Botham Jean
That this was treated as an officer involved shooting shows favoritism and double-standard. She was off-duty and should have been immediately charged the same as any other private citizen who killed a person.
Botham Shem Jean (1991-2018) was an unarmed Black man killed in Dallas, Texas by an off-duty White police officer on September 6th 2018. The officer, Amber Guyger, entered his apartment and shot him dead. She says she thought it was her flat, that he was a burglar.
She says: She came home after working 15 hours and was still in uniform. When she tried to unlock the door it was partly open. She came in, saw a looming figure in the dark and gave “verbal commands”. When the figure did not obey, she shot two times. Only when she turned on the lights did she see that it was not her apartment. (The next-door neighbour did not hear any “verbal commands”.)
He says: …
Jean had a red welcome mat in front of his door – one the few doors with any kind of welcome mat. People who knew him…
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Posted on 09/13/2018, in Botham Jean, Cases and tagged Amber Guyger, Botham Jean, Dallas, manslaughter. Bookmark the permalink. 17 Comments.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 
This was an unbelievable rime. Did this woman have the self-same doormat so she’d be sure it was her door. I can believe she was tired and at the house in error but the doormat would have stood out first, before she tried to get in. Even if everything she says is true she still shot the unarmed man in his own home without provocation. In my book that’s murder not manslaughter.
Hugs
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David,
There is something the woman is not telling. I can identify my house in the dark by the aroma of the last meal I cooked or the air freshener I used to get rid of cooking aromas. Where she shot him in the apartment could tell investigators if he was close enough to the door to have opened it for her. I have a feeling we will read more revealing information soon.
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Dear Xena,
I’m with you on this one. We are missing some key information. The current story does not pass my smell test. The fish story stinks to the high Heavens.
Hugs, Gronda
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Gronda,
Absolutely!
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Reminds me of the story about the Black women who mistakenly entered the wrong house, believing it to be her own, and fatally shot a White home owner that I have never read.
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Right, xmatman. I’ve heard of people going into the wrong house when they are sloppy drunk and are found sleeping on the sofa. This is the first case I know of “mistaken apartment” where the intruder kills the tenant.
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Dear Xena,
That’s the answer. She was higher than a kite when she returned home. When was she subjected to alcohol/ drug testing by police is the question, I want answered.
Hugs, Gronda
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Guyger was tested. The NyPost reported on 9/17 that toxicology reports for both Guyger and Jean are still pending.
I wonder if there is surveillance video for the parking lots because based on some witness reports, I’m getting the impression that Guyger had been in Botham’s apartment, was put out, and that’s when she decided to go back in and shoot him. She fired twice, and one bullet went into the all almost as high as the ceiling. If there is surveillance video of the parking lot, it will show what time she actually parked.
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America shows us daily that black lives don’t matter.
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Mary,
Yes, and it runs deep.
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A look inside Bothem’s apartment and questions raised.
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Brutal!
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This man went to his neighbor’s house like this. This man has his day in court.
As you watch this pay attention to the amount of time it took police to respond to this man Kevin Flaherty. Compare that to how quickly police respond to Tamir Rice,John Crawford,Terrence Crutcher,even black kids selling lemonade,mowing lawns,etc.
Also pay attention to Tom De Erico asking about the police response to Flaherty’s actions .
Remember all of this while knowing that Bothem Jean can be gunned down in his own home not bothering anybody,because a law enforcement professional can mistake his apt for hers.
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Chuquestaquenumber1,
Thanks for informing us about this case. I’ve drafted a post that addresses how police seem to respond differently when the suspect is White, as opposed to Black suspects. I might possibly get it published this morning. What happened to Botham Jean is outrageous! There is so much that is suspicious about what happened and why. Hopefully, the management company and surveillance videos can provide more information. I read that the doors are built to automatically lock, and unlocked doors are recorded by a system with the management company. That might dispel the story that the off-duty cop said the door was ajar when she arrived. Also, the cop’s toxicology results are still pending.
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Surprised they did toxicology. In the end his murder will be deemed justified and deserved because he had pot. It’s hard not be jaundiced when seeking justice from the US criminal system. A system where structural racism defines who gets justice.
Justice is not blind in a America. It’s becoming non-existent if you are not white.
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Angela,
America has a history of those in the judicial system using biases to decide who should or shouldn’t be prosecuted and if prosecuted, who should or shouldn’t be convicted. I’m feeling somewhat personal today, thinking about a man who has applied for a position as an associate judge and also in support of your comment. Decision makers in the criminal justice system did not get there overnight, and they have histories that unless people come in contact with them, they don’t know about. This isn’t the first time F. James Brun has applied for an appointed judgeship and thus far, he’s been unsuccessful. I have personal experience to know that he cherry picks who should not be arrested, and he does so without any investigation. This includes refusing to prosecute a man for assault based on the man’s word and in spite of police photographs of the victim; refusing to prosecute a city employee because it is a city employee, and refusing to investigate acts of swatting and electronic harassment. F. James Brun has been the gatekeeper in the State Attorney’s office for decades. His decisions make legislative law blank pieces of paper.
Imagine him being on the bench. Indeed, it’s my impression that he will first reach conclusions on his personal perception of litigants before him. I come to that opinion because he has a history of not caring about facts. His boss, Joseph Bruscato, is now running for an elected judgeship. He has shown citizens that he has no problem charging obstruction of justice against a Black witness of police use of deadly force, while he failed to prosecute an off-duty officer who killed a 15-year old.
So, this situation with Botham Jean brings me back to the local case involving an off-duty sheriff’s deputy. The difference between these cases is that the teen was accompanied by 3 other men, one being his brother, who were committing a robbery. Although video shows the teen on his stomach crawling away from Deputy Sheriff Pobjecky, it also shows Pobjecky deliberately aiming and shooting him in the back, Pobjecky was found justified both criminally and civilly on the basis that “Pobjecky objectively had reason to think Michael was armed and dangerous, and posed an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm …” The Justices on the Court of Appeals also stated in their civil case decision that “No reasonable jury could find otherwise”. Their decision contains multiple references to what law enforcement does and their discretion, disregarding that when Pobjecky killed the teen, that he was off-duty.
Botham was not committing any crime and was in his own residence when he was killed, which might be were the rubber meets the road in this case. However, driving that fact to the fact-finder, (whether a bench or jury trial, is going to require that prosecutors make it a constant reminder that Amber Guyger was off duty. She was not protecting the public and cannot justified shooting a person who she suspected was a burglar because if he had been armed, he would have most likely shot her the moment she walked into the door.
You’re right that justice is not blind — it has the eyesight and biases of those charged with administering justice.
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Xena it’s hard not to be angry if you’re black when such cases are daily. I don’t understand white hate, it seems evil to me.
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