 | Below are answers to frequently asked questions about the corresponding page Killing of Rayshard Brooks. They address concerns, questions, and misconceptions which have repeatedly arisen on the talk page. Please update this material when needed. |
Q1: I read some information on the web that isn't in this article!
A1: When proposing anything to be added to the article you need to cite a reliable source.
Q2: This article is biased (for / against), or (whitewashes / blames), (Brooks / the police)!
A2: See our Neutral point of view policy. Complaints of bias must be accompanied by specific concerns or suggestions for change. Vague, general statements don't help.
Q3: Why is this article calling it a killing instead of a death/murder?
A3:
- Any time one person causes the death of another – whether intentionally or not, whether criminally or not – that's a homicide. It's a very broad category. Every murder or manslaughter (of any "degree") is a homicide, but not every homicide is a murder or manslaughter. A killing in self-defense is a homicide. Even an execution pursuant to a judicially imposed sentence of death is a homicide.
- In most US jurisdictions the determination of whether or not a death is a homicide is made by a coroner or medical examiner, as a prerequisite to other legal proceedings. The medical examiner in Brooks's case determined that his death was, indeed, a homicide.
- Thus Brooks's death is no longer simply a "death" but a homicide – or in common parlance, a killing. A homicide only becomes officially a murder or manslaughter after someone is convicted in court.