MURDER ! MURDER ! MURDER ! THIS IS DONALD TRUMP’S NEO-NAZI AMERICA.

Community members are demanding answers for the police killing of a black security guard in the Chicago suburbs, after 26 year-old Jemel Roberson was shot and killed by a white policeman Sunday. Roberson jumped into action early Sunday morning when a shooting broke out at a bar where he was working as a security guard. He was restraining a shooting suspect when several police officers arrived on the scene, and a white police officer from the Midlothian Police Department shot and killed Roberson. Witnesses said the police officer opened fire even though people at the bar were screaming that Roberson was a security guard. Roberson was armed and held a valid gun owner's license. We speak with Avontea Boose, the partner of Jemel Roberson and mother of his 9-month-old son Tristan. She is currently expecting their second child. We also speak with Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney representing the children of Jemel Roberson.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We go now to Chicago, where a community is demanding answers for the police killing of a black security guard in the Chicago suburbs. Twenty-six-year-old Jemel Roberson jumped into action early Sunday morning when a shooting broke out at a bar where he was working as a security guard.

Roberson was restraining a shooting suspect outside when several police officers arrived on the scene. A white police officer from the Midlothian Police Department then opened fire, shooting Roberson. Witnesses said the police officer opened fire even though [people] at the bar were screaming that Roberson was a security guard. Roberson was armed and held a valid gun owner's license. This is Adam Harris, who witnessed the shooting, speaking with WGN-TV in Chicago.

ADAM HARRIS: He had somebody on the ground with his knee in his back, with his gun on him, like "Don't move." … Everybody was screaming out "Security!" He was a security guard. And they still did their job and saw a black man with a gun and basically killed him.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: Meanwhile, the Illinois State Police is defending the actions of the police officer who shot Jemel Roberson. A report by the state's Public Integrity Task Force claimed that Roberson was not wearing a security guard uniform and ignored verbal comments to drop his gun. Witnesses have contradicted the state report, claiming he was wearing a uniform and a hat that was labeled "security." Greg Kulis, an attorney for Roberson's family, told The New York Times, quote, "We are three days into this and they are saying preliminarily that it was a good shoot? They traditionally take nine months or longer."

AMY GOODMAN: Jemel Roberson's death comes in the wake of a series of mass shootings in America, including the massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue last month, where a gunman killed 11 Jewish worshipers. President Trump said after the shooting, if there were armed guards inside the synagogue, the results would have been different. This is community activist Eric Russell of the Tree of Life Justice League, who protested outside the Midlothian police station on Tuesday.

ERIC RUSSELL: The president of the United States says that the best way to stop a mass shooting is a good guy with a gun. But I think what the president really wanted to say: "as long as that good guy isn't black." Jemel Roberson is a hero. He prevented mass casualties.


https://www.democracynow.org/2018/11/15/he_was_a_protector_remembering_jemel