Billboard in Wisconsin features cop who shot 2 dead in 10 days
A billboard in the US state of Wisconsin has featured a police officer, involved in two fatal shootings last month as anger rises against police brutality across the country.
Residents in Kenosha, Wisconsin, have responded negatively to the ad that hails the residents for their support of the police.
The billboard, erected by the Kenosha Professional Police Association, portrays officer Pablo Torres, who shot 26-year-old Aaron Slier and 66-year old Vietnam War veteran Terry Knight to death last March during a ten-day period.
Torres is currently on administrative leave due to an investigation over the shooting death of Siler.
“To me that doesn’t make the department look good,” Kathy Willie, a spokesperson for the Siler family, told The Guardian. “What are they trying to say? Are they trying to say he’s not guilty and they know that for a fact? Why are they thanking him?”
Local media have called for the billboard to come down, noting it could be intended to intimidate people who criticize the police.
The fatal shooting of Siler occurred just 10 days after Torres shot Knight, who allegedly attacked Torres with a knife. Knight was injured, and Torres was cleared of any wrong-doing.
The killing of Siler occurred on Torres’ first day back on the job following an administrative leave for the shooting death of Knight.
Michael Martin Bell, a retired US Air Force pilot and long-time resident of Kenosha, said his son was shot in the head and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop.
Bell said the officer was cleared within 48 hours of killing his son despite lack of a crime lab report and medical report. “The witness statements weren’t even taken,” he said.
“I spent 10 years of my life on this,” he said. “I spent a million dollars of my money on this. I know the system is broken.”
This comes as thousands of people have being hitting the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, to protest police brutality against an African American who succumbed to serious spinal injuries after his arrest.
Freddie Gray, 25, died on April 19, a week after an encounter with police that left him with grave spinal injuries. Authorities have not explained how or when his spine was injured.
Police brutality, particularly the treatment of African Americans and other minorities, has become a major issue in the United States over the past year.
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