On March 22nd of 2019, the white police officer responsible for the death of black teenager Antwon Rose II was acquitted of charges of homicide. The officer’s name was Michael Rosfeld of East Pittsburgh. 

On November 19 of 2012, police received calls of shots fired in an apparent drive-by shooting. Shots were exchanged between a 22-year-old man who was found injured on the scene and a car carrying 3 individuals that soon after fled. Later, after this incident, reports of the appearance of the car were being made to the police which eventually led to a felony traffic stop being conducted on the vehicle. After being stopped, 2 of the 3 individuals in the car jumped out and ran from the scene. In response officer Michael Rosfeld fired 3 shots at Antwon, hitting his back and killing him. 

Upon investigation, it was discovered that there were 2 handguns hidden in the floorboards of their vehicle. The pocket of Antwon Rose allegedly may have contained an empty nine-millimeter magazine, however nothing that could be viewed as a weapon. He was guilty of running away from a traffic stop in which he was one of the primary suspects. The jury disputed Rosfeld’s innocence, were the actions he did that night justified and necessary to directly protecting himself and the community? Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Fodi stated that Rosfeld had acted as “judge, jury, and executioner,” and that the video of the incident proved “there was no threat” to the police. He later added that “we don’t shoot first and ask questions later.” Rosfeld tried to cover his actions in his testimony by claiming he saw a gun in the boys’ hands. “It happened very quickly,” Rosfeld said. “My intent was to end the threat that was made against me.” In the video, however, the “threat” mentioned by Rosfeld does not appear to take place. 

The jury of 12 people had only 3 black members and was taken from a county notorious for being aggressively conservative. The final verdict was found less than four hours into the fourth day of deliberations. During the reading, Antwon Rose’s mother and sister remained calm and collected, however, Rosfeld and his wife were removed from the courtroom due to his wife’s sobbing. 

When asked about Michael Rosfeld after the reading of the verdict, Defense lawyer Patrick Thomassey responded that Rosfeld is “a good man, he is.” He wanted the city to remain calmed and wished, “everybody takes a deep breath and gets on with their lives.” In his closing statement, Thomassey told the jury to view Rosfeld as a “sitting duck,” and asked them to take into consideration “the standard of what a reasonable police officer would do under the circumstances.” 

If shooting an unarmed teenager fleeing a traffic stop to the point of killing him is the “standard” of “reasonable police officers” then serious changes must be made to the way police respond to these cases.