In the summer of 2015, the life of William Poindexter, a 45-year-old Black/African American man, was cut short on a street in East Central Spokane, Washington. On the morning of July 21st, Poindexter was involved in a heated argument with his girlfriend outside a residence on Altamont Street. The dispute escalated, drawing the attention of a passerby, 27-year-old Edward Bushnell.
Bushnell, a former Army National Guard soldier, decided to intervene in the couple's altercation.
A physical fight then broke out between Poindexter and Bushnell. Poindexter was reportedly carrying a bat, though accounts vary as to whether he used it as a weapon. Bushnell was armed with a knife. The fight eventually ceased, and Poindexter and his girlfriend began to walk away from the scene. It was at this moment that the situation took a fatal turn. Bushnell retrieved a. 22-caliber pistol from his backpack and fired three times, striking Poindexter twice in the back. Poindexter was rushed to a local hospital, but he succumbed to his wounds.
Edward Bushnell was arrested at the scene and was initially charged with second-degree murder. He claimed that he had acted in self-defense, stating that he felt threatened by Poindexter. The charges against Bushnell were later upgraded to first-degree murder. However, the legal proceedings that followed would prove to be contentious and sparked a significant community reaction.
In May 2017, a jury acquitted Edward Bushnell of all charges, including first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and first-degree manslaughter. The verdict was met with a mixture of relief from Bushnell's family and outrage from many in the community who saw the shooting of an unarmed man in the back as an act of unjustified violence. The acquittal of Bushnell, who is white, by an all-white jury in the death of a Black man led to protests and raised difficult questions about racial bias within the justice system in Spokane. Community groups organized a "March for Racial Justice" in Poindexter's honor to protest what they viewed as a miscarriage of justice.
