Zachary Hammond Was Fatally Shot By Police, #AllLivesMatter Movement Is Interestingly Silent

Zachary Hammond was an unarmed white teenager killed by Seneca, South Carolina police.

His murder was all over for about $50 of weed. What’s even more interesting is the people who cried that all lives matter have been relatively quiet.

Zachary Hammond was shot twice on July 26th during an attempted drug sting.

According to police reports, he had driven a 23-year-old woman to the parking lot after an undercover officer arranged to buy marijuana from her. The woman was not injured.

Authorities say an undercover officer pulled up beside Hammond’s car to buy the drugs, and the officer in uniform was coming up to help with any arrests when Hammond drove his car toward the officer.

Seneca police chief John Covington said the officer, who has not yet been named “felt threatened by [Hammond], who was driving his car toward the officer attempting to make the stop”.

No weapon was recovered in the vehicle.

Hammond had no prior record.

Parents say authorities account is false

The attorney for Hammond’s parents, Eric Bland, has contended the account by authorities is false.

He said a private autopsy, conducted on Thursday, showed Hammond was shot from behind, and that his car was not moving. He said Hammond was unarmed and was at Hardee’s on a date.

“When he [the officer] shot, it was physically impossible for the car to hit him because he’s next to him [Hammond],” Bland told the Guardian.

“So unless a hurricane comes and blows the car over, it’s physically impossible for him to be hit by a car at that point.”

“It is not reasonable,” the report reads, that Hammond “would have suffered these injuries in these anatomic locations [the back of his shoulder and the side of his chest] had [he] been shot from either the rear or the front of the vehicle”.

Zachary Hammond’s life mattered, too

While there’s been much national focus on the police killings of black Americans, Hammond’s race is one reason — though not the only reason — you may not have heard his story until now.

There has been no public outcry especially of the media’s use of family photos that appear to show a younger Hammond wearing braces. There’s no spark of conversation on white men killed by police officers and the need to reform. No discussions on white on white crime.

It does not take away from the fact an unarmed person has been killed by the police. But it is a stark contrast as to what black Americans face in very similar situations.

Surprisingly enough, it is those behind the #blacklivesmatter movement who is bringing attention the death of Zachary Hammond. Because people like me know that while black and brown people have been detrimentally affected by the justice system, we still have a police issue and that can effect ANYONE, no matter your color.

If these people truly believe that all lives do matter, they should be speaking up just like when they raised their voices questioning the deaths of Eric Garner, Michael Brown.

Click here to read more at The Huffington Post