More details released about Minnesota cop shooting of Justine Ruszczyk
Police Officer Mohamed Noor in Minneapolis has been using his constitutional right to remain silent following the fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk, forcing many to turn elsewhere for answers as to what happened.
It was initially reported that Officer Noor and his partner, Matther Harrity, arrived after Ruszcyzk’s made a call about a possible assault happening behind her home. Neither of the officers’ body cameras were turned on, nor was the dashboard camera in the car. All anyone knew is that Noor suddenly shot Ruszcyzk and she died from her injuries.
Now, CNN reports that Noor fired the shot while sitting in the passenger seat of the police vehicle after hearing a noise.
With such little knowledge about what happened being made available, everyone from Ruszcyzk’s fiance to the mayor of Minneapolis have come out to publicly ask for more information from either the department or Noor himself.
“He has a story to tell that no one else can tell,” Mayor Betsy Hodges said, according to CNN. “We can’t compel him by law, but I wish that he would make that statement.”
The narrative of Noor, a Somali-American and Muslim officer, shooting Ruszycyzk, a white woman from Australia, has been treated as a top story by multiple news outlets. The attention surrounding it has made many raise an eyebrow and wonder if this is because of the visuals of the incident.
Again, a panicky police officer appears to have fired on an unarmed person with no justified reasoning outside of “fear.” However, the reactions that this shooting has brought on is on a completely different level than that of other highly covered incidents where the victims were Black and the officers weren’t. For example, the “#BlueLivesMatter” crowd has been noticeably silent in the defense of Noor.
Following an investigation, the shooting may not even go to trial for another two to four months, according to CNN. And that’s only if county attorney Mike Freeman decides either of the officers should be charged. The department’s body camera regulations are also being reviewed.