Shooting of Devon Lewis / I'm Trying to Achieve Greatness In the Katana

Overview

The Shooting of Devon Lewis, also known for the quote I'm Trying to Achieve Greatness In the Katana, refers to an incident that took place in Pima County, Arizona in February 2024 in which a police officer fatally shot a katana-wielding man, 23-year-old Devon Lewis, after he unsheathed the sword and ran towards him. Police were called to the scene with reports that Lewis was yelling and waving a sword around in a hotel parking lot. When they arrived at the scene, Lewis explained that he was "trying to achieve greatness in the katana," asking, "Is this not allowed in the United States?" and claimed to be related to the Ancient Greek god Dionysus. A video of the incident was released in mid-March and went viral, inspiring memes using the phrase as a copypasta, with some referring to Lewis as a neckbeard.

Background

On February 25th, 2024, KOLD News^[1] reported on the fatal shooting of a man at a hotel in Pima County, Arizona that happened on the night of the 24th. The report was later updated with further information, revealing the man to be 23-year-old Devon Lewis and the police officer to be Ramon Morales.

According to the report, Lewis spoke briefly with the police, his katana sheathed, then unsheathed it and charged the officer, who fatally shot him. The police were originally called with reports that Lewis was waving the sword around in the parking lot and yelling (photograph of Lewis shown below).

Developments

On March 29th, 2024, further information regarding the shooting was released, including a video of the incident. The video was uploaded to the Police Activity YouTube^[2] channel that day, garnering over 2.2 million views in a month (shown below).

The clips show police talking with Lewis, his sword sheathed in front of him. Lewis then says, "I'm trying to achieve greatness in the katana. Is this not allowed in the United States?" He explains that he's "hella responsible" with the katana and won't kill unless someone is looking to kill him. He then says that he is related to the Greek god Dionysus. The police ask if he can train in his room and Lewis unsheathes his sword, then runs at the police officer, who shoots him.

Online Reactions

The video gained viral spread over the following weeks, inspiring reactions and memes, particularly due to Lewis' utterance of the phrase, "I'm trying to achieve greatness in the katana. Is this not allowed in the United States?" On March 29th, 2024, the video was shared on 4chan's^[3] /pol/ board, the thread gaining over 170 replies in a month.

On April 22nd, X^[4] user @SwannMarcus89 posted several screenshots from the video, writing, "A neckbeard with a katana got shot by the cops and this has to be the single funniest police shooting of all time," garnering over 35,000 likes and 1,800 reposts in two days (shown below, left).

Also that day, X^[5] user @HegelwCrmCheese quote-reposted the post with an image of Yukio Mishima, quoting Lewis, garnering over 4,800 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References