Just a few days ago, on October 12th, Atatiana Jefferson was murdered in her mother’s home by a police officer. Aaron Dean shot one time through Ms. Jefferson’s window killing her. She was inside her home playing with her young nephew. Jefferson was African American, Police officer Dean is white. We seem to read about these types of terrible tragedies regarding African American injustice in the news so often.
As Frederick Douglass wrote close to a hundred and seventy five years ago, discrimination against black people has a long and troubled history in our country.
The tragedy in Ft. Worth occurred after a concerned neighbor called a non emergency line when he saw the doors to Jefferson’s home had been open for many hours. When officers arrived, they neither knocked on the door nor rang the doorbell. Instead the two officers went around back, called out, and then Office Dean shot and killed Ms. Jefferson. Aaron Dean decided to quit hours before he was going to be fired. He did not cooperate with police and was released pending investigation. The New York Times article (Click Here) tells of how the police station said the officer acted very inappropriately. This story is being updated daily.
This shooting brings up yet another example of a white police officer killing an African American who was merely in their own home. Just weeks earlier, Amber Guyger, a former police officer in nearby Dallas, was convicted of murder for shooting a man in his home. Former Officer Guyger mistakenly thought the man was an intruder in her home.
The police are concerned about upcoming protests and further lack of trust between police and African Americans. Many communities are very worried that Dean will be given a light sentence because of similar events that have happened in the Dallas area and across the country.
How do you think these kind of tragedies should be prevented? Do officers need further training? Is this just one example of ongoing stereotypes and fear in our country? What can we do to create change?
Aidan: how can you fix the formatting of this post? It's very distracting and difficult to read. It seems like you've written about an important issue, but you need to make it easier for your reader to read your post.
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