Indianapolis protesters seek autopsy results, accountability in officer-involved shootings

INDIANAPOLIS — Protesters marched through downtown Indianapolis Wednesday night, again demanding accountability in the fatal officer-involved shooting deaths of two Black men in early May.

The demonstrators, led by Indy10 Black Lives Matter and other groups, demanded that authorities release the autopsy results of 21-year-old Dreasjon Reed and 19-year-old McHale Rose, shot on May 6 and May 7 respectively by officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Protesters also reiterated their call for charges to be filed against the officers who shot the men.

Indy10 Black Lives Matter member Erika Haskins said refusing to release the autopsies exasperates the families’ pain and raises more suspicion about police conduct.

“They still haven’t seen the autopsies, no officers have been criminally charged and the chief has not even recommended discipline for any of them,” Haskins said.

Zion Smith, 21, also of BLM, said police think that keeping the autopsy secret was “keeping more heat from coming on them but it’s going to create more."

Reed's shooting came at the culmination of a now-viral Facebook Live video in which the 21-year-old recorded himself driving while being pursued by IMPD. Reed abandoned his car and then was chased on foot by an officer.

Police say the officer first tried to use a stun gun, but it was “ineffective,” and a confrontation involving the exchange of gunfire between the officer and Reed followed. Reed was fatally shot. No officers were injured.

While police said they recovered a loaded gun near Reed that had been fired at least once, Reed family attorneys denied he pointed or fired a gun.

Reed's mother has since filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Indianapolis and the IMPD for their role in his death. In addition, Marion Superior Court Judge Heather Welch appointed Rosemary Khoury as the special prosecutor in the investigation into Reed’s death.

Khoury, in turn, announced that she had requested the criminal investigation be reassigned from IMPD to Indiana State Police.

Hours after Reed was shot, IMPD officers were called to investigate a burglary in progress, according to IMPD officials.

When four police officers arrived at the scene, police said, they were shot at by a man standing outside the apartment with a rifle.

Police returned fire and struck the suspect, who was later identified by the Marion County Coroner’s Office as McHale Rose. No officers were injured.

A summary of the incident from IMPD states officers may have been lured "into an ambush-style attack."

Rose’s aunt, Tomi Rose, who attended the march and promised to attend several more, said the drawn out investigation is painful.

“Every time we tell his story to one person or to a thousand it rips our hearts open,” Rose said. “We are going to be out here on the streets everyday until we get the justice we need. We are going to keep screaming McHale Rose’s name until we get the truth, until they give us all the information.”

Rose’s cousin, Kyisha Exford, said the family isn’t claiming he was blameless.

“We are not saying he was innocent, I’m just saying it was overkill,” Exford said. “I feel like there were so many options. You could pepper spray him, you can send you dogs out.”

“He was going through some things.”

She said she wants to see the autopsy to verify it matches up with the police account of the shooting.

The Marion County prosecutor’s office is investigating Rose’s killing and had no comment Wednesday.

The deaths of Reed and Rose sparked days of protest in Indianapolis both downtown and near the site of Reed’s killing. When George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police on May 25, protests here grew as they did in scores of cities across the country.

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Wednesday, the 150 protesters gathered at the plaza at City Market, noted that their efforts were having an impact, and that they had more to do.

“We got the officers' names released,” Haskins said. “We got the city to review their use of force policy and they are talking about reallocating funding for police to the community. But our work is not even close to done.”

Follow the reporter on Twitter @John_Tuohy.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis police shootings: Protests for Dreasjon Reed, Mchale Rose