Bonita Carter

Bonita Carter (born c. 1958) was twenty years old and living with her parents when she was shot by Birmingham police officer George Sands after a convenience store robbery escalated into a gunfight in the Kingston neighborhood.

The shooting, and Mayor David Vann's subsequent support for Sands, provoked mass demonstrations and reignited protests against suspected systematic brutality against African Americans. Sands himself had as many as six outstanding complaints for excessive force. Though Carter was not involved in the robbery and though Sands shot her multiple times at close range, a citizen review board ruled that the shooting was justified.

Sands was supported by the Birmingham Fraternal Order of Police as well as the Ku Klux Klan. Tensions rose as a group of white citizens brandishing arms drove through Kingston to show support for Sands. Residents armed themselves, raising the threat of an all-out riot. The city won a court order to keep groups of more than three from demonstrating in the neighborhood.

The case was largely credited with undercutting support for Vann in the black community and making it possible for Birmingham City Councilor Richard Arrington, Jr to launch a successful bid to become the city's first African American mayor.

References

• Jackson, J. D. (June 21, 2009) "MY VIEW: Lest we forget Bonita Carter." Birmingham News editorial