A Recipe for More Tragedy

The media’s rush to judgment on the Adam Toledo shooting will come with a high cost. 

Rafael A. Mangual April 16, 2021

Last night, as I scrolled through my newsfeed on Facebook, I saw multiple posts referring to the shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo by Chicago police officer Eric Stillman, video (warning: graphic) of which had just been released by the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

All the posts linked to news stories with headlines emphasizing one detail: at the moment Toledo was struck by the officer’s gunfire, his hands were raised and appeared to be empty. A sampling of the news headlines:

• Slate: “Video Shows Chicago Police Shoot 13-Year-Old Adam Toledo With His Hands Up”
• BuzzFeed News: “Video Shows 13-Year-Old Adam Toledo Had His Hands Up When A Police Officer Fatally Shot Him”
• NBC 5 Chicago: “Attorney: Adam Toledo Did Not Have Gun In His Hand When He Was Shot By Chicago Police”
• Mic: “13-year-old Adam Toledo put his hands up. Chicago police killed him anyway”
• USA Today: “‘We failed Adam’: Body camera videos show 13-year-old Adam Toledo put hands up before fatal police shooting in Chicago” (the quote belongs to Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot)
• The Associated Press: “Video: Chicago boy wasn’t holding gun when shot by officer”

The implication from these headlines is clear: the boy was unarmed and raising his hands in surrender when he was shot—ergo, this was a bad shooting.........To Read More....