Unarmed Black Male
Film following the murder trial of a white police officer in Portsmouth, Virginia, accused of shooting an unarmed black teenager.
Film following the murder trial of a white police officer in Portsmouth, Virginia, accused of shooting an unarmed black teenager. On 22 April 2015, Officer Stephen Rankin responded to a report of shoplifting at a Walmart store. Minutes after arriving in the parking lot, he shot and killed William Chapman.
After Chapman's death, Rankin was fired from Portsmouth Police Department and charged with first-degree murder. Chapman was just one of 306 black men who were killed by police in the US last year, but just 14 police officers faced any charges - Rankin was one of them.
With extraordinary access to the prosecution and defence, as well as Chapman's family and friends and those closest to Officer Rankin, this powerful 90-minute documentary from award-winning filmmaker James Jones forensically follows the drama as the trial unfolds and unpicks Rankin's troubling prior record in the police department.
During a summer of increasing tension across America, this film explores the reaction of a divided community to the prosecution of a local police officer. Part of the award-winning This World strand on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two.
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Music Played
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Mudvayne
Not Falling
Broadcasts
- Wed 2 Nov 2016 21:00
- Fri 4 Nov 2016 00:15Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland
- Fri 4 Nov 2016 00:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Scotland
- Sat 19 Nov 2016 02:15
- Mon 29 Jun 2020 23:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two except Scotland
Making This World
This World film-makers tell their behind the scenes stories about making the programme.