Last month in Barstow, California, Diante Yarber was killed when police fired an estimated 30 bullets into his car in a Walmart parking lot. This story is all-too familiar. Police claimed to have been looking for a “suspicious” vehicle with a “suspicious” black male inside. They came across a vehicle with a black man in it. So, of course, they then decided to fire directly into it, in public, almost murdering everyone inside of it. As details continue to emerge about this tragedy, it has also come to light that one of the officers involved in the shooting had been previously charged with a hate crime and was fired at one point.
Wow. How completely unsurprising.
According to The Guardian, Jimmie Alfred Walker had quite a record.
Walker, who is white, was charged in 2010 with hate crime and battery charges after the then 30-year-old officer allegedly used racial slurs against a man and assaulted him and a woman while off duty. The officer eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of fighting in a public place and being drunk in public, while the battery charge and hate crime charge (“violating civil rights by force or threat of force”) were dropped, according to records obtained by the Guardian.
Most folks would be tempted to ask how someone like this could still have their job. But, we shouldn’t bother asking. We already know full well why he was allowed to keep his job. It’s because racism is an acceptable, and even explicit, part of policing and officers can assault and use racial slurs against blacks and people of color with impunity—escaping judgment and penalty in both the courts and in public opinion. Very often, they are even praised for it.
In this case, Walker got off with a slap on the wrist. He was allowed to admit to deplorable behavior and addiction and eventually got his job back, with back pay.
As part of his plea deal, Walker was forced to make a $200 donation to the NAACP and required to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings, the court documents show. The local newspaper Victorville Daily Press reported at the time that Walker was fired as a result, but that an arbiter later ruled that the termination was wrongful, forcing the city to reinstate him and pay him $163,000 in owed wages.
Think this wasn’t about race? Think again. When was the last time we heard of police looking for a suspicious car with a white person in it and fired more than 30 bullets into the car, in a busy parking lot? With passengers in the car? Is murder now what police are doing to stop suspected car thieves? Nah. It’s just how they justify killing black people. Don’t worry, though. They came up with a very unoriginal story which is likely to get them off the hook with a jury—if this even makes it to a trial (it likely won’t). According to The Guardian, they say it was all the victim’s fault.
Police have claimed officers were responding to a call of a “suspicious vehicle” and that Yarber was “wanted for questioning” in a stolen vehicle case. Officials further alleged that he “accelerated” the car towards officers when they tried to stop him, “almost hitting one officer”.
And there we have it. The cops shot into a carful of people. They killed a black man who was struck at least 10 times with their bullets. They say it was his fault. And one of them has a history of hate crimes and battery charges while off-duty but that fact hasn’t been covered much by the media who instead are trying to dig for information on the victim’s police record. Nothing new to see here, folks. Same old police violence directed at black people. And while it may not be new, this shit certainly is getting really old.