Cosplay Isn’t The Issue Regarding Utah Man Shot for Fake Samurai Sword

Darrien Hunt, a Saratoga Springs, Utah, man, left his house and was shot in the back multiple times, it was recently revealed, by police. Police were initially called because a man was walking around with a “samurai-type sword.” Officers, after entirely too long (three days), made a statement saying that Hunt brandished the sword and lunged at the officers so they shot him. This statement does not coincide with witness testimony or that of an autopsy commissioned by the family, which said he fled police and was then shot multiple times in the back.

By now everyone is familiar with the events of Ferguson, MO, which have helped to shine a spotlight on unjust treatment of minority groups by law enforcement. It’s a thing we at Nerd Caliber have certainly been watching, and observing but we haven’t made any official statements because neither it nor the other stories of people like the LA producer who was arrested because he fit the vague description of a suspect (black, bald male) or the Django Unchained actress who was detained for “manifesting prostitution,” for kissing her white husband. Aside from the fact that all these issues are intersectional issues it had no direct contact with Nerd Caliber’s readers until recently.

The reason this news belongs here is because based on photos circulating of Hunt that day the internet questioned (Or in many cases asserted) that Hunt was cosplaying at the time. As a cosplayer how many times have you gone out in a public place in your costume? Whether on the MBTA to Anime Boston or just walking to a secluded spot near your house to take badass cosplay photos we’ve all had — or know people who have had — the experience of walking in public with their weapons, so this is an issue that cosplayers have the potential to encounter in general, but this particular incident screams of racism. There is a very well put write up about the incident over on BlackGirlNerds.com written by Jamie Broadnax where she says:

Stating that race does not play a factor in this shooting condones not only the killing of Darrien Hunt, but also justifies the fact that walking around with a cosplay weapon in broad daylight is enough to earn the label of being considered “suspicious” which are the same words used when John Crawford was killed for holding a Crosman MK-177 air rifle BB gun in Walmart found in the toy aisle back in August of 2014.  In both cases, Hunt and Crawford lived in “open carry” states.

Does the second amendment apply to Black people?  In open carry states are we allowed to carry weapons as freely as white people?  The bigger question is, what exactly constitutes as being “suspicious” in the Hunt case?

The entire editorial is worth reading and is available right here.

There are a lot of unknowns here; the cops probably didn’t know the sword was dull, we don’t know where he was going/what he was going to do, we don’t know why Hunt was running from the officers when they gunned him down — most of which really doesn’t matter at all. Where he was going and what he was going to do was Hunt’s business, why he was running may have been as simple as the cops were aggressive for no reason and instead of saying “We had some calls we just want to examine your item and make sure it’s not dangerous, please place it on the ground sir,” they may have led with “You have a dangerous weapon,” and implied guilt from the beginning. Now that Hunt is no longer with us we only have the testimony of witnesses who didn’t hear the interaction and the three officers who took longer to explain themselves than multiple suspects are given for questioning in isolation.

The only way to prove the police did their due diligence would be if they had body cameras. In a year long study conducted by Police Foundation Executive Fellow, Chief Tony Farrar evaluated the effectiveness of body cameras on the police. “The findings suggest more than a 50% reduction in the total number of incidents of use-of-force compared to control-conditions, and nearly ten times more citizens’ complaints in the 12-months prior to the experiment.” Opponents of this measure use fear mongering and allusions to 1984 but truly if a person at a fast food restaurant can be watched and held accountable for their actions on camera because of the actions of people they’ve never met acting irresponsibly doing the same job, why can’t the police be held to similar standards? Especially if they wield so much power in “he said/she said,” debates — ones in which lives may be and have been lost.

Cosplay or no cosplay, the “He’s coming right for us,” excuse doesn’t work if you shoot someone in the back.