In the early hours of July 24, teenager Anthoneil Williams II called 911 to report a young person possibly holding a gun. Minutes later, he was dead— shot dozens of times by the very officers who should have helped him. We demand accountability for the Austin Police Department‘s killing of the unarmed 17-year-old, who was carrying nothing but a water bottle when officers opened fire on him at a neighborhood playground.
NPAP Executive Director Lauren Bonds issued this statement:
A young man is dead, and APD’s immediate response is to blame him. How despicable. Without any meaningful investigation, they declared Anthoneil’s death to be ‘suicide by cop.’ APD’s rush to judgement speaks volumes. Not about Anthoneil, but about how reckless and dangerous APD officers are. What happened to the de-escalation techniques they were trained on?
Every day, it seems, another child dies at the hands of police. How many Black kids need to die before the police finally change the way they operate?
Anthoneil called the police for help. He ended up dead on a playground for lifting his hands like he was pointing finger guns. That is not public safety; that is a system that kills kids for existing in fear.
Anthoneil’s family deserves answers and accountability, and the Austin community deserves a public safety system that doesn’t kill kids in crisis.
Instead, the city is already making excuses for the officers involved. When local leaders won’t hold their own police accountable, communities have to find other ways to do it themselves.
That’s exactly why NPAP will be in Austin later this year, training attorneys and advocates on the legal tools available to us to fight back.