Strong Island
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In Theaters: September 15, 2017 (limited)
1h 47m | Documentary
This documentary by Yance Ford documents his older brother William's murder in April 1992. William Ford Jr., a black 24-year-old teacher who was on the verge of becoming a police officer, was the eldest child of Barbara and William Ford when he was shot in the chest by Mark Reilly, a white 19-year-old mechanic.
Ford had taken his car to the auto shop where Reilly worked. Unarmed, he walked inside and was shot. When police arrived, the wounded man was treated as a suspect rather than a victim. Reilly claimed he'd shot Ford in self defense and the Grand Jury subsequently refused to hand down an indictment.
Questions later arose — could Ford have behaved in a threatening manner? At one point, he told Reilly that as soon as he became a police officer, he was going to have the shop shut down. Or was this a blatant case of racism, perpetrated on a family that had moved from the racially segregated South to the safety of the New York suburbs to make a better life for their children?
Ford had taken his car to the auto shop where Reilly worked. Unarmed, he walked inside and was shot. When police arrived, the wounded man was treated as a suspect rather than a victim. Reilly claimed he'd shot Ford in self defense and the Grand Jury subsequently refused to hand down an indictment.
Questions later arose — could Ford have behaved in a threatening manner? At one point, he told Reilly that as soon as he became a police officer, he was going to have the shop shut down. Or was this a blatant case of racism, perpetrated on a family that had moved from the racially segregated South to the safety of the New York suburbs to make a better life for their children?
| Studio: | Netflix |
| Producer(s): | Joslyn Barnes |
| Cast: | Yance Ford, Harvey Walker, Kevin Myers, Lauren Ford, David Breen, Ed Boyar |
