The family of a black man who died in 2018 at age 19 while being held by Maryland police say the “unreal and senseless” death of their loved one sparked racial hostility in the surrounding neighborhood.
In January 2022, a United States District Judge named Catherine Blake made the decision not to dismiss the family’s case alleging that Black was a victim of excessive police violence.
The 27-page judgment, authored by Blake, says bodycam video of the fatal incident does not definitively refute the family’s claims that Black was the victim of excessive violence at the hands of officers responding to the incident.
Dateline devoted an entire year to investigating the circumstances of Black’s murder and the parallels that might be drawn to Floyd’s murder. What did it dawn on Anton Black to do? Every Friday night at 10 am Eastern Standard Time, NBC airs a full hour special.
Dateline: What happened to Anton Black?
Anton Black died after being searched by white police officers and held for six minutes outside the home he shared with his family in a rural area of Greensboro.
Eight months after a court ruled not to dismiss the family’s allegation that police used excessive force, Black’s parents have decided to take action to respond to the situation.
An autopsy report on Black’s death was released in 2019, two days after Maryland Governor Larry Hogan expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of the investigation.
According to the results of the state coroner’s autopsy, Black’s death was an accident and it is likely that his congenital heart problem, mental instability and stress caused by the war contributed to his death.
However, a cardiologist from Johns Hopkins University, who was present during the inquest and observed the family’s case, stated that Black’s true cause of death was asphyxiation.
dr David Fowler, who was the chief medical officer for the state of Maryland until his retirement in 2019, was responsible for ensuring the validity and authenticity of the autopsy performed on Black.
A family friend, Christina Robinson, blames the police for Black’s murder, despite knowing that many white people in the city supported the police.
19-year-old Anton Black died of police brutality because of racial prejudice
On September 15, 2018, it was revealed by Dailymail.com that Anton Black died as a result of a confrontation with Greensboro police that took place on his mother’s porch.
“He’s standing on his mother’s doorstep right now. His only wish was to return to his homeland. Why do you keep ignoring him when he’s in the same room? It was reportedly told to Dateline by Antone Black, his son’s father.
After that, he continued by saying, “That’s not right.” “He didn’t attack anyone,” said the narrator. He didn’t rob a bank, no. He wasn’t responsible for anyone’s death.
After receiving a report that an adult man was forcibly dragging a child down the street while holding the child’s head, retired officer Thomas Webster IV was seen on body camera footage of the incident speaking to the child. The incident followed a call to 911 that reported the adult man was doing so.
The young man, who was a friend of Black’s family, told the police officer that the reason for his unusual behavior was that he was “schizophrenic”.
When Webster ordered Black to put his hands behind his back and arrest himself, Black responded by saying “I love you”. Black was then placed under arrest. After that, he reversed course, jogged back to the house he shared with his parents, and then got into a car.
Black lost consciousness when Webster and two other officers, the former Ridgley Police Commissioner and a Centerville Police Department officer named Dennis Lannon, tried to restrain him. Manos and Lannon were off duty when they tried to help Webster capture Black, so they couldn’t be of any use.
Where is Anton Black Killer Officer Thomas Webster now?
It is unlikely that Thomas Webster, a former Greensboro police officer who has been charged with serious crimes and is the subject of a civil lawsuit, is currently incarcerated.
No one was ever arrested or charged in connection with Anton’s death because it was decided it was an accident.
The judge concluded that Webster made no effort to defuse the situation or avoid responding to a person going through a mental health crisis when he smashed the car window and shocked Black. This is consistent with Greensboro Police Department policy.
In one such incident in 2013, Thomas broke the jaw of a black man by kicking him in the face during arrest. Although the dashboard camera video demonstrated this, he was found not guilty.
After being charged with second-degree aggravated assault, he resigned from his position at Dover with what appeared to be no major complications and a sizeable $230,000 settlement. His resignation went smoothly.