INDIANAPOLIS – Members of the Black Church Coalition held a press conference Tuesday asking for accountability for IMPD officers who were involved in the death of one man and the shooting of another.
Faith leaders say they want justice for Herman Whitfield III after he died while in police custody during a mental health crisis last year. “We have been demanding that IMPD hold the officers who took the life of Herman Whitfield III accountable,” said Pastor Timothy Taylor, with the Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church
They also want justice for Anthony Maclin who was shot by police while sitting in a car parked in his grandmother’s driveway. Maclin’s Grandma, Vickie Driver, said she thought the person in the car may have been her Grandson, but it was late at night and she wanted the police to check first. Driver said three officers wound up shooting Maclin, who was able to survive.
Justice should not depend on your zip code,” said Driver. “Justice should not depend on the color of your skin.
The Black Church Coalition is asking the Department of Justice to investigate an “ongoing pattern of brutality and violence exhibited by officers of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.”
