When I heard that the police had shot and killed a gentle young man in Hilo, I was horrified. Then I heard that the young man’s mother was in flight, intending to land and reunite with her son — only to find out that the police had killed him. I could only imagine how painful it was to deal with this news. When I reached out and spoke to her, she said she was not allowed to see her son and was not told that he was shot 13 times. That fact was not revealed to her until she and her husband read it in the newspaper.
In my letter to the editor published in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald in July, I called for an outside investigation (which was deleted) as well as vetting of police who over react using guns — such as the June 18 Hilo killing of Daniel Buckingham, age 31. Two gun loads of bullets were shot point blank in three seconds in response to the knife wound to the forearm. Prior to cutting the police officer with a kitchen knife (that police first reported was a “machete”), Danny’s worst crime was stealing food and a pair of shoes. Does a frightened, homeless young man waiting for his mother’s plane to land deserve to be killed because he cut a man’s forearm? I think if a civilian killed someone for cutting his arm, he would be arrested for murder.
These three officers could easily have wrestled the kitchen knife and pocketknife out of Danny’s hands. They could have used a club or a Taser — or even a verbal request that he drop his weapons. Or they could have retreated.
Instead, their immediate reaction was to shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot 13 bullets, and then, from the video I saw, the trigger of the empty gun was pulled several more times. The autopsy revealed that several of the shots were fatal. This immediate over kill response is obviously insane “excessive use of force.” I’d even go so far as to say that this is a case of “wrongful death.”
I believe armed policemen should be removed from the force if they use steroids, are trigger happy with bad judgment, or are traumatized from being in wars that may have hardened them to not respecting the value of human life. It is dangerous to allow such men to carry weapons.
I believe the Hawaii police, sworn to “serve and protect,” intend to have our officers trained to never kill someone unless it is necessary. We need to work together with our police force to do what is necessary to prevent something like this disastrous Buckingham killing from ever happening again.
It was heartening to read in the paper that the parents of Daniel Buckingham, two physicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan, have decided to sue the police. They are asking for facts to be revealed that have not been forthcoming. I applaud their brave decision to ask what possessed these men to needlessly take the life of their son — and how the police can possibly try to escape culpability by accusing Daniel of “attempted murder.”
We can thank Mary and Marty Buckingham for starting this investigative process by holding these officers accountable for ruthlessly murdering their son. Reforming police protocol can only happen by facing the facts and dealing with the truth.
Barbara Moore is the owner of Dragonfly Ranch: Healing Arts Center in Honaunau.