'Good Guy' With A Gun Doesn't Matter If The 'Good Guy' Is Black
The NRA is fond of saying, "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun". Remember that? It was their way of justifying massive gun ownership in an already gun - saturated society.
A National Institute of Justice report issued in 2009, showed that for every 100 Americans, there are 89 guns, the highest per capita in the world. Of the 650 million estimated civilian - owned guns worldwide, Americans own 48 percent of these guns in the world.
On November 11th in Robbins, Illinois a southern suburb outside Chicago, police officers shot and killed Jemel Roberson. Jemel was working as a security guard at a local bar in Robbins when a man opened fire in the bar. Mr. Roberson subdued the individual and waited for police to arrive on the scene to take the man into custody.
When police arrived from another jurisdiction, Midlothian, Jemel Roberson, the "good guy", who was black, with the gun, was the one shot and killed by the police.
Accounts vary as to why this happened, "When police arrived to help, they found Roberson armed with a gun and on top of another patron at the bar as he tried to stop the fight until authorities arrived," said Josh Magness.
Adam Harris gave this account: "The security guard that got killed, he caught somebody and had his knee on him the whole time. Just waiting on the police to get there, they probably thought he was one of the bad guys, because he had his gun on the guy and they shot him. Everybody was screaming out, "Security! He was a security guard and they still did their job and saw a black man with a gun and basically killed him."
According to a 2012 FBI report, 31 percent of people killed by police were black, while blacks make up only 13 percent of the population. 62 percent of unarmed people shot by police are minorities. Just putting that out there!
The of f i cer from the Midlothian Police Department who shot Jemel multiple times and killed him, said he gave Jemel, "multiple verbal commands to drop his weapon" before firing. The Illinois State Police said basically the same thing in regards to the killing of Jemel. "Roberson was given multiple verbal commands to drop his weapon before an officer fired." That's almost identical isn't it? Just sayin'.
In another statement from the State Police said, "The officer from neighboring Midlothian, (a predominately white town, my words) who killed Roberson saw a man decked out in plain black clothing with no markings identifying him as a security guard, armed with a gun."
Midlothian Police Chief, Daniel Delaney said, "What we have learned is Jemel Roberson was a brave man who was doing his best to end an active shooter situation at Manny's Blue Room."
Jemel's mother said her son wore a hat with SECURITY in bold letters, says Gregory Kulis, an attorney representing her. She has also filed a $1million lawsuit against Midlothian and the white officer known only as "John Doe" at this time. Beatrice Roberson said of the officer's actions in killing her son that they were "unprovoked and an "excessive and unreasonable use of force."
Jemel was shot multiple times according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
The mayor of Robbins, Ill. Where Manny's Blue Room Bar is located in this largely black community, said, "I wish it had been one of our officers who came across the situation, they may have been more familiar with security at the bar. That's my honest opinion." Says the honorable Tyrone Ward.
Like the mayor, I wondered why did cops from a different municipality arrive at the scene before Robbins police did? If Robbins Police had arrived first, there is a good chance Jemel Roberson would be alive today!
Conflicting stories as to what happened in the bar — witnesses say one thing and police say another. Whom do you believe? Police say Jemel wasn't wearing anything that identified him as a security guard while his mother says he wore a hat with SECURITY on it in BOLD LETTERS. And let's not forget the bar patrons who were screaming out to the Midlothian Police on the scene, "SECURITY, HE WAS A SECURITY GUARD!" I asked you what do you think?
Let me tell you what I think!
Many things in American society are spoken of or thought of as pertaining to all Americans.
"All men are created equal" wasn't meant for black men. We weren't even considered human when that was written by the slave owning founding fathers. "Equal pay for equal work" wasn't meant for women, as they continue to lag behind men in being paid equal pay for doing the same job.
"It takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun" doesn't apply to black men, as evidenced by the killing of Jemel Roberson by a white cop! This is the reason that I was never in favor of teachers being armed. If a black male or female, but especially male teacher, were armed and police came upon an active shooter situation, whom do you think is going to be assumed as the shooter and shot?
There is so much that is wrong with this terrible situation in Robbins, Ill. Black people are scary to white people just in general, especially young big black men. Add the element of shots fired and you have white cops responding in a heightened sense of fear and a shoot first, ask questions later, mentality.
Jemel was a good guy. He even wanted to become a police officer. He was held in high esteem by his community and his pastor. Despite all this, the thing he was guilty of that got him killed was the thing he had no control of — he was a black man holding a gun It didn't matter if he were "the good guy" subduing a real bad guy, he was a black man and armed. For many white people, that's all they needed to know.
Tagged in:
