There has been a lot of controversy over the trial of Amber Guyger, who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the death of Botham Jean. Now if you have followed the story then you know that Botham Jean was an accountant who was shot and killed by former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger.
Jean was in his own home, and it was claimed by Guyger that she mistook him for a burglar in her apartment, and that she shot him before realizing that she had entered the wrong apartment building.
Initially supporters of Jean’s family were pleased with the justice that was served when Guyger was convicted of murder. However, when it was announced that she would only be serving 10 years and eligible for parole in five, several people went to social media expressing their disagreement as well as their thoughts on the criminal justice system as a whole.
What I saw personally on me feeds was that a lot of people do not agree with how Jean’s brother Brandt Jean displayed his forgiveness with a hug and words of encouragement.
A lot of people argued that Guyger doesn’t deserve forgiveness or she needs a longer sentence for what she did. Some people say that the same thing would never happen if the roles were reversed. There were also people questioning the actual value of black lives in America.
To me it seems as though prosecutors and the whole #JusticeforBothamJean team were filled with triumphant joy when Guyger was convicted of murder because of the rarety of police officers being convicted of the murder of so many other unarmed individuals.
After the sentencing, however, it’s almost like they all came back down from a dream to a hard-to-swallow reality that I believe many of us never want to accept.
The criminal justice system has a lot of problems to say the least. Even when something seems inevitable, it seems like there’s always something to go grab on for safety. Is that something mercy, granted to some but not all? Maybe that is the reality we don’t want to accept.
I do believe in forgiveness, I believe heavily in love for all, justice though is something I want to continue to believe in. I would be lying to myself if I said my faith in justice for all in this world was not shaking. Just a few thoughts because of the outpouring of this topic on my social media timelines. Until next time.