Atatiana “Tay” Jefferson (c. 1991-2019) was an unarmed Black American woman killed by a White male police officer right in front of her eight-year-old nephew in her own home in Fort Worth, Texas. The police have not yet made the killer cop’s name public.
On October 12th 2019 at 2:37am a man was behind her house shining a light through her windows. When he saw her in her bedroom window he said:
“Put your hands up. Show me your hands!”
And then instantly shot her dead through the window. He did not say he was the police or give her a chance to obey. As it was, her nephew said they could not make out what he was saying (the window was closed).
The police said he shot her after “perceiving a threat”. They said there was a gun in her bedroom but did not say that the officer saw her holding it.
S. Lee Merritt, a civil rights lawyer:
“You didn’t hear the officer say ‘gun, gun, gun,’ you didn’t hear him – he didn’t have time to perceive a threat. That’s murder.”
James Smith, a neighbour, is the one who had called police to her house. Noticing her door open and the lights on at two in the morning, he called a non-emergency police number asking for a wellness check. The police parked down the street and then approached the house with guns drawn! And, instead of knocking at her front door and announcing themselves, they went through her back gate and did not announce themselves.
All this comes right on the heels of the Amber Guyger murder trial in the neighbouring city of Dallas. She was a White police officer found guilty of murdering Botham Jean, a Black man who was in his home sitting on the couch eating ice cream and watching football.
Atatiana Jefferson was playing video games (Halo) with her nephew on a Friday night and lost track of time. Not a crime. She was the kind of person who used pretzels to spell “LOVE”. Not that that will necessarily stop the police and the White press from finding some way to demonize her or her family.
Should Smith have called the police? Should he have known better? He is a Black man with a greying beard so, yes, he is old enough to know that the police do not serve and protect Black people. And if he had entertained any doubts on that point, the murder of Botham Jean should have cleared them up. The police shoot first and ask questions later, at least when it comes to Black people.
Smith:
“If I had never dialed the police department, she’d still be alive.”
The officer had his body camera on. Edited video from it has been made public. He has been with the police department since April 2018. He is now on paid leave and so far has not been charged with a crime.
The police are investigating themselves.
– Abagond, 2019.
Update (October 14th): Aaron Dean is the killer cop. He resigned today and then the police outed him.
Update (October 15th, 00:11 GMT): Aaron Dean has been arrested for murder!!!!!!
See also:
- GoFundMe – if you want to help her family
- The extremely incomplete list of unarmed Blacks killed by police
- Botham Jean
- The police
- killer cops
- also Fort Worth:
- Halo 3
537
To call the police or not call the police. Do you call the Fire Department at least they don’t have guns? What if the community one lives in is not a unified one? I don’t know my neighbors in my apartment complex, and what is one supposed to do if something really dangerous is taking place? I will be honest I am not putting myself in danger. And last but not least these state sanctioned police officers are ill trained and they are cowards because they fear black bodies. I totally understand why our black people don’t trust police. I still disagree that it’s wrong to blame the neighbor who reported the incident. The blame is totally on the incompetent and ill trained cop.
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Lee Merritt the attorney has his fingers in all the pies. He was in the Botham Jean case, and he is in the Jason Brown case. And I saw him on the news with Atatiana’s family. These attorneys sometimes appear as ambulance chaser types.
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Mr. Marquis Jefferson stated on the local news, “I don’t want no hugs.” I totally agree with him. Justice needs to be served.
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So Attorney Merritt is a Civil Rights Attorney. I guess it makes sense that he would be involved in these cases. Trying to get justice for black people murdered at the hands of state sanctioned gang members.
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Just like Botham Jean, Atatiana was 28 years old, she was bright and had a college degree and was studying Medicine. It makes me angry and sad these two bright and intelligent young black people’s lives were snuffed out.
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The Ft. Worth Officer who killed Atatiana Jefferson has resigned. But he still needs to be arrested for murder.
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@Mary Burrell
“Do you call the Fire Department at least they don’t have guns?”
In my community it would be one in the same. You’d call the same number, either 911 or non-emergency police or fire numbers and be connected to the exact same dispatch desk. (Office lines are a different story during the day but would go unanswered at night). The dispatcher would decide what kind of “welfare check” it was and either dispatch police/fire together if it was possibly medical related or just police if it was an open door situation like this. I’d love to hear the dispatch tapes to find out what responding officers were told. Were they dispatched to a welfare check or a possible B & E in progress? Doesn’t excuse the instantaneous shoot first reaction, but dispatchers need to be accountable for their “interpretations” of 911 callers too. With Tamir Rice, the dispatcher left off the part about it being likely a juvenile playing with a pellet gun which set officers up to perceive more threat than what was actually reported.
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Update: Aaron Dean is the killer cop. He resigned today and then the police outed him.
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Sickening
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Black Genocide.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fort-worth-police-officer-who-fatally-shot-atatiana-jefferson-resigns-n1065866
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“Should Smith have called the police? Should he have known better? He is a Black man with a greying beard so, yes, he is old enough to know that the police do not serve and protect Black people. And if he had entertained any doubts on that point, the murder of Botham Jean should have cleared them up. “
The only people who seem confused about the role of the police in Black people’s lives are Black people. Many Black people don’t seem to understand that the police tagline “serve and protect” is incomplete. The full tagline is actually, “serve and protect affluent White people from everyone else——- especially Black people”.
Deadly police force against Black people is not just allowed, it is expected. Surveillance of Black communities and constant harassment of Black people are parts of the police’s jobs. It is how they make their monthly arrest and citation quotas—their numbers. The police are the “thin blue line” that keeps Black people corralled and “in their place” in the racial hierarchy of the USA.
Perhaps Smith’s lapse in judgement was based on the overwhelming amount of copaganda (pro-police propaganda) that floats around on the media, from television shows and films to newspapers and internet based news.
There is also the practical concern that Mary Burrell wrote about upthread, that boils down to “who you gonna call”? Many Black Americans don’t live in the close-knit communities that existed 50-60 years ago. Crime waves, drug epidemics and media sensationalism have eroded those once tight bonds.
Perhaps Ms. Jefferson would still be alive today if Mr. Smith had alternatives to the police, like a paid or volunteer community group. At this point, like Smith, I wish he had called the fire department instead. At least they would not have come to the house unannounced with guns drawn.
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Update: Aaron Dean has been arrested for murder!!!!!!
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@ Open Minded Observer
“I’d love to hear the dispatch tapes to find out what responding officers were told. Were they dispatched to a welfare check or a possible B & E in progress?”
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/10/14/fort-worth-officer-who-fatally-shot-atatiana-jefferson-has-resigned-chief-says/
Looks like you are onto something about miscommunication on the part of dispatch.
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@Afrofem – so darn true, too darn late. “Hello, anyone home? It’s your neighbor!” Even if he stood and yelled from the streets with phone in hand ready to call for a well-check and run if strangers appeared or things looked askew. I don’t know, I can say what I woulda, coulda, shoulda. This neighbor yeah should have realized what kinda police force was always on duty in his neighborhood. Poor man.
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THE PRICE WE MUST PAY AS A PEOPLE FOR TREATING AN ANCIENT ENEMY AS A FRIEND!
The deadly Psychological warfare effects of tycooning, mammying, out of context scriptural pontification, unwarranted forgiveness, Sambo-ing and the spontaneous hugfest or coddling of a murderous sociopath immediately after conviction of shooting an unarmed Black man inside his own home.
Amber Guyger’s conviction: Oct. 2nd, 2019, convicted of killing Botham Jean, 26 year-old in his own home while eating ice cream.
“I forgive you and I love you.” (Brandt Jean, brother of Botham)
“I’d like to become your friend at some point.” (Bertran Jean, father of Botham)
The corporate media immediately broadcast these pathetic, propagandized images and videos across the globe as a psychological tool to manipulate the response of the intended group and beyond.
RESULT: Joshua Brown, 28 years-old so-called African American male, shot and killed killed 3 days after Amber Guyger’s trial within the confines of his gated apartment community, in a supposed drug deal gone awry. (yeah, .. right)
RESULT: Atatiana Jefferson, 28 year-old so-called African American woman, shot and killed 8 days after Joshua Brown in her own home while playing a video game with her nephew (now deceased), by a white police officer, Aaron Dean who failed to even identify himself.
Statements, remarks and/or acts committed above are not at all victimless. Sometimes, the consequences are even deadly. To me, uttering statements such as they were shortly after Guyger’s conviction, merely gave a green light to uniformed sociopaths.
That is, if police officers were to be confronted with similar circumstances they should shoot first and ask questions later or in the alternative, none at all. The punishment will be light, you’ll be forgiven by surviving family members and perhaps even receive a hug by the presiding Judge.
What is Psychological Warfare?
Psychological warfare is a broad term, but in all documented cases, the concept uses actions tactics to intimidate or persuade a person or people. This process is usually employed through propaganda. Propaganda is ideas or statements that are false or exaggerated and is deliberately spread to influence the masses. The goal of psychological warfare is to intentionally use propaganda to manipulate another and break down their will without using physical force.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-psychological-warfare-definition-techniques-examples.html
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Aaron Dean bonded out and is out of jail. His bond was set at $200, 000. He stayed behind bars for 4 hours. His bail was payed he’s out again. Perhaps his buddies in the police union paid his bail.
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For the life of me I can’t understand why the neighbor called for a well check. If you know your neighbors well enough to know they don’t usually leave their doors open then surely you could’ve WALKED over and asked yourself.
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I am still not moved….
I am so jaded to the point, that even something as clear, cut and dry as this, would not lead me to feel, think or assume, this woman will get justice to the extent that it fits the crime. And that poor poor 8 year old boy that witnessed her death, will be scarred for life!
So black people, don’t start with the premature, congratulatory speeches like:
yay!, he got arrested! “He got charged with murder, justice!” “He lost his job, yay!”
First thing, white people losing a job isn’t a thing for them. For black people, losing a job is one of our biggest fears, being we are always the last hired and first fired. And the thought of having to look for another one is terrifying, being it took months to years to find this one!
So we subconsciously apply our fears to white people, even though we know it’s easy for them to get employed, being they have other racist white people that will hire them over black people.
2nd. How many white people/ white police men and women have killed black people, have been charged, only for the trial to end in a mistrial via hung jury?
How many light sentences have been handed down and the murderer gets 10 years, then gets out in 5 or less with good behavior?
Remember, the murderer is not your average white supremacist killer, he’s a state sanctioned white supremacist murderer! So he’ll get special treatment and if the
They began to start at chapter 1 of the white supremacist justice system playbook, labeled, “black person’s background smear tactics”.
Look, she owned a gun and it was in her home! See? She was shot because she owned a gun… “but was she standing her ground from someone she thought was a burglar, shining a light in her home in the backyard? ( the officer never announced his presence in no shape or form ) No, she wasn’t holding it but she did own one, so that’s why she was shot….
That’s it? So you didn’t shoot her, because she was holding the gun but because she “owned” a gun? Yep!
OK, end sarcasm…
The police obviously had someone up in their ear, and they probably said, that’s not going to work this time, we had better just face the white supremacist music.
So he resigns his position, then finally gets arrested.
whoopdedoo….* twirls finger in the air.
I’ve seen this movie before, and it doesn’t end well.
P.S. I’ve always said that black police need to be hired to patrol black neighborhoods and white people need to patrol white neighborhoods.
This way, black police will see other black people as human beings, that are worthy of being protected and served, not harassed and arrested by racist white cops!
Plus, a black person most likely, won’t be terrified with fear, when coming across another black person that looks just like them.
And when black people see a black officer arrive at their home, they’ll let out a huge sigh of relief, knowing that they won’t get killed for calling the cops to get their pet cat out of their tree!
And if the Amber guyger trial has taught us anything, it’s that we can’t trust black female judges that feel more sympathy for a white cop that joked about martin luther king jr. death and let jean bothem bleed to death!
Then a black female police officer that was in the courtroom, was playing in Amber Guyger’s hair, like she was a 10 year old girl with a malibu barbie doll!
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RIP.
Welfare check means police.
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v8driver said: “RIP. “Welfare check means police.”
Very true, .. but without the gun smoke!
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What is an ambulance chaser?
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Why do I get the feeling this is fall out from the Guyger verdict? There was literally no reason for that guy to do this.
Texas, man. That place is a cesspool. It’d live up to it’s name of “Lonestar” if it was alone in it’s madness.
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@ Heru Sankofa
Ambulance Chaser means attorneys that seek out victims of car accidents mainly. My use of the term “ambulance chaser” was the wrong term to apply to Attorney Lee Merritt, he is a Civil Rights attorney. Now that I have a better understanding of what his role is in these tragedies. I understand he is a social justice activist as well and wants justice here in our city.
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@ Heru Sankofa
Ambulance Chaser: Attorneys seeking damages for personal injury. I used this term incorrectly. This is not who Attorney Lee Merritt is.
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@sondis
I’m not black but have experienced a similar situation my whole life regarding employment.
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@sondis
I’ve witnessed many cases where black cops and other cops of color are self hating or think their biased behavior will help their standing and career within law enforcement. They have horrifically brutalized the impoverished or other people of color.
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@Untoldstory
I knew a white cop who said as a rookie he first saw a taser used by the black cop he was partnered with. The older cop was searching the streets for an informant, also black, who’d given him inaccurate information. When he found the guy, he used the taser on him repeatedly while screaming and cursing at him. Didn’t arrest him for anything, just used his taser as an implement of torture.
As long as cops of all races are teaching each other this type of “policing,” the problem is not going to go away.
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“Untoldstory
I’m not black but have experienced a similar situation my whole life regarding employment.”
what was the purpose of pointing this out? Wait, never mind.
Let me take this opportunity to direct you to abagond’s archives library over here—-> https://abagond.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/how-to-argue-like-a-white-racist/ See bullet point number 9…indulge in the fact that you met the critera. Not too much now, lest you suffer from diarrhea.
“Solitaire
I knew a white cop who said as a rookie he first saw a taser used by the black cop he was partnered with. The older cop was searching the streets for an informant, also black, who’d given him inaccurate information. When he found the guy, he used the taser on him repeatedly while screaming and cursing at him. Didn’t arrest him for anything, just used his taser as an implement of torture.”
Black cops and other cops of color, are working in a system of white supremacy. They typically adopt a white mindset, brought about by self hatred or in the case of an asian cop, hating black people is just him adopting a white racist mindset. And of which, he most likely already felt this way about black people to begin with.
This has more to do with the black cop, operating within a white supremacist culture, ran by racist white people, than anything else.
“As long as cops of all races are teaching each other this type of “policing,” the problem is not going to go away.”
This is a false equivalence….
You’re equating a small minority of black cops, which is 0.99999999% of the entire police force in America, to 9999999.9% of white racist cops that not only perpetuate racial discrimination via racial profiling, killing of unarmed black men and women, they set the standard for it, going back 100’s of years.
It’s well known, that modern day police depts, originated from slave catchers.
It’s as of no surprise that the culture they engaged in back then, it’s still present today.
Truth be told, black cops are easily by far, the best cops in all of the police depts. in America. The good, most definitely outweigh the bad.
Now you may ask, how would i know this? I know this because i know white supremacy and i know black people. Black cops are not allowed to “abuse” their power in any way but if they do, it won’t be against a white person.
If they do, it’s typically against a black person or another person of color, and even then, it better not be anyone of importance. Otherwise, the white police depts. won’t back the black cop and will be thrown under the bus.
So i say all that to say, black cops have to always be on their best behavior, in order to be in compliance of the racist white people’s creed…..Do as i say, not as i do!
And this is why black cops keep their head down and do as they are told in order to get along with the majority white police force.
This is done more out of a survival tactic, which normalizes the behavior of the black cop and before they know it, they’re an full blown honorary white supremacist!
So it isn’t what you’re trying to imply in a slick way, that the issue is with “cops of all races”. there’s just one race that’s the main issue, white police officers!
Well, not really, “Just” white police officers.
The average white citizen does the equivalent to what cops do and they get away with it! if not via by proxy by calling the cops for, “trivial reasons” or no reason at all,they do it themselves by “policing” black people’s bodies.
The mere fact that black people are present and walking around them free, is enough to agitate white people to the point of confronting a black person for being in “their’ space.
when was the last time you’ve seen a black ops in the news, for beating, killing a white person? I’ll wait while you google…
Compare your results for another google search on the amount of WHITE cops that have not only killed people but the amount of people killed, are overwhelmingly black and male!
Now ask yourself, why is it always white male AND FEMALE cops, that are always in the news for killing black people, yet you seldom see BLACK cops in the news for killing ANY race of people, much less a white person?
And this is the reasoning behind my claim, that black cops are overwhelmingly, the best cops in the entire police force in America.
I don’t like cops and i don’t like being around them but if i had no choice, i’d prefer to be around a black cop. This has more to do with their tendency to not want to kill me, because of my race, than them being black!
Remember, an exception to the rule is an exception, not the rule!
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@ dorisjean23
“…woulda, coulda, shoulda. This neighbor yeah should have realized what kinda police force was always on duty in his neighborhood. Poor man.”
Agreed.
None of us can be harder on Mr. Smith than he is on himself right now. He will be carrying the burden of “…woulda, coulda, shoulda” for the rest of his life.
In the final analysis, Smith is not responsible for the killing of Jefferson. The Fort Worth police and Aaron Dean are responsible for the murder of Ms. Jefferson. What saddens and angers me is how 21st Century lynch law guarantees we will be forced to watch this updated version of the White mob slime out of the just consequences of their actions yet again.
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@ sondis
We do concur on white supremacy because there is just too much evidence to disregard the fact. But I’m willing to give people the benefit of the doubt as individuals and not dwell on the fact that they have limited perceptions because they have ‘white privilege’. With a 40 percent or less efficiency heart I’ve suffered from hypertension for my entire adult life as I approach age 40. I’m looking out for the truly bitter people to help them be aware of their health as they encounter society and life.
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You’re absolutely right Sondis.
@untoldstory,
Being aware of white supremacy goes a long way to improving one’s mental health. You can navigate it. Being unaware or in denial can exacerbate health issues.
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So now the gun is being discussed in the recent local news on television here in the DFW metroplex. Texas is an open and carry state so that should not be a big deal. She heard noise in her backyard and she needed protection. She was home alone with her young nephew she didn’t know if it was an intruder or what. Her having a gun shouldn’t be a big deal. But I am sure they will create some kind of confusion with this narrative.
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Really fed up with this
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I feel bad for Mr. James Smith hope he can get some peace. I feel bad for him because many are blaming him when he was just trying to be a good neighbor. I hope he finds peace.
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@ Mary Burrell:
They’ve since back peddled away from showing the gun. As for Mr. james smith…..
Given his age, i understand his thought process as it pertained to him, calling a police agency to check in on his neighbor.
However, anyone young enough to understand that the job of police officers, isn’t to protect or serve black people but to arrest and harass black people, they should know better, not to call the police for ANY reason.
Once the police see that you’re black, they’ll treat you like the criminal, despite you’re the one who called them for assistance!
If you’re lucky enough to not be shot, for calling white cops for help you, you may get beaten, peppered sprayed or arrested for not allowing them to violate your civil rights without protesting verbally.
Protecting and serving white people is the job of police depts. in America. Which makes sense, being the originals of police, came out of slave catching.
I would have no sympathy for anyone young enough, smart enough to know better. And if a parent teaches their black children to call the cops, they’ve potentially signed their death warrant.
Cops don’t prevent crime, they show up after a crime as been committed and in the case of showing up to a black neighborhood, where black people live, they’ll take their time getting there, so the black people are dead by the time they get there.
Black people need to ARM yourself, like this women did and shoot first like white racist cops do. And in this black woman’s case, the grave mistake of not shooting first, cost her life.
Sure, white supremacy will come for you for killing a fellow white supremacist race soldier but remember what malcom x said…
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kf7fujM4ag&t=604s)
I have no reservations for an untimely death…but if i face possibly dying at the hands of a white police officer, i’m going to do my best to take him to hell with me…. *proud carrier of a registered firearm.
Black people need more soldiers, we have enough cowards….
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@ Sondis
I agree with what you said, but I also think the police as a whole have a toxic culture of brutality and militarization, which needs to be addressed. White cops are undoubtedly the worst, I admit that fully.
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@ Mary Burrell
Everything I’ve read saying she pointed the gun at the window is based on the 8-year-old nephew’s statement. I feel uncomfortable about that because he’s just a little kid. Could the police have prompted him to say that? Also, whether the officer could see the gun from the other side of the window is still in question.
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Another senseless murder that should’ve easily been prevented.
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I stumbled across this very interesting article; Fort Worth recently fired the city’s first African American police chief, allegedly because he was trying to institute diversity awareness and clean up a corrupt department:
“The same questions being asked now of the Fort Worth Police Department, mayor and city manager in the shooting death of 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson were asked last June in a lawsuit against the city filed by former Fort Worth Chief Joel Fitzgerald, who is demanding reinstatement after being fired last May….”
https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/when-did-fort-worth-get-religion-on-cops-just-now-11781150
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Solitaire:
“I agree with what you said, but I also think the police as a whole have a toxic culture of brutality and militarization, which needs to be addressed. White cops are undoubtedly the worst, I admit that fully”
The suggestion that the police as a whole, have a toxic culture of brutality and militarization, suggests it has nothing to do with racism/white supremacy.
This is false, because the brutality and militarization that you speak of, is directed at black people. if what you said were true, these tactics would also be carried out against white people, too. This isn’t the case….
So it isn’t just a matter of culture, in which white police operate, that leads them to brutalize. It’s the race of the people that are being brutalized.
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So now Lee Merritt is being called into question. It appears my calling him an ambulance chaser may be confirmed. The funeral services for Atatiana Jefferson have been postponed due to a dispute among family members and Ms. Jefferson’s father. There was a Go Fund Me set up for the funeral. Mr. Jefferson said he doesn’t need that money because he has an insurance policy to cover the funeral expenses. Lee Merritt and the other family members were on the local news. This is so disrespectful to Atatiana, she deserves better than this. Lee Merritt is nothing but a dead black body chaser. Atatiana deserves to be laid to rest without this ugly drama.
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RIP to the father of Atatiana Jefferson. I suppose the poor man grieved himself to death. This is so tragic and heartbreaking.
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@ Mary
That is so sad.
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RIP
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Fort Worth police officer who fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson indicted on murder charge
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fort-worth-police-officer-who-fatally-shot-atatiana-jefferson-indicted-n1105916
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Attatiana Jefferson’s mother has passed away.
https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/01/09/police-investigating-death-at-home-of-atatiana-jefferson-woman-killed-by-former-cop/
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