#ryan stokes

Ryan Stokes’ mother Narene Crosby, delivers remarks on the steps of KCPD headquarters on the 10th anniversary of her son’s death.

Key Points

Mother of unarmed Black man shot by KCPD still seeking justice 10 years later

Ryan Stokes’ killing by police was ruled as ‘justified’ due to qualified immunity

The family and Real Justice Network are pushing to end qualified immunity in Missouri

On the 10-year anniversary of her son dying at the hands of a KCPD Officer, Narene Crosby stood on the steps of police headquarters still searching for justice. 

“We are here to remind the city, the state, and the country that we are still here fighting for Ryan, and we’ll keep fighting as long as it takes,” says Crosby. 

Ryan Stokes was shot in the back by a Kansas City police officer 10 years ago. Despite Stokes being unarmed, his killing was ruled as ‘justified’ by a court due to the officer “fearing for his life.” 

“He was the soul of our family, he was the glue,” says Crosby. “His loss was truly profound not just for our family, they took away a business leader, a community leader, a father and a son.”

Over the past decade the family of Ryan Stokes, including his mother and daughter, have sued in order to seek restitution. Their case seemed to have the facts on their side: Ryan Stokes was unarmed, Officer William Thompson shot him in the back within ten seconds of arriving on the scene, and the KCPD even made a false report stating that they saw Stokes with a gun. 

The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court, but the Stokes family has been denied the justice they seek.  They keep running into the same issue: qualified immunity.  

What is Qualified Immunity

The family of Ryan Stokes gathers each year to honor him, but this year they are also pushing to end police qualified immunity. 

“Qualified immunity has allowed police officers to go unchecked for far too long,” says Justice Gatson, director of the Real Justice Network.

Qualified immunity is a legal doctrine that protects government employees from being sued. In effect, qualified immunity makes it nearly impossible to hold police officers accountable. If an officer says they ‘feared for their life,’ their actions are then deemed justifiable even when unconscionable. 

The officer in the Ryan Stokes case said he believed that Stokes had a gun, that belief—even though it was inaccurate—coupled with a fear for his life was enough for qualified immunity to protect the officer from repercussions. 

The US Supreme Court decided not to hear Stokes’ case in July, which upholds the lower court’s ruling that the officer who shot Stokes was justified. Justice Sonia Sotomayor gave a blistering dissent to the court’s decision to not hear the case. 

Real Justice Network Director Justice Gatson says they are committed to ending qualified immunity.

State Level Law Changes Sought

Gatson says that after the case was rejected by the Supreme Court, the group is exploring ways to end qualified immunity at least in the state of Missouri. There are four states that have at least limited qualified immunity, and they hope to make Missouri the fifth. 

The Stokes family and Real Justice Network are pressuring the state legislature to end the practice, and to make police officers carry  insurance, so that if an officer unjustly kills a citizen, the insurance policy would cover a payout instead of public tax dollars. 

They also want officers who’ve faced discipline and been fired for cause to not be able to work as an officer in another city or as prison guards. 

JUSTICE FOR RYAN L. STOKES

In 2013, Ryan L. Stokes was hanging out downtown with friends when a drunk man named Jordan Miller accused one of Ryan's friends of stealing his phone as they walked by. Ryan's friend protested that he did not have his phone. The argument caught the attention of other people on the street, and within 30 seconds Officer Albert Villafain sprayed the crowd with pepper spray. Footage taken by a passerby's cell phone camera shows both of Ryan's hands – he was unarmed right from the start. 

Ryan and his friends ran away from the pepper spray. Three officers initiated a foot pursuit and followed Ryan and one of his friends into a parking lot. One of those officers was William Thompson, who, within seconds of seeing Ryan from the back, yelled "Get down," and fired his gun, killing Ryan. Officer Thompson would later claim that he thought he saw Ryan with a gun. A gun was later found in Ryan's friend's car, but Ryan never carried it. At no point throughout the night had Ryan posed danger to anyone or acted aggressively. The officers were never charged. (Kansas City, MO)

Learn more about this case Please join us in demanding justice for Ryan and other victims of police violence!  

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By Holly Edgell, Editor

If there were any themes for Sharing America stories in July they were at seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum: Well-being and guns.

Here is a selection of our work!

Ashley Lisenby started the month with a story about a St. Louis girl who wants grownups to do something about all the vacant buildings and lots in her neighborhood. Deyon Ryan, 12, wants to see them transformed into safe, liveable places. 

“When I look across the street,” Ryan said sitting outside her home. “There’s nothing but vacant buildings. There’s literally two houses across the street that’s not vacant.”

Next up, Michelle Tyrene Johnson took us to a very special place in Kansas City: Uzazi Village, where staffers are working to lower infant mortality by supporting black mothers.  

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, black women are three to four times more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related causes and the rate of infant mortality for black infants is almost double that of white infants.” 

Vanessa de la Torre reported on a drug that can help prevent HIV, but is not widely known about among communities of color. 

“PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, can lower the risk of getting HIV through sex by more than 90 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People who inject drugs can cut their risk of HIV infection by at least 70 percent with PrEP. Yet six years after the federal government approved the daily blue pill for HIV prevention, Connecticut public health officials say they are still trying to put PrEP on people’s radars, and into the hands of those most vulnerable to contracting the virus.”

Erica Morrison explored the world of black gun ownership. She and her OPB colleague Ryan Haas asked: Who owns guns and why? 

“It’s not clear how many African-American Oregonians own guns because the state does not release demographic data on gun ownership due to privacy laws. But a 2017 survey by the Pew Research Foundation showed a third of black households in America do have a gun. For whites, that number is closer to 50 percent.” 

Michelle had the opportunity to explore the issue of guns when she guest-hosted an edition of the KCUR program Up To Date. 

Police said Ryan Stokes had a gun on him the night he died in Kansas City’s Power and Light entertainment district. 

“After being accused of stealing a cellphone, Stokes and a friend became the targets of a foot chase that ended when police shot and killed Stokes, who was 24 years old. Accounts of what happened that night, five years ago this week, differ between officers and witnesses.”

Finally, in an effort to track “shopping and dining while black” incidents (which seem to keep coming), yours truly created a Google Map of documented cases that involve national chains from coast to coast. Check out the map here.

This was prompted by a high profile incident in the St. Louis area involved 10 Washington University incoming freshman falsely accused of dining and dashing.