Texas Cop Who Fatally Shot Man After Entering Wrong Apartment Identified

So you voted to make him stand trial, right?

 

He's a victim and suffering and grieving because of the loss of a loved one. Who are any of us to criticize the way he deals with it. As a Christian, I was impressed with his forgiveness. I hope he adjusts as well as possible to life without his brother. It can be a tough thing.

 

Unless she is telling the truth. That’s why I’m asking about the trial.

If it had been her apartment and he was an intruder would that mean she no longer had contempt?

 

All of this is true but you are projecting a lot of your beliefs on what happened here.

You have no idea what is going on in his head and it might just be as simple as his own personal coping mechanism.

How do you know if he is to young or if he does not understand the history of christian religion.

 

How many cases have you actually studied or known where this has occurred.

Like I said before you are bringing a lot of baggage into this discussion.

Do you know this guy?

I am black and came up in the Nation of Islam so I know all about how Christianity was taught to slaves and why.

 

...here's the thing with me...

Lot of "Christians" are patting themselves on the back because of how the younger Jean behaved toward Miss Guyger. Notwithstanding the fact that the vast majority of them, in the same or similar circumstance, would have gone with the old "eye-for-an-eye" method...what you're supposed to believe is this is what real Christians behave like.

And that's right. They ARE supposed to act like that.

But they don't.

And the racial component and history doesn't help at all.

I personally paid no attention at all to anyone's displays of contrition or altruism overmuch. Unfortunately, particularly in cases like this regarding loss of life, most of what does happen in courtrooms is theater. Even moreso now, with the advent and saturation of social and digital media. Usually, that's about the least sincere a person (a defendant, primarily) will appear to be, because of what's at stake for them.

Miss Guyger (and for that matter, Brandt Jean) is entitled to the theater of the moment. Their lives are on display and in the balance.

...but for me, contrition is almost more about WHEN it occurs that IF it occurs. Because when that moment happens is precisely when redemption begins.

And redemption is a road to travel upon...not a light switch to be flipped on or off.

This incident was no accident. That has to stop being said. It stopped being an accident the moment she pulled out her gun and shot this man twice in the chest in his own apartment. Most of us have been in or a part of situations where we were lost or unsure of our surroundings.

Hell, just this morning I mistook a couple of cars in my parking garage for my own...but I didn't have the inclination to break a window out of one of them and take a seat in them either...

...everything prior to her shooting this man said to her that she was in error...and she chose to ignore those signs and "prove" that she was right and "stand her ground" instead of admitting that she was wrong...

She seemed to care only about herself and whatever was occupying her mind. She thought so little of what she'd done that she didn't even see the need to render aid to the man...and went so far as to continue whatever banal conversation she was having via text message afterwards...

...and that's enough of all that.

While that judge was handing the woman a reading assignment from the bible, maybe she should have suggested this one: Luke 23:32-43

33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,

37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.

38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
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I won't be shedding any tears for Amber Guyger. I won't be going out and toasting her "demise" either.

But if all that bawling she did AFTER the young man had chosen to forgive her ignorance and indifference and callousness...

...AFTER her fate was decided...

...if any of that means anything at all...

...well, we'll see where it leads her.

Starting now.

 

His statement was after the verdict.

Yes, that's how these things go. I was on a jury where one juror said maybe 5 years and another guy said he wanted to give him the death penalty (which wasn't an option). We settled on 20. Most of us weren't happy with it -- which people say is the hallmark of a good compromise.

The thing that always strikes me about these sentences is how cavalier people can be tossing out these decades-long sentence recommendations. Ten years in prison is a long-ass time. It's not that this murder sentence is too short, those drug sentences are too long. You only compound the injustice when you insist current perps suffer as much as past perps.

It's not just black Christians, it's Christians. I mostly know white Christians, but I see this same strain of Christian culture -- how important it is to forgive others as God has forgiven you. Blacks do not have a monopoly on forgiving the unforgivable. You can google it and you'll find other news stories with white family members forgiving the killers of their loved ones. I know you are right in some ways about the role of Christianity in slavery and stripping enslaved peoples of their own culture, and how sometimes the tenets of Christianity could be leveraged to assert control over oppressed people. But you're putting all the baggage of the African American people on this one guy in a time he really doesn't need to be carrying it. He seems to be a devout believer, no matter how he got to be that way. I think you disrespect him to say his faith is only the result of manipulation and that he's been tricked into forgiving his brother's killer.

 

Are you really extrapolating this act on learned behavior from slavery?

And also going with the Black people on this side of the world blast.?

You must be really fun at parties.

 

Great and thoughtful post, no surprises there.

Meanwhile, I am a tad worried @jiggyfly is going to show up in another forum w puppies for sale. (J/K)

 

Contempt and disregard are totally separate things.

 

Puppies for sale?

What am I missing here?

 

Poster named Baylor Bear pretended to be a black single mom on this forum to give authority to his republican ranting on race and then got caught selling puppies somewhere else and in he picture he was a white college boy. Never returned

 

This is not unique to black people in America.

This also happens with white people in America.

It is consistent with some of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

I do not know what or why the young man decided to forgive her and hug her. That is for him and his brain.

Personally I will not judge it as I have never had my brother killed by an off duty policeman and an half assed attempted cover up.

As for the shooter, she is very lucky. She will be 41 years old when she is released, she can still live a long and fruitful life.

What isn't being discussed enough is the half assed attempted cover up........ it was done by a number of officers and it was done in such a way that I find it hard to believe that it was something new. Race relations in Dallas are not great (far worse than Houston). Unfortunately the systemic treatment of black people, especially black people that are not famous or wealthy is a major issue that should have improved more than it has and there is absolutely no excuse for it. As someone that has lived outside the USA, the issue is a world wide problem and one that is actually worse in many parts of Europe and far worse in places like China. Everyone should be ashamed.

 

Elaborate on the cover up

 

No I am definitely black.

Look at my sig.

 

This part I don't totally agree with.. She will NEVER be the SAME..

You can tell the toll all of this has taken on her and she has to live with the fact that she killed an innocent man... I would not be shocked to hear that she has mentally lost it while in prison. You have nothing but time to reflect on what you did and that's not always a good thing.

T_Man

 

Honestly.

The more I think about it, the more I agree with @amaru and @mdrowe00 .

I do believe that history plays a part in the actions that a person takes, in this case the history of being black outside of African and specifically in the West. That does not mean that a white person would not do the same, as we know they have and there is a history of white people doing it. However, we don't know how much is history, how much is his personal decision.

I will never judge how he grieves, but there is something that is not discussed much. I have seen it quite often with women being historically oppressed and it also exists with black people to some degree. The fact that he embraced and forgave her in public for killing his brother, can be used by those so inclined to justify the sentence handed down or the idea that the shooter has limited culpability.

Sexism, and racism (in this case) is so pervasive and historical, that it influences us when we do not even always realize it. It influences us even if we do not want it to. I have seen it often in the history of women's rights. Women would set aside their causes for wars, for their families, for societal sensibilities etc. Black people in the West have a similar history. MLK is taught as this wonderful civil rights leader (which he was) but Malcolm X is treated with this sense that he was dirty or dangerous and just wanted to start trouble (which isn't true).

All of this history and all of these vestiges of our experiences come into play. Everyone looks at things like this case in black and white absolute terms when the reality is gray and often times very complicated.

I do think that had she not been a cop and had the victim been a white male or female with children; the sentence would have been longer. I do not doubt it was tough being on that jury and I do not doubt that the shooter had prejudices that played a part in this..... how much? I don't know, I don't think that the shooter knows for sure either...... but at the end of the day, she gets 10 years to think about it, a good person is dead at a young age and his family gets to live with it forever.

 

Perhaps. No one really knows. Based on her response right after the shooting I have my doubts.... I think her mind will do what it must to let her live her life. She will be 41 years old when she gets out. She will likely have some level of a support system and most will not view her like they do traditional killers.

Had she gotten 25 years, she would have almost been 60 when getting out.

 

Let me ask you this.

How would people feel if she came off the Bench and handed Amber a Koran?

How would people feel if she walked over and handed her a copy of Dianetics and told her to study L. Ron Hubbard?

The Judge works for the people, and is a government workers..... we live in a country where the legal system is supposed to be secular. The Judge walking over, in the courtroom and robe and handing Amber a Bible is highly inappropriate. You can see that the attorneys in the courtroom are still standing for the Judge. It really isn't proper for the Judge to do what she did.

 

I might not understand what you're saying, but I think you're agreeing with me? I just think the judge should remain agnostic in the courtroom, all of the above examples sound wrong to me.