Robert Hunt, 19, was visiting his grandmother in Urbana, Illinois when he made the fateful decision to visit relatives and friends in Cairo. According to the Civil Rights Commission, Hunt was riding in an automobile with five others on the night of July 15, 1967, when Cairo police stopped the vehicle, allegedly for having a defective taillight. Many Blacks told the Commission of being pulled over by Cairo police officers for dubious reasons and then being thrashed with a verbal, and sometimes physical, abuse. Hunt responded to the policeman’s verbal barrage with a spoken onslaught of his own, the Commission found. He was charged with disorderly conduct and taken to jail. Police reported they locked Hunt into a cell at 12:30 a.m., and found him “approximately 30 to 40 minutes later…hanged by his t-shirt.” The police called for a doctor. The physician pronounced Hunt dead and then immediately contacted the coroner for Alexander County, Leo Siers, was satisfied with the police account. After Hunt’s aunt identified his body, Siers quickly and quietly ruled the death a suicide that same morning, sent the body to an undertaker for embalming, and sent his body home to his grandmother in Urbana.
In 1967, walls that did not reach the ceiling divided cells in the police station. Wire mesh filled the gap between the ceiling and the top of the walls. According to police, "Hunt tied his t-shirt to this wire" via @Black Culture
Source: douthof64.cdale.biz
In 1967, walls that did not reach the ceiling divided cells in the police station. Wire mesh filled the gap between the ceiling and the top of the walls. According to police, "Hunt tied his t-shirt to this wire" via @Black Culture
Source: douthof64.cdale.biz
#IfIDieInPoliceCustody #WhatHappenedToSandraBland
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