Pennsylvania officer who shot Antwon Rose in East Pittsburgh acquitted



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By Doha Madani and Associated Press

A white police officer from Pennsylvania was acquitted on Friday following the murder of an unarmed black teenager last year in East Pittsburgh.

30-year-old agent Michael Rosfeld was tried for homicide in the shooting death of Antwon Rose II after a roadside check in June 2018.

Rose, a 17-year-old high school student, was in the place of an unlicensed taxi when the rear passenger lowered the window and shot two men on the streets of North Braddock.

Rose's mother, Michelle Kenney, told reporters after the jury left for deliberations on Friday night that her son was missing, according to the NBC-affiliated WPXI channel in Pittsburgh.

"Antwon has not had the opportunity of a lawsuit to defend himself," Kenney said. "All these rights were taken away by one person and it was not the jury of this court, it was an individual."

Michelle Kenney, mother of the center, mother of Antwon Rose II, addresses the media after the final pleadings of the trial for homicide of former East Pittsburgh police officer, Michael Rosfeld, at the palace of Allegheny County Justice in Pittsburgh on March 22, 2019.Nate Smallwood / Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP

The police affidavit accusing Rosfeld of accusing Rosfeld of making contradictory statements, including having seen something in Rose's hand that Rosfeld thought was a firearm.

Investigators said that Rosfeld later told the detectives that he had not seen a gun when the passenger had run.

"When he was confronted with this inconsistency, Rosfeld said he saw something in the passenger's hand but was not sure what it was," wrote the police. "In addition, Agent Rosfeld said that it was not certain that the individual whose arm was pointing at him was still pointing at him when he fired the shots. "

Rosfeld had been working for the East Pittsburgh Police for only a few weeks, having worked for seven years for other departments.

The video of the incident was captured by a passerby and posted online triggered a series of protests in the Pittsburgh area last year, including a night walk that helped close a major highway.

Activists read a poem written by Rose during one of the protests last June and called for a minute of silence in her honor.

"I'm not what you think. I am confused and I am scared. I wonder what path I will take. I hear that there are only two possible exits, "read an activist.

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