On anniversary of Osaze Osagie’s death, 3.20 Coalition repudiates DA’s report, calls for change

Friday is the one-year anniversary of Osaze Osagie’s death at the hands of State College police. He should still be with us. His killing was the result of poor policing practices and an insensitivity to Osaze’s mental health condition, which created a lethal escalation of tension.

Members of the community formed the 3.20 Coalition in order to honor Osaze’s life, and advocate for change and justice. Due to health concerns, we canceled our planned activities, yet Osaze’s life deserves to be remembered. COVID-19 teaches the important lesson that events and trends across society impact everybody, the simple truth that “an injury to one is an injury to all.”

Osaze’s death follows a nationwide trend of Black deaths at the hands of white law enforcement. In 2019, police killed 235 Black people. Blacks are almost three times more likely to be killed by police than whites, and people with untreated mental illnesses are 16 times more likely to be killed. Osaze’s death sits at the crossroads of these sobering statistics.

Our district attorney has declared the killing justified as officers have a right to use lethal force when they feel their lives are in danger. He asserted this repeatedly in a report that serves as the rationale for the actions of unnamed police officers 1, 2 and 3. The DA tells one story, yet by reviewing the trajectory of events, a different story emerges thus meriting a re-tell.

Osaze also felt his life was in danger due to the actions of the police. Officers approached his door at the behest of his father, knowing he was in crisis, yet escalated the interaction by covering the peephole, knocking aggressively, yelling at him when he answered the door and audibly preparing to use a Taser on him. If we believe their testimony, officer No. 2 claimed he used a Taser on Osaze to no effect, then after significantly escalating the encounter, officer No. 1 shot him because he charged at them with a five inch steak knife.

Officers make an incredulous claim that in the seven feet between the doorway, where Osaze was standing, and the staircase, where the police were positioned, that Osaze ran toward them “as fast as a human can run.” It’s a specious claim tainted by overused racial tropes which position Black men as bigger, stronger, more dangerous and virtually superhuman. There is no living witness to corroborate the officers’ testimony.

Those who loved him describe Osaze as prayerful, playful, kind and nonviolent, while officer No. 1 has been investigated on one prior charge of overuse of force, a fact omitted from the DA report. The DA, city manager and police chief refuse to acknowledge the racial taint of this incident and role of implicit bias. Instead choosing to encircle the police and protect their sloppy, disastrous attempt to respond to a parent’s plea for help.

We repudiate the facile, biased conclusions of the report. These tragic events reveal an urgent need for the establishment of a community oversight board. We call for the firing of officer No. 1, and the divestment of guns being used during mental health checks. De-escalation should always be used as a first result during mental health checks. Moreover, what transpired fosters a hostile, mistrustful environment and may contribute to further incidents of police misconduct in the future. Osaze Osagie’s life matters to our community and especially to his loved ones. Disappointingly, our city officials failed to act in accord with this truth.

This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.