A court in Florida has fined a former police officer for fatal killing of an African American for 25 years. 41-year-old Nouman Raja was convicted of manslaughter and attempted murder.
This is the first time since 1989 that a police officer in Florida is being sentenced to death for being shot dead in the service. Raja had shot musician Corey Jones in October 2015.
The 31-year-old drummer had a car breakdown at night on the way home from a concert. As he waited for a tow truck, the civilian-dressed Raja approached. According to the prosecutor, he did not identify himself as a police officer and acted aggressively.
Therefore, Jones apparently assumed that Raja wanted to rob him - and pulled a weapon that he had legal. The policeman shot six times and wounded the musician deadly. Raja is of Asian origin. "This is not a matter of fact," said Clinton Jones Sr., the father of the deceased, according to ABC News.
The lawyers of the convicted person announced that they would appeal. They had argued in the process that Jones fired in self-defense.
Cases of police violence against African Americans cause indignation in the US again and again. In the summer of 2014, the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, triggered rioting.