A living record of protest

On August 30, 2025, Rajon Belt-Stubblefield, a 37-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by an Aurora Police officer following a traffic stop that escalated into a fatal confrontation. The shooting occurred on the sixth anniversary of the death of Elijah McClain, another high-profile Aurora police brutality case. Belt-Stubblefield was pulled over for speeding but fled, crashing into two vehicles before coming to a stop at a Sinclair gas station near 6th Avenue and Billings Street. Body camera footage shows the officer approaching Belt-Stubblefield's vehicle with his gun drawn. Belt-Stubblefield exited his car saying "Don't shoot me," then tossed a handgun onto the sidewalk as he walked toward the officer. He repeatedly told bystanders to "get that," referring to the gun, while advancing toward the officer. The officer backed away approximately 50 feet down the sidewalk, repeatedly ordering Belt-Stubblefield to get on the ground and warning "I'll shoot you." The officer then fired three times, the final shot striking Belt-Stubblefield in the head. Belt-Stubblefield's 18-year-old son was in a car behind his father and witnessed the shooting, screaming "He just shot my dad. He had no gun." Civil rights attorney Ben Crump is representing the family, who called the shooting a "murder" and an "execution." The officer, identified by local activists as Matthew Neely, had been involved in 10 prior uses of force during his career with Aurora Police. Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain defended the shooting as necessary self-defense, but the family and critics noted that less-lethal options were available. The autopsy revealed Belt-Stubblefield had a blood alcohol content of .274 at the time of the incident. The case has renewed calls for police reform in Aurora, a department already under scrutiny following the Elijah McClain case and a state attorney general finding of "pattern and practice of racially biased policing."

On August 3, 2025, Donald Taylor, a 32-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by Hollywood Police officers in Miramar, Florida. Police initially claimed they were "forced to fire" because Taylor was armed and refused to follow commands. However, security camera footage obtained by the family's attorneys contradicts this account, showing Taylor walking away from officers with his arms extended to his sides, appearing unarmed, when an officer fired a single shot into his back. Taylor had an active arrest warrant as a suspect in a string of armed robberies throughout Hollywood and Miramar in the days prior to the shooting. His family stated that he had "recently begun to suffer debilitating symptoms of a mental health crisis." The Whitehouse Law Group, a Black-owned Miami law firm representing the family, released the video and stated that "Donald Taylor posed NO THREAT to the officers or the public at the time of this shooting." The Hollywood Police Department has refused to release body camera footage, has not confirmed whether such footage exists, and has not identified the officer who fired the fatal shot. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting an investigation. Police claimed a gun was recovered at the scene, but the video shows Taylor's hands empty and raised as he walked away. The family's attorneys emphasized that regardless of any alleged crimes, Taylor was entitled to due process and that "police should not, and do not have the authority to act as judge, jury, and executioner."

On June 23, 2025, Jabari Peoples, an 18-year-old Black man and recent high school graduate, was shot and killed by a Homewood Police officer in the parking lot of the Homewood Soccer Complex in Homewood, Alabama, an affluent suburb of Birmingham. According to police, the officer approached a vehicle where Peoples and his girlfriend were parked after smelling marijuana and noticing a handgun in the driver's side door pocket. Police claimed that during an attempted arrest for marijuana possession, Peoples grabbed the gun and the officer fired in self-defense. However, an independent autopsy commissioned by the family and conducted in Atlanta revealed that Peoples was shot in the back with no exit wound. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing the family, stated that this finding contradicted the police narrative. Peoples' girlfriend maintained that he was unarmed and complied with the officer's commands. The family demanded release of body camera footage, which authorities initially withheld. Peoples' father, William Peoples, stated at a press conference: "Show us the video." On August 1, 2025, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency completed its investigation and turned over bodycam footage to the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office. On August 6, 2025, District Attorney Danny Carr announced that no criminal charges would be filed against the officer, stating that the video showed Peoples grabbing a weapon from the car door before being shot. The DA confirmed Peoples was shot in the back as he fell to the ground while still holding the gun. The officer's identity has not been publicly released. The case drew comparisons to other high-profile police shootings of unarmed Black individuals and sparked community protests in Aliceville, Peoples' hometown.

On May 12, 2025, Rashaud Terrelle Johnson, a 32-year-old Black man and stand-up comedian, was shot and killed by Aurora Police Officer Brandon Mills at The Parking Spot, a parking lot near Denver International Airport. Johnson, who was unarmed and experiencing a mental health crisis, had been walking barefoot around the parking lot for over two hours. Employees called 911 five times reporting that Johnson appeared to be under the influence, was pulling on car doors, and had tried to fight employees. Officer Mills arrived alone and attempted to communicate with Johnson, who did not respond to questions and rushed toward the officer. Mills swung his baton and fired his Taser before the two ended up on the ground in a struggle. After separating, Mills drew his firearm and ordered Johnson to get on the ground. Johnson stood still momentarily, then slowly began walking toward Mills with his hands at his sides. Mills shot him twice in the chest from approximately 15 feet away, about 45 seconds after the physical altercation ended. Body camera footage shows that after the shooting, Mills held Johnson at gunpoint as he bled on the ground, waiting approximately five minutes for another officer to arrive without attempting to render aid. When backup arrived, Mills told the officer that Johnson was unarmed. Johnson's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Aurora and Officer Mills, with attorneys calling it "the worst Aurora police killing since Elijah McClain." The Aurora Police Department, already under scrutiny for its history of excessive force against Black residents, faces its second lawsuit in 2025 for unlawful use of deadly force.

On July 6, 2024, Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman, was shot and killed by Sangamon County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Grayson inside her home near Springfield, Illinois. Massey had called 911 to report a possible prowler outside her residence. When deputies Grayson and Dawson Farley arrived, they searched the area and found nothing. They then entered Massey's home to obtain her identification. During the encounter, Grayson noticed a pot of water boiling on the stove and asked Massey to move it. As she picked up the pot, Massey said, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." Grayson drew his weapon, threatened to shoot her in the face, and opened fire as Massey ducked behind her kitchen counter, striking her in the head. Grayson was fired from the Sheriff's Office and charged with three counts of first-degree murder on July 17, 2024. His employment history revealed a troubling pattern: he had worked for six law enforcement agencies in four years, had two DUI convictions, and had been discharged from the U.S. Army for "misconduct (serious offense)." Previous employers had documented issues with insubordination, failure to follow orders, and poor report writing. Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell retired in August 2024 amid questions about why Grayson had been hired. On October 29, 2025, after a seven-day trial, a jury found Grayson guilty of second-degree murder rather than first-degree murder, determining that while his fear was unreasonable, he honestly believed he was in danger. On January 29, 2026, Grayson was sentenced to the maximum of 20 years in prison. Massey's family reached a $10 million settlement with Sangamon County, and Illinois enacted the "Sonya Massey Law," requiring more thorough background checks before hiring police officers. The U.S. Department of Justice also reached an agreement with the county to implement de-escalation training and develop a mental health response program.

The Buffalo Tops massacre of May 14, 2022, was a racially motivated mass shooting in which an 18-year-old white supremacist killed ten Black people and wounded three others at a Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in the predominantly Black East Side neighborhood of Buffalo, New York. The gunman, Payton Gendron, traveled approximately 200 miles from his hometown of Conklin, New York, specifically targeting this location because of its large Black population. He livestreamed the first two minutes of his attack on Twitch before the platform shut down the broadcast. Armed with a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle illegally modified to accept high-capacity magazines, wearing body armor and a military helmet with a camera, Gendron first shot four people in the parking lot, killing three, before entering the store and killing seven more. Retired Buffalo police officer Aaron Salter Jr., working as the store's security guard, fired at Gendron and struck his body armor, but the bullet failed to penetrate. Salter was then killed. Gendron surrendered to police after being confronted by officers outside the store. He became the first person in New York State history charged with domestic terrorism motivated by hate. On February 15, 2023, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole on state charges after pleading guilty to murder and hate-motivated domestic terrorism. Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in a separate federal case. Payton Gendron was born on June 20, 2003, and grew up in Conklin, New York, a small town approximately 200 miles from Buffalo. In his 180-page manifesto posted online before the attack, he described how he was radicalized on 4chan while "bored" during the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in early 2020. His primary inspiration was Brenton Tarrant, the perpetrator of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, who had also livestreamed his attack. When researchers analyzed Gendron's manifesto through plagiarism software, they found that entire paragraphs had been copied from 4chan threads, racist websites, and Tarrant's manifesto. The document also included a 673-page Discord diary where Gendron posted multiple times daily between November 2021 and May 12, 2022—two days before the attack. Gendron embraced the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory—a white supremacist ideology claiming that white people are being systematically replaced by non-white populations through immigration and demographic changes, often with alleged Jewish orchestration. This racist conspiracy theory, popularized by French writer Renaud Camus in 2011, has motivated numerous mass shootings including Christchurch. After approximately two years of exposure to this ideology, Gendron came to believe it was his purpose to commit a violent attack to prevent what he perceived as an "uprising" against white people. At approximately 2:30 p.m. on May 14, 2022, Gendron arrived at the Tops supermarket wearing body armor, a military helmet, and tactical gear. He had researched the location specifically because the surrounding ZIP code had the highest percentage of Black residents within a reasonable driving distance. Before opening fire, his livestream captured him saying "just got to go for it." He shot four people in the parking lot, killing Roberta Drury, Heyward Patterson, and Aaron Salter Jr., while wounding Zaire Goodman in the neck. Goodman, a 20-year-old store employee who was collecting carts, was the only Black victim to survive. Inside the store, Gendron continued his rampage, shooting eight more people. He killed Ruth Whitfield (86), an 86-year-old grandmother who had just visited her husband at a nursing home; Pearl Young (77), who ran a food pantry for 25 years; Katherine Massey (72), a lifelong civil rights activist who had recently written a letter to the Buffalo News advocating for gun control legislation; Celestine Chaney (65), a breast cancer and brain aneurysm survivor shopping for strawberries to make shortcake; Geraldine Talley (62), who was about to become a first-time grandmother; Margus Morrison (52), a school bus aide buying snacks for movie night with his wife; and Andre Mackneil (53), who was purchasing a birthday cake for his 3-year-old son. Among those wounded were Jennifer Warrington (50), a pharmacist at the store who suffered a scalp wound from shrapnel, and Christopher Braden (55), who was shot in the leg and required surgery for an open fracture to his tibia and fibula. Both Warrington and Braden are white; the shooter spared some white victims he encountered, according to witness accounts. Police confronted Gendron as he exited the store. He put his rifle to his own neck but surrendered after negotiation. He was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder, domestic terrorism motivated by hate, and other offenses. On November 28, 2022, Gendron pleaded guilty to all state charges. On February 15, 2023, Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan sentenced him to life in prison without parole, telling him "there is no place for you or your beliefs in a civilized society." He was the first person convicted under New York's domestic terrorism statute. The massacre prompted widespread mourning and calls for action against white supremacist radicalization online. President Biden visited Buffalo and met with victims' families. Governor Kathy Hochul announced $2.8 million in funding for victims and families and later committed $5 million toward a permanent memorial, "Seeing Us," designed by Jin Young Song and Douglass Alligood. In March 2024, a New York state judge ruled that Reddit and YouTube must face lawsuits alleging they played a role in Gendron's radicalization. Families of victims have also sued social media platforms including Meta and Snapchat.

Marvin David Scott III was a 26-year-old African American man who died while in the custody of law enforcement at the Collin County Jail in McKinney, Texas. On March 14, 2021, Scott was restrained by multiple officers inside the jail after being detained for a misdemeanor offense. During the restraint, Scott experienced medical distress and later died. Seven law enforcement officers involved in the incident were placed on administrative leave pending investigation. The Texas Ranger Division initiated an independent criminal investigation into Scott’s death. On April 29, 2021, the Collin County Medical Examiner ruled the manner of death a homicide. The official cause of death was determined to be “fatal acute stress response in an individual with previously diagnosed schizophrenia during restraint struggle with law enforcement.” Scott’s death drew national attention to the treatment of individuals with mental illness in carceral settings, the use of restraint by law enforcement, and the broader pattern of deaths occurring in custody involving Black Americans.

On the evening of June 12, 2020, Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old Black father of four, was shot and killed by Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe in a Wendy's parking lot in South Atlanta. Brooks had been celebrating his daughter's birthday at an arcade earlier that day. Officers were called to investigate reports of a man asleep in a car blocking the drive-through lane. Body camera footage showed officers having a calm, cooperative conversation with Brooks for nearly 40 minutes as they conducted field sobriety tests. When a breathalyzer showed Brooks was over the legal limit, Officer Rolfe told him he was under arrest. A struggle ensued as officers tried to handcuff Brooks. During the scuffle, Brooks grabbed Officer Brosnan's taser and fled through the parking lot. Video footage captured Brooks turning and pointing the taser at Rolfe as he ran. Rolfe fired his gun three times, striking Brooks twice in the back. An autopsy confirmed Brooks died from two gunshot wounds to the back. The shooting occurred less than three weeks after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and reignited protests across Atlanta. The Wendy's restaurant was burned down the following night. Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned the day after the shooting. District Attorney Paul Howard initially charged Rolfe with felony murder and ten other charges, including five counts of aggravated assault. However, in May 2021, the Civil Service Board reinstated Rolfe with back pay, finding the city had not afforded him due process. In August 2022, special prosecutor Pete Skandalakis announced all charges against Rolfe and Brosnan would be dropped, stating the officers "committed no crimes" and their use of force was justified. The city of Atlanta later paid $1 million to Brooks's family to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.