The context doesn’t matter » « Nixon and the Four Days

Botham Jean: A Black Life that Mattered

We have known for quite some time that, factually speaking, Amber Guyger murdered Botham Jean. What we did not know was whether or not the law would find a white police officer, off duty and on no official business, legally guilty of murder for breaking into Jean’s apartment and shooting him dead.

Now we know.

Guyger could easily have negotiated a plea deal for manslaughter, claiming fatigue or whatever the fuck she felt justified the shooting, since there does seem to be no doubt that she and Jean lived in the same apartment complex and that she was on the wrong floor and at least initially thought maybe she was entering her own apartment. But she, like so many cops before her, wanted the law to impose no consequences whatsoever for shooting a Black man dead. She took her case to the jury, and the jury, almost beyond all reasonable hope, found her guilty not of manslaughter, but of murder.

Now that Guyger’s trial is over, perhaps we can spend much less time on her and spend time instead remembering Jean for his loving, generous life.

The context doesn’t matter » « Nixon and the Four Days

Comments

  1. says

    I’m glad she will rot in prison, but this case only reinforces something I said before:

    Almost always when cop is convicted, they are either a woman or non-white. Or both.

    Almost never is a cop convicted when they are a white male.

  3. blf says

    Amber Guyger sentenced to 10 years for murdering black neighbor in his home:

    […]
    A jury has sentenced Amber Guyger to 10 years in prison for the murder of Botham Jean, after viewing racist text messages sent by the former Dallas police officer.

    Prosecutors had symbolically asked for a minimum sentence of 28 years. Jean, who was 26 when he died, would have turned 28 last Sunday.

    [… During the sentencing phase, p]rosecutors showed the jury derisive text messages Guyger sent about working a Martin Luther King Day parade in 2018. Responding to a message that asked “When does this end lol,” she wrote: “When MLK is dead… oh wait…”

    She also suggested that the crowd could be pushed or pepper-sprayed because she felt the parade was lengthy.

    […]

    The 12-person jury was shown memes and quotations she saved on a social media account, such as “I wear all black to remind you not to mess with me, because I’m already dressed for your funeral”, and an image of a Minion character from the Despicable Me films with the text: “People are so ungrateful. No one ever thanks me for having the patience not to kill them.”

    The jury deliberated for about an hour before returning their sentence. In marked contrast with the cheers that followed the guilty verdict on Tuesday, community activists reacted with anger outside the courtroom after the sentence, telling reporters that it was far too lenient.

    […]

  5. Kreator says

    Shit, one of the key witnesses in the case has been murdered outside his appartment. The pigs have begun revenge season.

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