US Police Kill Unarmed Black Man, Violently Beat Up A Hispanic

Cases of police brutality against minorities continue to occur in the United States. The latest case has been reported in Florida Thursday night where a police officer fatally shot an unarmed homeless Black man at a park in front of dozens of children, according to local news media.

This new case comes amid a national and international outrage over police violence against minorities, sparked by high-profile police killings of unarmed black men in cities such as Ferguson, Missouri, New York, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Cleveland in the past 12 months.

The Miami Police Department told the Miami Herald that officer Antonio Torres shot 46-year-old Fritz Severe dead at a park where children were attending summer camp, adding that as many as 60 people may have witnessed the killing.

Rodolfo Llanes, chief of the Miami Police, has urged the public to remain calm and “wait for the facts.” He also said police responded to a call of a "violent disturbance."

A witness to the incident, Nichelle Miller, told the local newspaper that Torres shot at Severe about five times. The incident occurred in Thursday morning. Miller added that the man did have a stick in his hand, but suggested the killing was unjustified. "The man had a stick in his hand. They could have tasered him. He was a homeless guy who's there every morning," she said.

Miller added that the man did have a stick in his hand, but suggested the killing was unjustified. "The man had a stick in his hand. They could have tasered him. He was a homeless guy who's there every morning," she said.

"The man had a stick in his hand. They could have tasered him. He was a homeless guy who's there every morning," she said.

In the meantime, in Central California, Salinas officials held a news conference regarding an ongoing investigation on whether police used excessive force when they violently struck unarmed Hispanic Jose Velasco on multiple occasions, Telesur reported.

Police have attempted to justify the brutal attack by saying the man had assaulted his mother, allegations she has conclusively denied.

"My son didn't do what they are saying he did. That's not what happened. It wasn't what they are saying what he did, he didn't try to hurt me,” said Rita Velasco.

A passing motorist caught June 5's incident on video and posted it to YouTube. The video, which has logged over 170,000 online views.

The Salinas police chief , Kelly McMillin, said he hopes that an invitation to the Monterey County district attorney to help investigate the case will appease public concerns regarding the integrity of the police investigation.

"I want to be clear that I have full faith in the ability and impartiality of the Salinas Police Department to conduct an investigation of its own personnel,” he said. “ As I've said many times in the past, we've done these routinely, we do them thoroughly, we do them with integrity. Our cases are critical of our own actions, where they need to be and should be and in fact have resulted in the arrest by Salinas police officers of Salinas police officers for what we have determined to be unlawful shootings.”

The police chief admitted the images of officers beating Velasco were horrific, but he claimed they were captured out of context.

Velasco suffered injuries to his legs, but was booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon despite that there is no evidence of wrongdoing on his behalf and that his mother is denying the police allegations. Police also said he assaulted an officer.

In the meantime, no police officer has been suspended in connection with the brutal attack.