06/15/2020
Aiyana Mo'Nay Stanley-Jones was a 7-year-old African American girl living on Detroit’s East Side. On the night of May 16, 2010 Detroit SWAT broke into the apartment and took her life within seconds. She was asleep on the couch while her grandmother watched television. Police (who were being filmed for the A&E show First 48 where they race to solve crimes in under two days) were searching for a murder suspect, but broke into the wrong apartment. They entered using a flash bang gr***de, which landed so close to Aiyana’s blanket it caught fire, and a single shot was fired, entering her head and exiting her neck. The original story the police told was her grandmother had taken the gun and fired it, but that didn’t seem plausible, so they changed it to “her grandmother brushed the gun causing it to fire”. Detroit Police Officials claim that the entire raid went against protocol, and the TV crews encouraged this.
Aiyana’s killer, Joseph Weekly, was charted with involuntary manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm. After 3 mistrials, and all charges eventually being dropped, Weekly was never held accountable for taking the life of an innocent 7-year-old girl who’s only “crime” was sleeping on the couch. Police brutality, the fetishized version of cops in media, and the negligence of officers have taken too many innocent lives, and disproportionately the lives of our African American brothers and sisters. Black Lives Matter, and until we are all able to be proud of who we are without fear for our lives, no one is equal, and all lives don’t matter. Demand more from your community, demand change, and demand that killers are held accountable for their actions. This fight isn’t over, and we haven’t forgotten. #1312
