Another unarmed black man shot by a police officer in Miami (video)

Video showing the shocking moment an unarmed black therapist was shot by police as he desperately tried to calm his autistic patient has surfaced online.

Charles Kinsey was hit in the leg by a bullet, despite his claims that he had been lying on the floor with his hands in the air throughout the entire incident.

The shooting occurred in North Miami, Florida, on July 18 after police responded to an emergency call from a member of the public, who claimed they had witnessed a man walking around with a gun threatening suicide.

Mr Kinsey had been looking after his 23-year-old patient, who was playing with a toy truck, after the man had run away from his group home.

He added that the toy truck was clearly visible to police at the time of the incident.

But as Mr Kinsey lay down on the ground, with his hands in the air, an officer shot him in the leg , despite him attempting to explain the situation.

In the footage, Mr Kinsey says: "All he has is a toy truck. A toy truck. I am a behaviour therapist at a group home."

He is then heard begging his patient to lie flat on the pavement and keep still.


Narrating his ordeal to WSVN, Kinsey said “When I went to the ground, I’m going to the ground just like this here with my hands up.

“And I am laying down here just like this, and I’m telling them again, ‘Sir, there is no need for firearms. I’m unarmed, he’s an autistic guy. He got a toy truck in his hand.”

In the video, Kinsey is heard asking his patient to calm down. “Rinaldo, please be still, Rinaldo. Sit down, Rinaldo. Lay on your stomach.”

The ordeal went on for a few minutes before Kinsey said one of the officers shot him. “I’m like this right here, and when he shot me, it was so surprising,” Kinsey said. “It was like a mosquito bite, and when it hit me, I’m like, ‘I still got my hands in the air, and I said, ‘No I just got shot! And I’m saying, ‘Sir, why did you shoot me?’ and his words to me, he said, ‘I don’t know.’”

“I was really more worried about him than myself. I was thinking as long as I have my hands up … they’re not going to shoot me. This is what I’m thinking, they’re not going to shoot me. Wow, was I wrong.

“They flipped me over, and I’m faced down in the ground, with cuffs on, waiting on the rescue squad to come. I’d say about 20, about 20 minutes it took the rescue squad to get there. And I was like, bleeding — I mean bleeding and I was like, ‘Wow.'”

Kinsey’s lawyer, Hilton Napoleon, outraged by the incident says, “there’s no justification for shooting an unarmed person who’s talking to you and telling you that they don’t have a gun, and that they’re a mental health counsellor,” Napoleon said.

North Miami Police have not released the officer’s name or an update on their investigation. However, they did say that the State Attorney is now involved with the investigation.