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Russell Shoatz

In: Social Issues

Submitted By cowsgomoo731
Words 399
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In 1972, Russell Maroon Shoatz was accused of killing a police officer and imprisoned for murder. He has been in jail for about 30 years for a crime he did not even commit. Russell’s daughter, Theresa Shoatz, had a lot to say about her father and his situation. She told us that her father did not commit the crime, but he knew who did. Russell refused to give names about who killed the police officer because he knew it would just create more problems. Instead, he went to a detective hoping to receive help, but the detective told him that because he was part of the group who murdered the police officer, that he would have to be put in jail. During his time in prison, Russell escaped, not to hurt anyone, but just because he wanted freedom and did not feel like he deserved to be in prison. The Black Panthers played a big role during Russell’s lifetime. They were a group of African Americans who did not want any help from the government, because they felt it was a messed up system. They provided protection for themselves and for others who called upon them. This story of Russell Shoatz is very similar to some of the stories told in Rios’s book, Punished. In Punished, Rios talked to a young boy named Darius who was arrested for robbing a kid. Darius continued to tell Rios that he did not rob the kid and he was not even present during the robbery. The police were just suspicious so they arrested him. Just like Shoatz, Darius was arrested for a crime he did not commit. Just like the Black Panthers, these boys in Punished were forced to protect themselves against violence because they could not trust the police system. The police did not care to help them; they would just punish them and not try to work on rehabilitation. In both of these resources, the bottom line is that they think the police system is faulty. Both Shoatz and these boys have been accused of a crime

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