We analyzed videos frame by frame to discern what exactly happened after a Columbus cop fatally shot the 16-year-old.
Shortly after a Columbus police officer fatally shot 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant on April 20, 2021, officers at the scene told Black witnesses: “Blue lives matter.”
Rating
UnprovenAbout this ratingContext
One reputable news outlet reported that a police officer at the scene of Bryant’s death donned a “blue lives matter” face mask, and a bystander’s Facebook Live video recorded someone using the phrase, but it was unclear who said it. The video also recorded a group of Black residents upset that they had purportedly heard it come from at least one officer.
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Origin
On April 20, 2021, around the same time a jury in Minneapolis convicted former police officer Derek Chauvin of murdering George Floyd, a Black man, a 16-year-old Black girl named Ma’Khia Bryant was fatally shot by a police officer in Columbus, Ohio.
As news of her death spread on social media, rumors surfaced claiming police officers at the scene said “blue lives matter” to people who were standing around moments after the shooting. The slogan is considered a pro-law enforcement countermovement to Black Lives Matter, the modern-day civil rights movement attempting to call attention to police brutality’s disproportionate effect on non-white people.
For instance, Twitter user @_WhatRiot tweeted a 13-second video and claimed it showed three white officers saying the phrase to Black residents standing at the scene of Bryant’s death.
Let us note at the offset: We attempted to reach the Columbus Division of Police for its response to the underlying accusation — that its officers told a group of people “blue lives matter” at the scene where one of them shot and killed a Black teenager — but the voicemail box for the agency’s spokesperson was full and not taking any messages. We will update this report when, or if, we are able to reach the law enforcement agency.
But, before we examine the legitimacy of that assertion, we’ll lay out the facts of the teenager’s death — a killing police-reform advocates framed as yet another example of white police officers’ eagerness to use deadly force against Black suspects, no matter the circumstances.
What Happened at the Scene of Ma’Khia Bryant’s Killing?
At a news conference hours after the shooting, officials with the Columbus Division of Police released edited footage from the body-worn camera on the police officer who shot and killed Bryant. Snopes obtained a video recording of that media event via WKYC, Cleveland’s NBC-affiliated news station.
The body-cam video began with an officer later identified as Nicholas Reardon, a one-year veteran with the department, getting out of his squad car on a residential block in east Columbus’ Walnut Heights neighborhood, according to Interim Police Chief Michael Woods.
There, Woods said police were responding to a 911 disturbance call from someone who said girls or women were “trying to stab” and “put their hands on” others.
The interim chief said dispatchers asked about possible weapons involved, but weren’t able to gather that information. (Recordings of the 911 call released the following day and reviewed by Snopes corroborated that statement — the caller did not answer the dispatchers’ questions regarding possible weapons.)
At that point, the camera recorded Bryant swinging a knife at an unidentified girl or woman, who fell backward onto the ground, and then running at another girl or woman, who was pinned against a vehicle. Meanwhile, the officer shouted “Get down!” and drew his handgun, while another person kicked the girl or woman on the ground.
About one second passed before Reardon fired four shots, and the video showed Bryant fall to the ground. A blade that appeared to resemble a kitchen knife or steak knife lay on the sidewalk, and at least two other police officers (we’ll call them “backup officers” for the purposes of this report) arrived and approached the 16-year-old sprawled out in the driveway.