On Monday, a Forth Worth, Texas, cop shot and killed 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson in her own home after being called by a neighbor who noticed the front door was open. Jefferson was playing video games with her nephew when she was killed.
In the ensuing days, the Fort Worth community has called for justice and answers as to just what happened, as bodycam footage revealed that less than three seconds passed between Aaron Dean, the suspect, shouting at Jefferson to put up her hands and pulling the trigger that ended her life.
“There is simply no justification for his actions,” said Jefferson’s sister Ashley Carr at a news conference. “We demand justice for Atatiana through an independent and thorough investigation.”
Dean is currently being held on a $200,000 bond.
White Christian leaders have been criticized in the past for their silence on police violence, particularly how it disproportionately affects black Americans. But over the week, many authors, pastors and leaders took to social media to call for justice, and grieving Christian leaders of color were joined by many of their white colleagues.
This picture broke me. My heart cries out for her family. #AtatianaJefferson pic.twitter.com/jFrbnBbh9V
— Trillia Newbell (@trillianewbell) October 13, 2019
I am tired of shaking my head and rubbing my head and trying to think what it would be like to be Black in America. I want to be part of a CHANGE. NOW in this generation. This injustice is outrageous. What continues to go on in this nation in regard to Black Americans is madness.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) October 13, 2019
You are so right, @BethMooreLPM. I cannot FATHOM what Black people have experienced over the centuries in America and continue to experience today. Words fail. Tears fall. #AtatianaJefferson https://t.co/iDNy3oSVJS
— Kay Warren (@KayWarren1) October 13, 2019
When Black skin is considered a wespon, we will always be “perceived as a threat” by the police who murder us and the DA’s, juries, and judges who justify their actions, thus legalizing the lynching of Black people in America.#AtatianaJefferson #LegalizedLynching
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) October 14, 2019
We grieve her being unjustly taken. We say her name. #AtatianaJefferson
— BJ Thompson (@bj116) October 13, 2019
Say Her Name #AtatianaJefferson
How long, O Lord? How long…— Eugene Cho (@EugeneCho) October 13, 2019
Jerry & I talk w/our sons abt race in America, normally abt the awareness they need as black MEN in this country. But this wk is different. Today, my sons r looking at me -their black mother- in concern. They hear of #AtatianaJefferson & recognize that she is me. And I am her?
— Priscilla Shirer (@PriscillaShirer) October 14, 2019
On Tuesday, interim Police Chief Ed Kraus abruptly ended a press conference after growing emotional while discussing the case and the state of the Fort Worth Police Department’s relationship with the public.
Choking back tears, Interim Chief Ed Kraus on morale and trying to build relationships w/ the community, “I likened it to a bunch of ants building an ant hill and then somebody comes with a hose and washes it away.” He then abruptly ends the presser. #FortWorth #AtatianaJefferson pic.twitter.com/DgNPUqKbn0
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) October 15, 2019
