The US Justice Department will investigate the police shooting of a man holding a pellet gun he had just plucked off a store shelve, after a grand jury in Ohio decided not to charge the two officers.  The cops are white; the victim is another young black man cut down by those who are sworn “to protect and to serve”.

Authorities finally released store surveillance video from 5 August in the Beavercreek Walmart where 22-year old John Crawford III was browsing.  He had picked up a Crosman MK-177 BB/pellet rifle from the gun section (yep, a gun section a few feet away from the kids section), and walked around the store.  Meanwhile, another shopper named Ronald Ritchie called the police are claimed that Crawford had a real weapon and was pointing it at women and children.  The video reveals no such actions on Crawford’s part.

An interesting aside is that Ohio is what is known as an “open carry state”.  Licensed gun owners have the right to walk around packing heat in holsters, or even to carry assault weapons if they choose. 

The cops are seen running directly to Crawford, and without investigating or even observing what was really happening for just a moment, they shoot and kill him.  During the chaos, another shopper – 37-year old Angela Williams – died of cardiac arrest trying to flee from the store.

Throughout the investigation, prosecutors kept the video from the public, showing it only to Crawford’s family and to “witness” Ronald Ritchie – who promptly changed his story once confronted.  The prosecutor acknowledged that John Crawford had done absolutely nothing wrong.

And yet, the grand jury ruled that the “shoot first, ask questions later” cops shouldn’t be charged with the recklessness seen on the video.  The two officers have been on paid leave ever since.  Crawford’s family and civil rights leaders are “disgusted” by the panel.

“The Special Grand Jury in Greene County made the wrong decision,” Dayton NAACP chapter president Derrick Foward told a local TV station.  “It’s a sad day in the history of Dayton.  We will be calling for a full and complete investigation by the US Department of Justice.”

Shortly after that, the DOJ obliged.