Selma once shocked the national consciousness when police beat and tear-gassed 600 civil rights marchers as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on their way to Montgomery. So was the officer who shot him.īut for Toure, the problem in Selma goes far beyond this one case. Selma, which is more than 80% African-American, has a black mayor, a black police chief, a black district attorney and a majority black city council. It was the Ferguson, Missouri, protests that inspired longtime activist Faya Rose Toure to lead the charge for the Shaw family in Selma, though the circumstances are vastly different from Ferguson. Shaw said requests to see the video only gained traction after a small band of protesters took to the streets. “He’d left Church’s Chicken, and wasn’t shot for disturbing the peace, but because they were messing with him in his domain.” And he just can’t understand why they had to follow him. He said Selma police knew his brother “acted crazy,” and walked the streets but that he never harmed anyone. Officers had been called to respond to a disturbance at a Church’s Chicken restaurant, but found Shaw across the street in the long-gone Towns Laundromat.Įdward Shaw said his brother, once a mechanic, had “lost himself” after his wife left him decades ago and his house burned in a fire. An officer follows, there are at least 20 shouts to “drop the ax,” and then Shaw turns toward the officer, appears to lunge toward him, and – bang – he’s dead. One officer ducks inside the building and soon Ananias Shaw emerges, holding an ax and cussing. It shows a patrol officer pulling up to an abandoned building, where two other officers have already gathered. With police shootings making headlines across the nation, the Selma case adds a different layer to the conversation – not least of all because of the city’s historic civil rights significance.ĬNN saw the video, which runs four minutes and 48 seconds, after the family did. And what they saw on December 19 only seemed to raise more questions, leaving them to feel the shooting was more senseless than ever. A grand jury heard the case, saw the footage and decided not to issue an indictment.īut for more than a year, Shaw’s younger brother, Edward, 69, said he and others have been asking to see the tape for themselves.
Video of the incident, captured by an officer’s lapel camera, proved the shooting was justified, officials have argued. They had come to see official video footage of a police shooting that took place more than a year ago.Īnanias Shaw, 74, was killed last December after he rushed an officer while wielding a hatchet, police have said. I ask you to join me in prayerful gratitude for Officer Moorer as we hold his loved ones in our hearts”.On a recent morning, Edward Shaw and other family members walked into the Selma Police Department in search of answers.
We must honor them and never take for granted the sacrifices they make on our behalf. “Every day, officers routinely risk their lives simply by putting on their uniforms and performing their duties to protect their fellow citizens. Officer Moorer was killed, and another person inside the residence at Selma Square Apartments was injured and has been hospitalized. Early this morning, Officer Marquis Moorer was on duty with the Selma Police Department and had stopped by his home for a lunch break when shots were fired from outside. “Once again, one of Alabama’s law enforcement heroes has been tragically struck down. Investigators with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency reported to the scene.Īttorney General Steve Marshall issued the following statement this morning regarding the death of Moorer: One other person, identified as Moorer’s significant other, was injured and transported to a hospital for treatment. at Selma Square Apartments when he went home on his lunch break. Marquis Moorer was shot and killed around 4 a.m.
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