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By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times - Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Support on social media and the Salt Lake City area is swelling for an 20-year-old white man who was shot and killed by police last month.
Family and friends of Dillon Taylor say they will continue to hold protests outside state and federal government offices until the authorities answer questions about the shooting, The New York Times reported.
Some demonstrators are linking Taylor’s death to the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed black teen who was fatally shot last month by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, leading to racially charged unrest between residents and police.
Taylor, who is white, was reportedly unarmed when he was shot two times near a 7-Eleven on Aug. 11 after a confrontation with police officers.
The Salt Lake City police chief addressed criticism and the militarization of police in the wake of Taylor’s death.
“The officer involved in this circumstance had a camera on his body, and the entire incident has been captured,” said Chief Chris Burbank, the Epoch Times reported.
Chief Burbank said the officer who killed Taylor was not white, but he didn’t elaborate further.
“Officers should be held to extremely high standards, but that cannot be an impossible standard,” he added.
Taylor’s supporters say his death hasn’t received enough media attention.
“We want answers — we need them,” Aaron Swanenberg, a longtime friend of Taylor, told The New York Times.
For the fourth time in two weeks, demonstrators gathered Monday in Salt Lake City to protest Taylor’s death.
“Somewhere it’s got to stop,” Oscar Ross told the Salt Lake Tribune outside the police station. “There’s going to be backlash. I’m not anti-police … but it’s in the mindset of these officers now: Shoot first and ask questions later.”
Taylor’s aunt, Gina Thayne, told the Tribune: “We have to have justice because no matter what, we’re missing somebody at our dinner tables at night. We have to fix this, and the only way we’re going to be able to fix it is if everybody continues staying together.”
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...r-after-white-utah-man-fatally/#ixzz3DWgWNiX3
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I guess this happened over 2 weeks ago... first I ever heard of it was today. Surprised this story hasn't picked up any traction in the media whatsoever.
