Not Charged: D.C. Cops Who Shot And Killed Anti-Gun Violence Activist In His Car Avoid Accountability
Source: Alicia (Robin) Robinson/GoFundMe
Here’s a question: What incentive do police officers even have to deescalate situations in order to avoid a senseless death if the bar is so high to hold them accountable for their actions?
During the early morning hours of Sept. 1, 26-year-old anti-gun violence activist Justin Robinson was shot at point-blank range at least 11 times by two officers with Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department after he had just awakened after being unresponsive in his car for at least an hour while in a McDonald’s drive-thru. Now, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. has announced that it “found ‘insufficient evidence’ to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges or D.C. charges against the officers,” according to WTOP News.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release that “Robinson had been sitting inside his car in the drive-thru of the McDonald’s, unresponsive, for around an hour before it moved forward and crashed into the building.” The news release also noted that the officers spotted a gun in Robinson’s lap and as they tried to remove it, he woke up. The officers then decided that the best way to deal with a man who had just woken up in his car after being unresponsive for an hour for unknown reasons was to shove their guns in his face and start shouting orders at him.
From WTOP:
Officers screamed at Robinson to “put his hands up and not to touch the gun.”
Robinson did not hand over his gun and police said he reached for the officer’s gun.
Police told Robinson to let go of the gun — when he refused, two officers fired 11 rounds, fatally wounding him.
Fire officials and officers tried to resuscitate Robinson, but he died at the scene.
The findings from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. come after Robinson’s family called on the Justice Department to launch a civil rights investigation into his killing.
A spokesperson with D.C. police confirmed to WTOP that the two officers are back on duty and an internal investigation is ongoing.
As we previously reported, an attorney representing Robinson’s family disputed the allegation that Robinson attempted to grab an officer’s gun, telling CBS News in September that Robinson “naturally attempted” to move the cop’s gun away from his face before his actions were met with a barrage of bullets. Attorney Brandon Burrell noted that the officers continued shooting even after it was clear that Robinson had been struck by gunfire, which constitutes “police brutality.”
Look, we should already have known that these cops weren’t going to be charged with murder, but the justice system really needs to ask itself why officers who handled situations like this so abysmally so often are not being punished at all — not even with a simple firing.
The officers shot Robinson 11 times and the system doesn’t ask, “Why the excessive shooting?” The officers didn’t report that Robinson ever attempted to raise his gun at them, and the system doesn’t ask, “Why so quick on the trigger then?” The officers had to know that Robinson wasn’t likely in an alert state of mind, and for all they knew, he didn’t really understand what was going on at all. Unfortunately, it seems that officers will, without much thought, take the life of a civilian (especially a Black civilian) rather than take even the slightest risk that their safety might be in danger.
And why wouldn’t they if all they need to do is declare, “I was in fear for my life” in order for the “justice” system to determine their actions were justified?
SEE ALSO:
Brandon Durham Called 911 To Report An Intruder. Police Killed Him.
