Today the Salt Lake City District Attorney ruled that the shooting death of 20-year-old Dillon Taylor was justified. Taylor was on his way to visit his mothers grave, along with his cousin, Adam Thayne and his brother, Jerrail Taylor, just moments before a group of cops rolled into the parking lot on August 11, 2014. Both Taylors brother and cousin say he was wearing headphones.
Police claim that they stopped the three young men because of a 911 call about someone waving a gun around. They also claim that Taylor matched the description given during that call. Taylor did not have a gun on him, and no gun was ever recovered from the area of the shooting. According to the St. Louis Tribune, the caller told 911 dispatch:
Some gangbangers walking near 200 East and 1900 South had flashed a gun.
Theyre obviously looking for trouble, just the way they look.
That caller is eerily similar to the caller that reported a black man, John Crawford, with a gun in Walmart. Crawford was purchasing an air rifle from the store. That 911 call led to his death; another shooting that was found justified by a system that seems to have lost all sense of right and wrong.
In the video you can see police approaching the three young men in the parking lot of the convenience store where Taylor was shot. Its clear from the video that both Thayne and Jerrail Taylor heard and saw the police, and responded accordingly. Although there is no sound in the beginning of the video, both men put their hands up, apparently following a police directive.
Dillon Taylor continued walking at a normal pace, consistent with someone who did not realize that there was a cop behind him, pointing a gun at his back.
Heres the video from the officers body cam, via KUFRNEWS:
*warning this video contains graphic images
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ejrxHwvJCE