Alabama cop Aaron Cody Smith guilty of manslaughter Gregory Gunn

Source: Raymond Boyd / Getty

Ex-Cop Cody Smith Found Guilty Of Manslaughter Of Unarmed Gregory Gunn

Hank Willis Thomas’ “Raise Up” statue stands inside The National Memorial For Peace And Justice in Montgomery, Alabama to remind people of the ongoing issues that Black people have with police after being subjected to hundreds of years of state violence at the hands of police.

In 2019 that problem persists despite our best efforts to hold all officers accountable for their use of deadly force against Black people who have posed them no threat. Last week, according to WSFA, those efforts bore SOME fruit as former Montgomery Police Department officer Aaron Cody Smith was found guilty of the manslaughter of 59-year-old Gregory Gunn. Gunn is said to have fled Smith on foot after he was subjected to a stop-and-frisk while walking home on Feb. 25, 2016.

Smith shot a weaponless Gunn multiple times as he ran away, the first bullet struck him in the back. The jury was given the option of finding Smith guilty of murder but only took two hours to come back with a unanimous manslaughter verdict.

Said District Attorney Daryl Bailey:

“This defendant gave statement after statement after statement after statement with large pieces of the facts he would change. The other thing that came out is that he shot this guy in the back first. That was the first shot that he made on this,” Bailey said. “The other fact that came out is that this victim had a hat in his hand at the time of his death, and he was clinching to that hat, impossible to do the things that this defendant said he did while clinching that hat.”

It should come as no surprise whatsoever that Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley and his band of murderous men are incredulous about the jury’s verdict as he told reporters that there is a sense of shock in the department.

“We have to handle this and move on, and so it’s going to be a healing process not only for the great men and women of MPD but also the community as well,” Finley said.

Tuh. F*** Aaron Cody Smith and f*** the department’s shock and sadness.