Florida Police Shoot Unarmed Black Man Roy Middleton In His Own Drive-Way While Looking For A Cigarette In His Mother’s Car
Words by Michael “IceBlue” Harris
O.K. I guess it’s official to say that Florida is not the safest place for a Black man as it’s clearly hunting season in the sunshine or gloomy state depending on where you stand.
60-year-old Roy Middleton is recovering in the hospital after being shot while looking for a cigarette inside his mother’s car which was parked in the drive way of his home.
The incident occurred Saturday and from a witness’ account, the shooting was unprovoked.
The shooting occurred in the town of Warrington, a small predominantly White town just six miles from Pensacola and the Alabama state line.
According to reports, Escambia County sheriff deputies were responding to a 911 call of a neighbor who saw Middleton looking around in the car. When the police arrived to respond to the burglary call, they approached Middleton and demanded he remove himself from the vehicle with his hands raised, according to his account.
Middleton told the Pensacola News Journal that as he heeded the order and turned to face officers, they open fired and struck him in the leg. “It was like a firing squad,” Middleton said. “Bullets were flying everywhere.”
Middleton said he will be recovering for several weeks, although none of his wounds are seen as life-threatening.
According to Newsone, a teenage witness came forward and said that Middleton wasn’t aggressive and didn’t make any motion toward the police that would have prompted them to shoot.
“He wasn’t belligerent or anything,“ said the girl. Middleton thinks that the police operated in haste, and had they taken some small measures, they would have realized that he wasn’t performing a criminal act.
“Even if they thought the car was stolen, all they had to do was run the license plate,” he said. “They would have seen that, that car belonged there.”
The deputies have been placed on paid administrative leave and Middleton says the sheriff’s office has yet to offer an apology or explanation. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.
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