Justiça visual

imagens violentas entre a necessidade de ver e a dificuldade de mostrar

Authors

Keywords:

visual culture, police violence, media and violence, politics of representation, counter-forensics

Abstract

This article explores the intersections of politics, ethics, race, and representation in footage depicting police violence. It centers on the case of Harith Augustus, killed by police in Chicago in 2018. The study draws on two main objects: first, the use of video recordings from the incident in reports by the ABC and CBS networks, and second, the visual piece Six Durations of a Split Second (Forensic Architecture and Invisible Institute, 2019), which merges counter-forensic rhetoric with documentary film techniques to challenge the official narrative. The analysis reveals how TV coverage subtly reinforces the police account by repeatedly showcasing violent scenes, often with sensationalist undertones. Meanwhile, although the film effectively substantiates the officer’s accountability, it faces ethical dilemmas in its stark re-exhibition of a Black man’s death, risking both retraumatization and a troubling
second order of violence.

Author Biography

Felipe da Silva Polydoro, Universidade de São Paulo

Professor-Adjunto no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação e no curso de Comunicação Organizacional da Universidade de Brasília. Doutor pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Meios e Processos Audiovisuais da Universidade de São Paulo. Foi pesquisador visitante no Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) e na Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Desenvolveu pesquisa de pós-doutorado no Programa de Pós-Graduação em História Social da USP.

References

APEL, Dora. Lynching photographs and the politics of public shaming. In: APEL, Dora; SMITH, Shawn. M. (eds.). Lynching photographs. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. p. 42-78.

BAZIN, André. Morte todas as tardes. In: XAVIER, I. A experiência do cinema. Rio de Janeiro: Graal, 1983.

BLACK LIVES MATTER. Herstory. Disponível em: https://blacklivesmatter.com/herstory/. Acesso em: 29 out. 2024.

CELESTE, Manoucheka. “What Now?”: The Wailing Black Woman, Grief, and Difference. Black Camera: An International Film Journal, v. 9, n. 2, p. 110–131, Spring 2018.

CIVILIAN OFFICE OF POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY (Chicago). Amended summary report of investigation. Chicago, 2021. Disponível em: https://www.chicagocopa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/1090234-Amended-SRI.redacted-1.pdf. Acesso em: 29 out. 2024.

DAVEY, Monica; SMITH, Mitch. Chicago Protests Mostly Peaceful After Video of Police Shooting Is Released. New York Times, New York, 24 nov. 2015.

FELDMAN, Allen. On the actuarial gaze: from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib. Cultural Studies, v. 19, n. 2, p. 203-226, mar. 2005.

FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE. The killing of Harith Augustus. Londres, 2019. Disponível em: https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/the-killing-of-harith-augustus/. Acesso em: 29 ago. 2025

FOSTER, Hal. Death in America. October, v. 75, Cambridge, Winter 1996.

HARTMAN, Saidiya. Scenes of subjection: terror, slavery, and self-making in nine-teenth-century America. 2. ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2022.

HARTMAN, Saidiya. Vênus em dois atos. Revista Eco-Pós, v. 23, n. 3, 2020.

HEATHER, Kade. Jury rules in favor of CPD officers in 2018 fatal shooting of barber Harith Augustus in South Shore. Chicago Sun-Times, 7 jul. 2023. Disponível em: https://chicago. suntimes.com/crime/2023/7/7/23787787/jury-rules-in-favor-of-cpd-officers-in-2018-fatal-shooting-of-barber-harith-augustus-in-south-shore. Acesso em: 29 out. 2024.

KEENAN, Thomas. Getting the dead to tell me what happened: Justice, Prosopopoeia, and Forensic Afterlives. Kronos, n. 44, Cape Town, nov. 2018.

KEENAN, Thomas; WEIZMAN, Eyal. Mengele’s skull: the advent of a forensic aesthetics. London: Sternberg Press, 2012.

LEE, William; GORNER, Jeremy; GREENE, Morgan. CPD releases video footage of fatal shooting by officer: Move comes less than 24 hours after incident sparked protests. Chicago Tribune, Chicago, IL, 16 jul. 2018.

MBEMBE, Achille. Políticas da inimizade. Lisboa: Antígona, 2017.

MORRISON, Caren. Body camera obscura: the semiotics of police video. American Criminal Law Review, v. 54, 2016.

NOBLE, Safiya. Critical surveillance literacy in social media: interrogating Black death and dying online. Black Camera, Bloomington, v. 9, n. 2, p. 147-160, Spring 2018.

RICHARDSON, Allissa. Bearing witness while Black: African Americans, smartphones, and the new protest #Journalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.

SMITH, Patrick; CRAWFORD-HOLLAND, Sasha. Forensics. In: The lab book. University of Minnesota, Management Information Systems Research Center, 2022.

SMITH, Patrick; WATSON, Ryan. Mediated forensics and militant evidence: rethinking the camera as weapon. Media, Culture & Society, v. 45, n. 1, 2023.

WARD, LaCharles. “Keep runnin’ bro”: Carrie Mae Weems and the visual act of refusal. Black Camera, Bloomington, v. 9, n. 2, p. 82-109, Spring 2018.

WEIZMAN, Eyal. Forensic architecture: violence at the threshold of detectability. New York: Zone Books, 2017.

OBJETOS AUDIOVISUAIS ANALISADOS

Reportagens de TV

BLACKLEY, Derrick. CBS Chicago. Harith Augustus Footage. Vídeo: 2min.29s. 16 ago. 2018. Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq2H4IcuEbg&t=14s. Acesso em: 30 out. 2024.

GOUDIE, Chuck. ABC Eyewitness News. “Raw videos in fatal Chicago police shooting of Harith Augustus released by COPA”. Vídeo: 2min24s. 16 aug. 2018. Disponível em: <https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-police-shooting-body-camera-video-protests/3974290/.> Acesso em: 30 out. 2024.

HOPE, Leah. ABC Eyewitness News. New video released in fatal 2018 police shooting of Harith Augustus in South Shore. Video: 2min08s. Disponível em: https://abc7chicago. com/harith-augustus-shooting-chicago-police/5553758/. Acesso em: 30 out. 2024.

HORNG, Eric. ABC Eyewitness News. Tempers flare at community meeting on fatal South Shore police shooting. Vídeo: 1min49s. 25 jul. 2018. Disponível em: https://abc7chicago.com/harith-augustus-shooting-south-shore-police-community-meeting/3819264/. Acesso em: 30 out. 2024.

KOSLOV, Dana. CBS Chicago. New Video Shows Tension After Police Shooting Of Harith Augustus. Vídeo: 2min30s. 17 ago. 2018. Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FutM_kGVwEg&t=41s. Acesso em: 30 out. 2024.

PATHIEU, Diane; GARCIA, John. ABC Eyewitness News. Chicago police release body cam video of South Shore police shooting. Vídeo: 2min03s. 16 jul. 2018. Disponível em: https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-police-shooting-protests-harith-augustus-police-involved/3766539/. Acesso em: 30 out. 2024.

ROSS, Jeremy. CBS Chicago. More Than 200 Protest After Fatal Police-Involved Shooting In South Shore. Vídeo: 2min09s. 17 jul. 2018. Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLcNiU6DypY. Acesso em: 30 out. 2024.

ROSS, Jeremy. CBS Chicago.Shooting Reported In South Shore Neighborhood. Vídeo: 1min29s. Disponível em: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYkn3iQf_jE. Acesso em: 30 out. 2024.

Filme/vídeo

SIX durations of a split second. Produção: Forensic Architecture e Invisible Institute. Chicago: 2019. Disponível em: https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/the--killing-of-harith-augustus. Acesso em: 30 out. 2024.

Published

2025-10-02

How to Cite

Polydoro, F. da S. (2025). Justiça visual: imagens violentas entre a necessidade de ver e a dificuldade de mostrar. Galaxia, 50(1), e68933. Retrieved from https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/galaxia/article/view/68933

Issue

Section

Artigos | Articles