Shooting victim shouldn't be on trial

In the break-in and shooting death of Botha Jean, we the jury, find Botha Jean guilty.

Sounds crazy, right? A person is shot to death by an intruder in his own apartment, and it’s his fault.

But that’s what appears to be happening in Dallas, where an off-duty cop entered Jean’s apartment thinking it was hers — then shot him, mistaking him for the intruder, before turning on the lights.

Jean, 26, frequently led church services and campus events before he graduated from Harding University, and worked for a financial company in his professional life. But when he was shot, he was a silhouette that didn’t respond to verbal commands, according to the officer that didn’t take time to check the apartment number on the door.

After details of the shooting came out, another few interesting items were revealed by police. Jean possessed a marijuana grinder, and there was marijuana in his apartment. Pretty sure possession of marijuana isn’t a capital offense.

And then a few days later the NRA decided to speak up. If Botha Jean had been a law-abiding gun owner, he’d still be alive today. If you believe that, I’ve got some magic beet pills to sell you.

A gun didn’t help Philando Castile. That was the Minnesota school nutrition supervisor who announced he had a concealed weapon when he was pulled over for a traffic violation. The officer yelled at him not to pull out the weapon, and shot him seven times despite Castile’s insistence he wasn’t going to. The officer was acquitted of manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm.

Fine, so the mere idea of a gun isn’t enough. What if Jean was holding a gun? Surely, the officer would have looked to defuse the situation.

Didn’t happen with Tamir Rice. A call came in to the Cleveland police that somebody was pointing a pistol at people in the park. It was an Airsoft gun; he was 12. Neither of those things were determined, because Rice was shot within two seconds of the police arriving at the gazebo where he was sitting. The officers weren’t indicted.

Didn’t happen with John Crawford. He was walking around a Wal-Mart with a BB gun he picked up from the sporting goods section. He was on his cell phone when police surrounded him and fatally shot him. There was no time taken to distinguish if Crawford was a threat. Officers threatened his girlfriend with jail time when they questioned her before informing her Crawford was dead. The officers weren’t indicted.

Guess what Jean, Castile, Crawford and Rice had in common? If you don’t already know, wait for the end.

If Botham Jean had a gun, and carried it in his apartment at all times. maybe the two people would have seen each other with a weapon and diffused the situation. But it’s more likely either:

n Jean is injured or killed in a shootout, and it’s ruled the officer was defending herself. He had a gun and drugs in the apartment, after all.

n The officer is injured or killed in a shootout. Jean is charged, because he had a gun and drugs in his apartment.

Botha Jean wasn’t running from the police, he wasn’t resisting arrest and he wasn’t brandishing a weapon. He was in his own apartment, and that should mean something ... right?

Colin Kaepernick’s protest wasn’t about the military. It was about how a different justice system appears when black people are abused or killed by police. It’s the one that seems destined to put Botha Jean on trial for his own death.

Kevin Wilson is managing editor of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at: [email protected]