Vol. 80/No. 36 September 26, 2016
S. Carolina cop fired in killing of Hammond
Tiller shot Hammond, who is Caucasian, as he tried to drive away during a marijuana sting operation aimed at his passenger, Tori Morton, 23.
Hammond’s family and others organized several protests in Seneca and in Greenville that brought together friends, family and Black civil rights groups like the Freedom Fighters to demand Tiller be fired and charged in the killing. They insisted the cops release a police dash cam video of the shooting.
On Oct. 27, 2015, North Carolina state prosecutor Chrissy Adams announced that no charges would be filed against Tiller. She released the video the same day.
In the video Tiller can be heard saying, “I’ll blow your f---ing head off.” The video clearly shows the cop shooting an unarmed Hammond as the car passes him by. An autopsy confirmed that the youth had been shot “from back to front.”
Tiller claimed he fired in self-defense because he feared Hammond was going to run him over. Despite the video footage showing Hammond had driven around Tiller, Adams refused to indict the cop.
In March of this year the Seneca city government agreed to settle a civil suit filed by Hammond’s parents, paying them $2.15 million.
In a statement after Tiller’s firing, the Hammonds thanked those who “stood shoulder to shoulder” with them. “All lives matter,” they said, “and it is an injustice to each and every American when an officer-related shooting is not handled with sensitivity and absolute transparency.”
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