Police Accountability Police Violence Stephen Janis Taya Graham

VIDEO: Police Used This Dangerous Restraint During a Fatal Arrest, so Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About It?

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4 Comments on VIDEO: Police Used This Dangerous Restraint During a Fatal Arrest, so Why Isn’t Anyone Talking About It?
The death of Christopher Robert Hensley while in custody of Fletcher, North Carolina, police has received little attention. PAR investigates the dangerous restraint police used during his arrest, and examines evidence that raises disturbing questions about what happened and who is responsible.
Screenshot of the arrest of Christopher Robert Hensley. Video courtesy of Shafaa Lucinda

By Taya Graham and Stephen Janis / The Real News Network

The death of Christopher Robert Hensley in the custody of Fletcher, North Carolina, police is raising new questions about the use of deadly restraint by law enforcement. In this episode of Police Accountability Report, Taya Graham and Stephen Janis talk to independent pathologist Cyril Wecht, who reviewed footage of the arrest, to shed light on the circumstances surrounding Hensley’s death. We ask questions of North Carolina law enforcement officials to learn why cops are still using a tactic that has been widely recognized as both dangerous and deadly.

Taya Graham
Taya Graham

Taya Graham is an award-winning investigative reporter who has covered U.S. politics, local government, and the criminal justice system. She is the host of TRNN’s “Police Accountability Report,” and producer and co-creator of the award-winning podcast “Truth and Reconciliation” on Baltimore’s NPR affiliate WYPR. She has written extensively for a variety of publications including the Afro American Newspaper, the oldest black-owned publication in the country, and was a frequent contributor to Morgan State Radio at a historic HBCU. She has also produced two documentaries, including the feature-length film “The Friendliest Town.” Although her reporting focuses on the criminal justice system and government accountability, she has provided on the ground coverage of presidential primaries and elections as well as local and state campaigns.
 
taya@therealnews.com
 @tayasbaltimore

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Stephen Janis
Stephen Janis

Stephen Janis is an award-winning investigative journalist whose work has been acclaimed both in print and on television. As the Senior Investigative Reporter for the now defunct Baltimore Examiner, he won two Maryland DC Delaware Press Association Awards for his work on the number of unsolved murders in Baltimore and the killings of prostitutes. His in-depth work on the city’s zero-tolerance policing policies garnered an NAACP President’s Award. As an Investigative Producer for WBFF/Fox 45, he has won three successive Capital Emmys: two for Best Investigative Series and one for Outstanding Historical/Cultural Piece.
He is the author of three books on the philosophy of policing: Why Do We Kill? The Pathology of Murder in Baltimore; You Can’t Stop Murder: Truths About Policing in Baltimore and Beyond; and The Book of Cop: A Testament to Policing That Works. He has also written two novels, This Dream Called Death and Orange: The Diary of an Urban Surrealist. He teaches journalism at Towson University.

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Police Accountability Report
Police Accountability Report

Police Accountability Report, hosted by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis, is a weekly show that seeks to expose and hold to account one of the most powerful institutions in this country—the police.

The show shines a critical light on all facets of American policing, exploring the systemic and political imperatives that put law enforcement at odds with the communities they purport to serve.

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4 comments

  1. I think the bottom line here is that liberal media only note cases where the victims are people of color. It’s an issue that is periodically raised, and effectively ignored.

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  2. As a white resident of North Carolina, I am responding to this article with the intent to set things a little more in a correct direction.
    The ongoing narrative almost always seems to portray blacks as some type of victim.
    They are not.
    And myself or my ancestors did not, and never did, abuse these people. Same goes for every white person reading this. All this said while I realize that we are all constantly being told otherwise.

    Next time that, as a white person, you fall into the white guilt trap; since we are constantly reminded of slavery, also remember the nearly 361, 000 casualties suffered by white people in the northern army trying to help free the black slaves. Maybe all white people above the Mason Dixon line today should be getting some type of ‘monetary reperations’ for their past ancestors’ pain and suffering.

    No, as a white resident here in North Carolina, I see, among blacks, the widespread violence, hostility, crime and complete disrespect for themselves and others. These people are not repressed; they are narcissitic. Thank God the police are there to help protect us from these violent offenders that are such a huge proportion of the black community.

    Reply

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