Florida Cops ‘Followed Standard Protocols’ Shooting Unarmed Black Man

 

Roy Howard Middleton was shot 15 times by police in his driveway. (Fox News 10 screenshot)

Florida’s Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said his officers followed protocol when they fired 15 shots at unarmed Roy Howard Middleton, 60, because he failed to comply with their commands, according to Salon.

During an interview on Thursday with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, Morgan said that the officers saw a metallic object in Middleton’s hands as he made a “lunging movement” toward them. Middleton has said that he thought a neighbor was playing a joke.

Florida’s Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan sees nothing wrong with the fact that officers in his patrol fired 15 shots at an unarmed, 60-year-old black man. The sheriff told CNN that his officers were, in fact, following protocol perfectly.

Roy Middleton was in the driveway of his and his mother’s home when he was shot multiple times, as police arrived in the area in response to a 911 call about a suspected car theft. “Right now we are comfortable from a training perspective that our officers did follow standard protocols,” Morgan said.

Via Think Progress: On Thursday, Morgan defended the officers’ actions as standard procedure because Middleton “did not comply.” Asked by CNN’s Chris Cuomo how police could justify 15 shots at a 60-year-old man, Morgan said the officers saw a metallic object in Middleton’s hand as he made a “lunging movement” toward them. Middleton explained this in his account: He turned around because he thought the entire thing was a practical joke played by a neighbor… The officers are on paid administrative leave, pending an investigation.