These Stunning Images Reveal the Racist Double Standard of Police Responses in America

On Wednesday night, Dylann Storm Roof, a 21-year-old white male, massacred nine black people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in a racially motivated hate crime. 

Police apprehended Roof on Thursday in Shelby, North Carolina, and images of his detainment quickly circulated. The pictures showed several police officers respectfully handling Roof, protecting him from photographers and providing him with a bullet-proof vest. 

The images provided a stark and uncomfortable contrast between white officers' treatment of black and white Americans. There have been a number of high-profile cases of late, instances where police officers grossly overreact with violence and murder to African-Americans who either didn't commit a crime at all or committed petty transgressions, such as Eric Garner's selling of loose cigarettes. 

Here are just a few examples that show that stark contrast.

1. Roof, June 18, Shelby, North Carolina — killed nine people

2. Eric Garner, July 17, 2014, Staten Island, New York — sold loose cigarettes

3. Motorcycle gang, May 17, Waco, Texas — shootout left nine dead

4. Dajerria Becton, June 5, McKinney, Texas — pool party without passes

5. Scott Dekraai, Oct. 12, 2011, Seal Beach, California — killed eight people

6. Walter Scott, April 4, North Charleston, South Carolina — traffic stop

These are just some examples of a seemingly endless list in which officers perpetrate racist police brutality. Other incidents that captured national attention include 12-year-old Tamir Rice and 18-year-old Michael Brown and, in both cases, the police officers were not indicted.