Wow.
(CNN) — The family of a sword-carrying man who was killed in September has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Saratoga Springs, Utah, and the two officers who shot him.
Darrien Hunt, 22, was shot to death while carrying a 40-inch samurai-type sword.
Prosecutors said that Hunt “lunged” at two officers, Cpl. Matt Schauerhamer and Officer Nicholas Judson and their actions were reasonable. The medical examiner’s autopsy report determined Hunt was shot six times, once in the back.
The lawsuit alleges that under the Second Amendment, Hunt had a right to carry the sword and the two officers did not have a right to demand that he surrender.
It took reading until the end of the story to find out this:
Hunt’s mother, Susan, told CNN affiliate KSL her son was killed because he was black.
“No white boy with a little sword would they shoot while he’s running away,” she said.
While the story isn’t specific about all of the facts, lunging at officers with a sword will generally illicit a justifiably forceful response irrespective of the swordsman’s race or ethnicity.
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