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Shooting of Ryan Stokes won’t go away While Police still defend the shooting of an unarmed man, more and more people are demanding justice

Neriha Stokes, the daughter of Ryan Stokes holding sign at vigil that says Ryan's Life Matters Neriha Stokes, the daughter of Ryan Stokes, participated in a vigil for her late father Friday, July 24. Ryan Stokes was shot by an KC police officer on July 28, 2013.
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1 minute read

1 Struggle KC, a local activist group started in October 2014 in response to the events in Ferguson Missouri,  has taken an investigative piece originally written by Daniel Boothe and Mike McGraw and used the facts reported by Flatland surrounding the death of Ryan Stokes as their main source to push for restorative justice. A local media outlet following 1 Struggle KC’s activities launched their own investigation into the Ryan Stokes shooting and reported their findings last night. Their investigation reflected the findings of Flatland’s original piece, that an unarmed man was shot multiple times by Kansas City Police, who are still defending the shooting. Ryan Stokes, a young father of 24, died July 28, 2013.

Here is  an excerpt of Flatland’s ordinal story:



According to police reports, officers Villafain and Straub ran over and found Stokes in a fetal position next to Outley’s Monte Carlo on the west side of the parking lot, in a pool of blood. He had been shot multiple times.

Officer William Thompson stood 10 feet away, holding his gun.

“Did he have a gun?” one of the police officers yelled at Thompson.

They pulled Stokes’ arms back to handcuff him and saw that he was unarmed. Stokes was holding Outley’s car keys and his flip phone.


Read the full investigation here.

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