-judicial deaths of African-Americans in the United States prove that violence based on ethnicity is legitimized, Saqib Deshmukh, Development Officer with the Voice4Change England group advocating for the minorities told RIA Novosti Thursday.
"That African-American men can be killed in such a manner is deeply disturbing, but these extra-judicial deaths point to a society where violence against people of color is not only accepted but is given permission and legitimacy," Deshmukh said, commenting on the killing of 18-year-old African-American Vonderrick Myers by a police officer on Wednesday night in St. Louis, Missouri.
The officer fired 17 shots at the teenager.
"By this I mean that if no sanctions are taken against the perpetrator who was working for a private security firm when this happened, then this reinforces the narrative for many of us looking across the water observing that law enforcement officials can continue to kill with impunity," Saqib Deshmukh continued.
On Wednesday, a police officer shot the man dead in St. Louis, when trying to make a pedestrian check in the course of his second job for a security company. But as the police officer tried to do so, the young man ran away and fired at him, forcing return fire.
"The US government needs to look at what is happening on the streets of St Louis so soon after the shooting of Michael Brown just a few miles away," Deshmukh warned.
He also noted that racial profiling is strongly embedded on both sides of the Atlantic and "it is difficult to remove without challenging the culture which allows it to exist and the social and economic factors that ensure that many African Americans live on the margins [of society]and are vulnerable to criminalization."
As the Voice4Change England is a UK-based group, Saqib Deshmukh reminded about victims of police brutality in the United Kingdom.
"In the UK we remember the deaths in recent years of Mark Duggan and Azelle Rodney and the many others who have died in custody at the hands of the police and in prison and immigration detention centers," Deshmukh said stressing that their families and friends continue to fight to take the accountable the officers responsible for these crimes.
"Until Police officers in the US and UK stand trial and are sent to prison these atrocities will continue to happen. Until there is justice there will be no peace," Saqib Deshmukh concluded.
The death of Myers is the second such incident in St. Louis County since August, when police officer Darren Wilson, also white, shot dead Michael Brown, another 18-year-old African American.
