Fifteen-year-old Jordan Edwards’ life was cut drastically short after a Balch Springs, Texas police officer fatally shot him in the head on Saturday night (April 29) as he was leaving a party, sparking outrage across the country. Officer Roy Oliver, who has since been fired from the force, alleged he stopped the car Edwards was riding in because it was reversing down a street in an “aggressive manner,” according to The New York Times.
Police Chief Jonathan Haber, however, held a news conference on Monday (May 1) where he refuted the initial claims and admitted that video footage shows the car was, in fact, moving forward as the officers approached. Edwards’ family lawyer, Lee Merritt, called this admission a “big deal.”
“There were no weapons involved; there was no aggressive behavior; these were not suspects,” Mr. Merritt said. “The lone motive they had for the murder was that the vehicle was being used as a weapon, and now that is no longer there.”
Edwards, who was a high school freshman at Mesquite High School in Mesquite, Texas, held a 3.5 GPA, was a popular football player and had aspirations of playing college football. His death can now be added to the ever-evolving list of black men who were killed at the hands of white police officers, tragedies that continue to deepen the divisiveness across the United States.
Countless people have taken to social media to express their feelings on the matter, including T.I., Lecrae, Big Boi, Dee Barnes, Jussie Smollett, Shaun King, and the Edwards’ lawyer, Mr. Merritt. The investigation is ongoing. Officer Oliver is reportedly appealing his termination.
Check out the reactions to Jordan Edwards’ death below.
He dindunuffin
That’s nit what my paw said. Ahheeheehick
Wat da fucc diz got ta do wit rap??? Ya racizt muthafuccas! Just cuz rappers respondin don’t make diz news rap chit! Rappers tweet bout bunch o fucced up chit dat go down, how a blacc kid kilt be rap newz???? Get chit rite mufuccas. Rip lil man doe
they need to shoot your ignorant ass. let me translate it so you understand, day needles ta bust da cap inz ya no speel inz stoooopid coment azz nucca. peeeace
This crap won’t stop until cops are charged AND convicted for murder. IF, and it’s a big if, he gets charged – he will walk. He will be on a jury of at least 10 white people, majority male, and there is no chance in hell they will throw a cop in jail for life on a murder charge. Damn shame. RIP LIL MAN.
He is entitled to a jury of his peers, this is America. People also make mistakes, not all police murders are racially motivated. Yet it seems you have already written off the judicial process before it has even taken place. There are numerous former police officers who are serving life in prison for murder. This might be manslaughter tho, lets not jump to conclusions before the investigation is complete.
They won’t stop :-/
WHITE LIVES DONT MATTER!!!!!!
thats the attitude thats gonna change things obviously
why quote tweets from frauds like Shaun King and Tariq Nasheed tho. RIP lil bro
all the criminal hypocrites showed up to preach on social media
When will it stop?
this shit has just gotta stop. wtf.
Couple a Questions to HHDX. 1. What has this to do with Rap?? 2. Why you posting this but when the black kids, kidnapped and tortured a white kid for being white and streamed on facebook live you didnt post anything??
All loss of life is tragic. Yet, either intentionally or unintintionally, you’ve overlooked or possibility ignored the racist undertones of violent racial oppression manifest against marginalized peoples in this country. Hip-Hop’s origins are founded in a revolutionary spirit that fights and speaks for the voiceless victims of white supremacy. Peace.
That didn’t explain his question about the white kid being tortured by blacks, dumbass. A disabled white Kid.
Also one of the Black Dudes was a Rapper so it would fit in a Hip Hop news site
Why are you guys falling for this shit. The media is trying to create something between blacks and whites. race doesn’t have anything to do with anything.
Are you suggesting it has to do with social class? Tyranny?
Peace.
So after crying about all the gangbangers and armed convicted 2 strike felons being shot, the cops finally shoot an innocent good kid. After all the bitching and moaning about the others, this actual innocent kid won’t eeven be thought of. Famous crying of wolf. This is the shit that got Trump elected. Thanks HHDX.
61% of all people killed by police in America are white males
We need to raise it to 100%
Glad to see T.I. has voiced his opinion. It must be nice to be free and preach to those via social media after being convicted multiple times for gun possession, assault on a white female police office, synthetic drug charges, etc.. .
I want to eat out trumps ass
So, what does this have to do with Hip Hop? Because a some rappers made posts about it on social media?
But he stole some Now & Laters back when he was 5. SMH. Police are the enemy of any minority in this country. Fuck the police and anybody talking that black people kill people shit can eat a dick.
90% of blacks who die from murder in the U.S. are killed by other blacks.
And 86% of white people in this country murdered are killed by other white people, and there are way more white people in this country. So your point is?
Yes although black men make up only 7% of the population, they commit 53% of all murders. And your statistics on whites murdered by other whites don’t jive with the fbi’s crime statistics. Where did you find that interesting factoid?
Bet you didn’t know that though, did you because you’ve been parroting that line so long, but look it up. You are shockingly more likely to be murdered by someone of your own race, and shockingly it’s going to be someone that lives near you, and that’s shockingly still a very segregated thing in this country. That’s what makes those people criminals. Hopefully, you have a little higher standard for your law enforcement that is paid by your taxes.
This is happening more and more. It is not a case of a “few bad apples”, but rather a product of how police are trained. They are trained to view the public that they are supposedly tasked to serve and protect as a dangerous threat to “officer safety”. They are being trained to escalate conflicts not de-escalate them. Race is a part of the equation but it’s not the only part. Many whites are being abused by police as well.
Look into the political philosophy of Anarchy. We don’t need the State to protect us through a monopoly on police services. Individual communities, private defense agencies and insurance companies can protect person and property far better than can a government cartel of violence.
What if these individual communities of black folks could contract with a private protection agency in order to root out the criminal violence while leaving peaceful people alone?
Many black communities feel assaulted by government police in decked-out military gear as if they were invading a foreign country. Black Lives Matter protesters have every right to be angry but how many of them turned around and supported Hillary Clinton for president? This is called Cognitive Dissonance. Most Democratic politicians fail to get to the root of the problem. They’re satisfied in pandering for votes while doing nothing to actually resolve the problem.
It’s true that Blacks are disproportionately hurt by police violence, especially with regards to the enforcement of drug laws. But there are many white allies such as myself who want criminal justice reform, so be careful not to play up the race angle in ways that alienate whites that might be your natural allies against a common enemy.
The Police, or more precisely State-monopolized Police, should be the enemy of all decent people at this point.
Some of us have been saying this. Poor white dudes get the shit beat out of them just like inner city black people. Yet you have knee jerk white people who get upset because black people are standing up for the part of the equation that they see happening to their communities. Like I’ve said on this topic time and time again, when little Johnny starts getting smoked for hanging out too late at the local Wal-Mart, then we’ll get some change just like with everything else in this country. Kind of like how the crack problem was the inner city black people’s problem, but the heroin epidemic enveloping rural white America is all of our problem. This should outrage every white person in this country who is not a dick because the police state is real and your new Attorney General is with it.
Black lives always matter. Not just when it’s taken by police, or a white person, or both. This has to fuckin stop; everyone should be outraged together by such a poor decision that should never even be a thought. It’s deeply saddening.