>>> TWO DAYS AFTER ANTOINE ROSE JR. WAS BURIED LAST WEEK,
SOMETHING TRULY EXTRAORDINARY
HAPPENED.
HAPPENED. HE WAS SHOT IN THE BACK BY A
POLICE OFFICER WHILE HE WAS
UNARMED AND RUNNING AWAY.
UNARMED BLACK MEN HAVE BEEN
GETTING SHOT IN THE BACK BY
POLICE OFFICERS FOR AS LONG AS
THE POLICE HAVE HAD GUNS.
THE EXTRAORDINARY THING IS THAT
THE POLICE OFFICER WHO KILLED
HIM IN EAST PITTSBURGH WAS
ACTUALLY CHARGED WITH CRIMINAL
HOMICIDE LAST WEEK.
CRIMINAL PROSECUTION IS THE
RAREST POSSIBLE OUTCOME FOR
POLICE OFFICERS WHO KILL UNARMED
BLACK MEN WHO ROSE NO THREAT TO
ANYONE.
ANYONE. I HAVE BEEN STUDYING THIS TRAGIC
SUBJECT FOR DECADES.
THE FIRST ARTICLE I EVER
PUBLICED WAS A NEWS PIECE IN
1979 ABOUT POLICE USE OF DEADLY
FORCE.
FORCE. THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT
"THE NEW YORK TIMES" EVER
PRINTED ANYTHING INDICATING THAT
THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH POLICE
USE OF DEADLY FORCE.
THE FIRST KILLING OF AN UNARMED
BLACKMAN BY POLICE THAT I READ
ABOUT AND THEN INVESTIGATED
MYSELF WAS THE 1975 KILLING OF
JAMES BODEN.
JAMES BODEN. HE WAS A 25-YEAR-OLD HUSBAND AND
FATHER OF A 4-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER
AND SIX-MONTH-OLD SON.
HE HAD A STEADY JOB AS A
MAINTENANCE WORKER.
MAINTENANCE WORKER. TWO POLICE OFFICERS STOPPED HIS
CAR, BECAUSE LIKE THE CAR
ANTOINE ROSE WAS RIDING IN,
JAMES BODEN’S CAR RESEMIED A CAR
USED IN A CRIME EARLIER THAT
DAY.
DAY. HE WAS SHOT IN THE BACK.
NAME’S BODEN’S WIDOW CAME TO MY
FATHER FOR HELP.
HE WAS A LAWYER.
MY FATHER WAS A FORMER BOSTON
POLICE OFFICER HIMSELF.
MY FATHER FILED A CIVIL RIGHTS
WRONGFUL DEATH LAWSUIT AGAINST
THE BOSTON POLICE IN FEDERAL
COURT.
COURT. HIS FIGHT WITH OLD POLICE
DEPARTMENT WAS LONG AND INTENSE
AND BITTER AND DEEPLY PERSONAL.
I DID MY OWN INVESTIGATION OF
THE CASE AND SPOKE TO EVEN MORE
BOSTON POLICE OFFICERS THAN MY
FATHER WAS ABLE TO CROSS-EXAMINE
IN COURT, AND I REPORTED IT ALL
IN MY FIRST BOOK, "DEADLY
FORCE," WHICH WAS FIRST
PUBLISHED IN 1983 AND NOW BEEN
REPUBLISHED IN PAPERBACK WHICH
LINKS THE KILLINGS TO ANTOINE
ROSE.
ROSE. FACING AN ALL-WHITE JURY IN
FEDERAL COURT IN BOSTON IN 1980,
MY FATHER WON THE CASE, PROVING
THAT JAMES BOWDEN’S CIVIL RIGHTS
WERE VIOLATED.
WERE VIOLATED. THE CITY OF BOSTON APPEALED THE
CASE, WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
BEFORE GOING TO TRIAL FOR THE
SECOND TIME.
SECOND TIME. AND WITH ANOTHER ALL-WHITE JURY,
MY FATHER WON THAT CASE AGAIN.
AND I DON’T THINK ANYONE ELSE
COULD HAVE DONE THAT IN THOSE
DAYS WHEN NO ONE WAS PAYING
ATTENTION TO POLICE USE OF
DEADLY FORCE, NO ONE OUTSIDE THE
BLACK COMMUNITIES WHERE PEOPLE
KNEW POLICE USE OF FORCE WAS A
DEADLY SERIOUS PROBLEM.
IT TOOK EVERYTHING THAT MY
FATHER KNEW ABOUT BEING A COP AS
AN EX-COP HIMSELF AND A LAWYER
TO FIGHT HIS OLD POLICE
DEPARTMENT AND WIN.
AND THE POLICE THREW EVERYTHING
IN OUR WAY THAT THEY COULD,
BECAUSE OUR WHOLE FAMILY WAS
INVOLVED IN THIS FIGHT.
TODAY IT’S EVEN MORE REMARKABLE
TO THINK THAT MY FATHER WAS ABLE
TO WIN THAT CASE, WIN JUSTICE
FOR JAMES BOWDEN’S FAMILY
WITHOUT ANY VIDEO OF WHAT
HAPPENED.
HAPPENED. WE HAVE A VIDEO OF WHAT HAPPENED
TO ANTOINE ROSE IN EAST
PITTSBURGH.
PITTSBURGH. SO WE KNOW THAT ANTOINE ROSE WAS
SHOT IN THE BACK WHILE HE WAS
UNARMED, RUNNING AWAY FROM THE
POLICE OFFICER.
POLICE OFFICER. AND THAT VIDEO IS THE REASON THE
OFFICER WHO KILLED ANTOINE ROSE
IS FACING CRIMINAL CHARGES
TONIGHT.
TONIGHT. HERE IS THAT VERY DISTURBING
VIDEO OF WHAT HAPPENED TO
ANTOINE ROSE WHEN HE WAS UNARMED
AND THREATENING NO ONE.
[ GUNSHOTS ]
>> WHY ARE THEY SHOOTING AT HIM?
>> GET DOWN.
>> NO.
>> NO. I’M RECORDING THIS.
WHY ARE THEY SHOOTING?
ALL HE DID WAS RUN AND THEY’RE
SHOOTING AT THEM.
>> VIDEO CHANGES EVERYTHING.
35 YEARS AGO WHEN I BEGAN
COLLECTING POLICE REPORTS IN
CASES LIKE THIS, WHEN UNARMED
MEN, USUALLY BLACK WERE SHOT IN
THE BACK WHILE RUNNING AWAY FROM
POLICE OFFICERS, THE POLICE
REPORTS REPEATEDLY INCLUDED THIS
PHRASE, USUALLY WORD FOR WORD,
"HE TURNED IN A THREATENING
MANNER AS IF TO SHOOT."
THAT’S ALL THE POLICE OFFICERS
NEEDED TO JUSTIFY THE SHOOTING,
EVEN IF THE FLEEING SUSPECT
TURNED OUT TO BE UNARMED.
HE TURNED IN A THREATENING
MANNER AS IF TO SHOOT.
AND PROSECUTORS KNEW WHAT WAS
GOING ON.
GOING ON. THEY WERE IN ON IT IN THOSE
DAYS.
DAYS. THEY NEVER LOOKED AT THESE
CASES, NO MATTER WHAT
EYEWITNESSES SAID THE POLICE
OFFICERS DID.
OFFICERS DID. BUT VIDEO CHANGED EVERYTHING.
AND SO NOW, THANKS TO VIDEO,
SOME POLICE OFFICERS ARE BEING
PROSECUTED FOR VERY BAD
SHOOTINGS.
SHOOTINGS. AND SOME INDIVIDUAL POLICE
DEPARTMENTS HAVE ACTUALLY REALLY
IMPROVED.
IMPROVED. AND BOSTON I’M VERY GLAD THE SAY
IS ONE OF THEM.
BOSTON’S POLICE COMMISSIONER
BILL EVANS IS ONE OF THE VERY
BEST POLICE LEADERS IN THIS
COUNTRY.
COUNTRY. BUT THAT’S NOT MUCH CONSOLATION
FOR PEOPLE WHO STILL SUFFER FROM
UNJUSTIFIABLE POLICE USE OF
DEADLY FORCE.
DEADLY FORCE. OVER 40 YEARS AFTER JAMES BOWDEN
WAS SHOT IN THE BACK BY BOSTON
POLICE OFFICERS WHEN HE WAS
UNARMED AND POSED NO THREAT TO
THEM, ANTOINE ROSE WAS SHOT IN
THE BACK WHEN HE WAS UNARMED AND
POSED NO THREAT TO A POLICE
OFFICER.
OFFICER. TWO YEARS AGO, ANTOINE ROSE
WROTE A POEM IN HIS SOPHOMORE
HONORS ENGLISH COURSE IN HIGH
SCHOOL.
SCHOOL. HIS FRIENDS READ THE POEM AT HIS
FUNERAL.
FUNERAL. THE POEM IS ABOUT MOTHERS AND
SONS.
SONS. MOTHERS LIKE JAMES BOWDEN’S
MOTHER AND ANTOINE ROSE’S MOTHER
WHO LOST THEIR SONS OVER 40
YEARS APART TO THE SAME THING,
POLICE BULLETS IN THE BACK.
ANTOINE ROSE’S POEM IS ENTITLED
"I AM NOT WHAT YOU THINK", AND
IT BEGINS THIS WAY.
I AM CONFUSED AND AFRAID.
I WONDER WHAT PATHLY TAKE.
I HEAR THAT THERE’S ONLY TWO
WAYS OUT.
WAYS OUT. I SEE MOTHERS BURY THEIR SONS.
I WANT MY MOM TO NEVER FEEL THAT
PAIN.
PAIN. I AM CONFUSED AND AFRAID.
ANTOINE ROSE JR. WAS 17 YEARS
OLD.
OLD. I’m