White Montgomery Officer Arrested in Killing of Unarmed Black Man

A white police officer in Montgomery, Alabama has been arrested and charged with murder for the shooting death of an unarmed 58-year old Black man, Gregory Gunn.


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It was Wednesday [March 2, 2016] that city officials appeared to retract their initial beliefs that Gunn, the son of one of Montgomery’s first Black officers, was armed with anything that could have been perceived as a weapon.

It was Mayor Todd Strange who announced that the city would also seek to fire Officer Aaron Smith, 23, a member of the Montgomery police force since 2012.

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“In the history of Montgomery, this is not one of our great days,” said Mayor Todd Strange.

The charges and arrest come only 6 days after Mr. Gunn’s deadly encounter with Officer Smith. Officials originally stated that Officer Smith stopped Gregory Gunn while he was walking home after a late night of work and playing cards some time after 3 a.m, believing him to be suspicious. A struggle ensued between the two men, ending with Officer Smith opening fire. grid-cell-3705-1456956959-4

The lawyer for Smith, Mickey McDermott stated the arrest as being “political”, beliveing that authorities merely charged the officer in an attempt to prevent civil unrest.

“They have a duty to protect the public from itself sometimes,” Mr. McDermott said. “They, I believe, thought this would be the mechanism to show the public that they are trying to be honest and fair to both sides.”

Officer Smith has since been released on $150,000 bond.