Finding 24-year-old Robert Fuller hanging from a tree in a park in front of Palmdale, Calif.’s City Hall Wednesday, June 10, Los Angeles County Sheriff said initially said the cause of death was suicide. When you consider the racial sensitivity in the wake of 44-uear-old George Floyd’s May 25 chokehold murder by 46-year-old white former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, it’s difficult for the black community to accept suicide as the first explanation. Sheriff’s officials said the Los Angeles County Coroner ruled Fuller’s death a suicide but said a more thorough investigation would follow. “Without going into too much detail, it doesn’t appear there was any sign of a fight or struggle,” Lt. Brancon Dean told KPCC public radio June 12. Protesters in front of Palmdale City Hall today questioned the coroner’s first diagnosis, raising the possibility of a lynching.
Protesters demanded an independent investigation by California’s 62-year-old Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, not saying why the Los Angeles County coroner was not independent enough. “If you can suggest suicide, I can suggest a lynching,” said protester Laurielle Stewart, suggesting Fuller’s death was a hate crime. Over 150 protesters at the crime scene near the tree Fuller was found hanging said they didn’t trust the LA County coroner. “Say his name,” blared the crowd, echoing the chant of Black Lives Matter [BLM]. Members of Fuller’s family present at the protests said they were still “grieving” Robert’s death, not knowing what to think. No one in his family suspected Robert of suicidal tendencies, saying exactly the opposite. Protesters marched from City Hall to Palmdale’s Sheriff Department headquarters, demanding answers for Fuller’s death, something not well explained.
Speaking to the crowed in front of Sheriff Department headquarters, Lt. Derrick Ballentine addressed the crowd, telling them he could not answer their questions, something left to the coroner of Atty. General’s Office. Ballentine told protesters he couldn’t answer there questions about cause of death because it was beyond his pay grade. Protesters left the Sheriff’s Department, marching up Palmdale Blvd. Back to the part across from City Hall. Palmdale Police confirmed there was no video of Fuller’s death, asking the public to come forward with information. “We encourage anyone with information about this incident to call Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500,” said Palmdale Mayor Steve Hofbauer. Fuller’s time of death was estimated in the early morning of June 11. “We will settle for nothing less than a thorough accounting of this matter,” Hofbauer said in a statement.
Antelope Valley branch of the NAACP said that Fuller’s death with highly suspicious giving the George Floyd situation. Fuller’s death came on the heels of an officer-involved-shooting involving an unarmed man Michael Thomas, shot by Lancaster Sheriff’s officers during a domestic violence call. NCAAP wants to complete investigation of Thomas and Fuller. When you consider the racially charged atmosphere in the country, you’d expect other suspicious occurrence like Fuller hanging death and Thomas’s officer-involved shooting. BLM has been protesting around the country, demanid de-funding police departments, not sitting well with white residents. If there’s push back from BLM’s demands, it would point toward foul play in Fuller’s hanging death, something no confirmed by the Los Angeles or State coroners. Jumping to conclusions could cause more violent protesting.
Whether in remote parts of Los Angeles County or the Pacific Northwest in Seattle, protesters are fed up with police mistakes, especially when it comes to unarmed black men at the hands of white police. Whatever happened in the shooting of Michael Thomas, it’s possible the Sheriff’s department followed protocol. Across the country in Atlanta, 27-year-old Rayshaud Brooks was shot by an Atlanta police officer in the parking lot of a Wendy’s drive-through restaurant. Police found Brooks asleep in his car, before questioned, when a video shows he lunged and removed the officer’s taser, threatening the officer when shot. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, 50, asked for 25-year veteran Police chief Erika Shield’s resignation over the incident. There’s no reason to believe that Shields had anything to do with the officer-involved shooting, warranting her resignation.
When you consider all the police-bashing around the country by Black Lives Matters and other anti-police groups, you’d think that elected officials or police chiefs would act cautiously during a time of heightened racial sensitivities. Whatever the NAACP finds in Palmdale, it’s most likely, as the LA County Coroner said, a suicide, giving the coroner found no evidence of struggle. Whatever happened in Atlanta, it doesn’t warrant the removal of a seasoned veteran of the Atlanta Police Department, no less a woman. “Must negative interactions between communities of color and law enforcement also be deadly?” asked the NCAAP statement. “Public trust that continues to erode after each incident. Wasn’t the loss of George Floyd [killed] just two weeks ago, training enough?” No matter how well-trained deputies, community policing is messy business where mistakes do happen.
