east pittsburgh teen fatally shot in the back by police: another way state violence separates families

Another black life was stolen by state-sanctioned violence against us. This time it was East Pittsburgh teen, Antwon Rose, who was fatally shot and killed by a police officer who was sworn into the local force just hours earlier. At the time of the shooting, Rose was in the passenger seat of the car that had been pulled over after being suspected of being involved in a shooting earlier Tuesday. When police ordered the driver to get out of the car and get on the ground, Rose “bolted” from the vehicle and the East Pittsburgh officer fired at and killed the 17-year-old.

We were devastated to hear that Antwon Rose, one of our skaters was shot in the back and killed by East Pittsburgh police. The footage that has been surfacing online shows a scared kid running for his life. For those who say he shouldn’t have run, maybe your memories are short. Remember Philando Castile, who did everything right and was still murdered while seated in his car. While I sit in the skatepark and look at this picture of Antwon I wonder; how could anyone hurt this kid, feel threatened by him, see him as a threat? It’s baffling and sad but the world we are living in sees Antwon as a threat because he was a black boy in a car. I genuinely fear for the lives of our POC friends and family when they leave the skatepark. Not because of the neighborhood, but the world around us. I wish I could tell my young friends to stay safe, but how? How do they stay safe from cops? How do they stay safe from eyes that only see them as danger? Remember. Say his name. Antwon Rose #antwonrose #blacklivesmatter

A post shared by Switch & Signal Skatepark (@switchandsignalskatepark) on Jun 20, 2018 at 3:42pm PDT