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Even when a police officer is held responsible for his or her violent abuse of power against citizens, someone is looking to literally help them get away with murder…or manslaughter as the case may be.
A 58-year-old Black man named Greg Gunn was killed by a 23-year-old white Montgomery Police Department officer named Aaron Cody Smith, who targeted Gunn for a stop and frisk on the morning of Nov. 25, 2016. Gunn was walking home from a neighbor’s house after a long night of playing cards, not bothering anybody, not accused of causing a commotion, and not armed. Be that as it may, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, Smith readily admitted to beating, tasing, chasing and ultimately shooting Gunn because he allegedly “picked up a paint roller.” Greg Gunn died a few steps away from his home where he was caring for his 80-year-old mother.
RIP Greg Gunn: White Ex-Alabama Cop Who Killed Unarmed Black Man Granted Early Release From Prison
From left: Former Montgomery police officer Aaron Cody Smith and police shooting victim Greg Gunn. | Source: Montgomery County Jail and fair use photo
Th… https://t.co/4LJLO2RLCH pic.twitter.com/3Avdt5v9CB
— Leonard Y (@LeonardYoung302) February 28, 2024
Despite not being fired over the shooting, Smith was indicted for manslaughter and was set to be tried in front of a Black man, Judge Greg Griffin. Smith’s lawyers argued that Judge Griffin should be removed from the case over his previous public statements about being racially profiled by police officers. Smith also argued that he should be granted immunity from crimes because he was just doing his job. Judge Griffin would hear none of it. In 2019, the Alabama Supreme Court ordered Griffin be removed from the trial and also tried to do Smith a solid by moving the case from majority-Black Montgomery County to majority-white Dale County.
It didn’t work. It only took the Dale County jury a few short hours to find Smith guilty of manslaughter. In 2020, the judge sentenced him to serve 14 years in prison. On May 10, 2022, after failed appeal attempts, Smith, who had been allowed to stay free during the appeal process, served day one as an inmate.
Alabama AG Steve Marshall released a white police officer, Aaron Cody Smith, convicted of killing Greg Gunn – received 14 years but served less than 2 years. Confessed to beating and tasing him multiple times before killing him. #BlackHistory365https://t.co/1ASlmWX65n
— Dr. Valerie R. Landfair, Ph.D. (@1Firstfruit) February 28, 2024
Here comes the egregious part.
Not even two years later, on Feb. 5, 2024, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall took over the case. Last week, Marshall ordered Smith to be unshackled and set free with the caveat that he plead guilty to manslaughter despite having already been convicted.
“This is a fair and appropriate outcome,” Mr. Marshall said, according to EJI, citing his “personal misgivings” about the case. As for Mr. Gunn’s family, Mr. Marshall added, “I hope that they are able to find some closure and healing with this matter finally resolved.”
We truly hope this judge falls down a long flight of stairs. The audacity to talk about the matter being “resolved.” Sufficed to say, the family is pissed.
“That is not what we want,” William Boyd, a friend of Mr. Gunn’s and a spokesperson for his family, said following the Attorney General’s decision, according to EJI. “Their response was, ‘well, it is not about what you want. We are making the final decision. It is not like we are calling you to the table to weigh your options. We feel this is the best route to go,’” he added.
AmeriKKKa, the land of the cheat of the home of the hazed.
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