Unarmed black teen. William Chapman, killed by officer who just came off suspension for killing

Rss@dailykos.com (shaun King) · Monday, June 01, 2015, 10:10 pm
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On April 22, the Portsmouth, Virginia, Police Department claimed that 18-year-old William Chapman was suspected of shoplifting from a local Walmart. Completely unarmed, he was shot in the face and killed by an officer with a record so heinous that it is criminal he was ever allowed on the force in the first place.
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In a powerful report written by Jon Swaine of The Guardian, it's made abundantly clear that Chapman's mother has not only been stonewalled for answers, the local Walmart actually called the police on her when she came to the store days later to ask exactly what they are claiming her son stole. They wouldn't give her any answers either.
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The officer who killed Chapman is Stephen Rankin, who had been suspended from street patrol for nearly three years after he killed another unarmed man.
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Chiefs only allowed Rankin to return to front line policing in March last year, almost three years after he killed an unarmed 26-year-old Kazakhstani immigrant in February 2011. Rankin was later found to have insulted the man and his family in other online postings.
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A sergeant in the department at the time told the Guardian that senior commanders were formally warned by one of Rankin’s supervisors weeks before his first fatal shooting that he was “dangerous” and likely to cause someone harm.
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Asked twice during a telephone interview why Rankin had been allowed to continue policing the public, Portsmouth police chief Edward Hargis repeated: “That’s a personnel matter and I can’t comment.” He added: “I’m not going to comment on what people may say, allegation-wise.”
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In addition to this suspension and warnings from his superiors that he was likely to cause harm, Rankin had also been suspended for posting Nazi-inspired images and messages online. How can anyone with such a record be allowed to be in public service?
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