Ex-Cop Gets 30 Days In Jail For Killing Unarmed Black Man In ‘Historic’ Conviction Called ‘Major Victory’
Source: KTLA screenshot
The “historic” conviction last week of a former police officer in California for killing an unarmed Black driver who was shot in the back multiple times prompted a mixed response as the defendant received what appeared to be a light jail sentence.
On one hand, one prominent racial justice group said, former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Andrew Lyons on Friday became the first person to be found guilty in an officer-involved shooting in more than two decades in Los Angeles County.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that a former Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was charged today for the on-duty fatal shooting of Ryan Twyman in #SouthLA three years ago. pic.twitter.com/epMUQmPxkY
— Jasmyne Cannick (@Jasmyne) March 4, 2022
On the other hand, though, Lyons was sentenced to just 30 days in jail for killing Randy Twyman, 24, in a parking lot in 2019.
Lyons and another deputy responded to an apartment complex in Willowbrook and approached a parked vehicle where Twyman was sitting. He had been named in a felony warrant for alleged weapons violations and the white Kia sedan he was in matched a description provided by detectives, officials said at the time.
During that deadly encounter, Twyman put the car in reverse and both deputies opened fire before the vehicle came to a stop nearby. After the vehicle stopped moving, Lyons retrieved his his semiautomatic assault rifle and shot into the car, killing Twyman, who was unarmed. His passenger was uninjured.
Sheriff’s officials said the deputies fired some 34 rounds during the shooting and a coroner’s autopsy later revealed Twyman had been shot six times, with half of his wounds to the back.
Twyman was accused in death of using his car as a “weapon.”
It was in that context that Lyons was able to plea down his original charge of manslaughter to just one felony count of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and one count of assault under the color of authority.
Lyons was also sentenced to two years of probation.
The other officer involved who the district attorney later confirmed fired shots during the deadly incident managed to completely avoid criminal charges altogether.
“Today, justice has been served for Mr. Twyman’s family who have spent years mourning the loss of their loved one,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said following the sentencing. “This verdict reflects my office’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that every individual, regardless of their profession, is held accountable for their actions.”
Reactions to the sentencing were split along ideological lines.
“HOW IS THIS JUSTICE?” asked one post on the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
“This didn’t do nothing but prove that The system wasn’t made for us it was made for the white man only,” another wrote.
Another remarked that Lyons’ sentence was “Not even a slap on the wrist.”
Others, however, looked at the conviction through a different lens and suggested the conviction was a major silver lining that showed Twyman’s death was not in vain.
“Not THE win, but a major victory,” Black Lives Matter LA (BLM-LA) posted. “Andrew Lyons…the LA County sheriff’s deputy who murdered #RyanTwyman in 2019 is now a convicted felon. The first cop to get jail time in LA in 22 years. And he can never be a cop or own a gun anywhere ever again.”
And because Lyons’ conviction coincided with the announced pending resignation of Los Angeles Chief of Police Michel Moore, BLM-LA called it “A day of historic victories” and suggested Moore was “Fired by the people!”
A day of historic victories…
1. Former LA sheriff’s deputy Andrew Lyons – who killed #RyanTwyman in 2019 – is the first cop to serve jail time in LA County in 22 years.
2. LAPD Chief Moore announced that he’s stepping down next month.
Fired by the people!— #BlackLivesMatter-LA (@BLMLA) January 12, 2024
The LASD has been notorious for using excessive and lethal force, particularly when it comes to Black and brown people.
Who could forget the time LASD officers tasered a Black man who stopped to ask them for help? Or what about when LASD cops shot and killed bicyclist Dijon Kizzee following an alleged “bicycle code violation”?
It’s not just violence, either, as cruelty and heartlessness certainly factored when LASD took and shared graphic photos from the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight other people, including his teenage daughter, before orchestrating a massive coverup scandal that resulted in a $16 million judgment in favor of the NBA legend’s widow.
That is to speak nothing of the time now-former chief of staff for the Los Angeles County Sheriff was busted for sending racist text messages about “Blacks” and “Mexicans” being incarcerated.
And in 2022, an LASD deputy violently arrested a Black man who was left needing an eye transplant from the brutal encounter.
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