The mother of a one-year-old black boy, seriously injured in the head by police in Houston, in the southern United States, announced Tuesday, March 16, her intention to file a complaint against the police.
Read also: USA: a woman who invented her assault by a black man will not be prosecuted
"
My baby should never have been shot, especially not by the police,
" Legend Smalls' mother said at a press conference.
"
He still has bullet fragments in his head and remains in intensive care
" nearly two weeks after having had part of his brain removed, said Daisha Smalls, 19, her voice choked with emotion.
Late on March 3, the young woman was filling up with gasoline, with her son strapped to a baby seat in the back seat, when a vehicle, chased by the police, left the road in front of the gas station.
An armed man, suspected of at least two robberies, got out and jumped into Ms Smalls' car.
The police then opened fire, killing the suspect and injuring the little boy.
Right now, when facing African Americans, the police shoot first and ask questions then.
Ms Smalls "
was refueling,
" Houston Police official Troy Finner said after the tragedy.
But, according to the young woman, she had finished and was again seated in her vehicle, when the chased man entered it.
"
They knew she was in the car and they fired anyway
," assured her lawyer Ben Crump, who specializes in cases of police violence against African Americans.
"
Right now, facing African Americans, the police shoot first and then ask questions, and they don't do that with other citizens,
" he said.
“
You shouldn't shoot when you don't know your target,
” added his colleague Antonio Romanucci.
“
We're not in a movie or a TV series!
The two men demanded access to recordings of the scene, noting that Houston police are believed to be equipped with cameras during their interventions.
"
We are still gathering the facts, but a complaint will be filed shortly,
" added Antonio Romanucci.
Criticism of the American police, regularly accused of using excessive force against the black minority, took on an unprecedented scale after the death of George Floyd, under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25.
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