Antonio Martin, 18, shot dead
Martin, who is from the 80% black suburb of Berkeley, Mo., several miles from Ferguson, is shot dead on Christmas eve by a white police officer responding to a call of larceny at a gas station. The shooting is captured on security tape, and a weapon is recovered at the scene. Berkeley mayor Thodore Hoskins, who is African-American as are a majority of the city officials, holds a press conference to distance the shooting from other shootings of black young men by white police officers:
We’re trying to indicate that this wasn’t the same as Ferguson. You couldn’t even compare this with Ferguson or the Garner case in New York.
Calls for calm after shooting
Mayor Hoskins is among officials calling for calm after the shooting of Martin by a white police officer. Berkeley is only a few miles from Ferguson, Mo., but the majority of its officials and police are black in contrast with the white majority in Ferguson. Berkeley has about 80% black population. Hoskins, who is African-American, notes that surveillance video apparently shows Martin pulling a gun on an officer, while Brown was unarmed. Hoskins:
You couldn’t even compare this with Ferguson or the Garner case in New York