On November 3, 2015, 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis went for a ride with his father from which he’d not return. Little Jeremy was on the spectrum and his teacher would later tell us of his love for puzzles and for playing. He was her favorite, the distraught teacher confessed. Family members described the 6-year-old as “playful and affectionate.” I imagine that going for a ride with dad was among the coolest things ever for the cute little boy.
In a classic case of over-policing, two officers said that they witnessed an argument between Jeremy’s dad — Chris, the dad’s name is Christopher Few - and his girlfriend and decided that they had to arrest the man for domestic abuse. Rather than allowing himself to be arrested, Chris took off in his car and what do you think the cops did? They saw the flight as a direct challenge to their manhood and so with sirens blaring they took off after the fleeing man. At the end of the chase, the adrenaline-hyped cops pumped 18 shots into the vehicle even as little Jeremy was securely strapped in the front seat. Five shots to the head and body of that little boy. Chris sustained life-threatening injuries and Jeremy, sweet little Jeremy was no more.
RIP, baby boy.
The System Works!
In short order the two officers responsible for killing Jeremy were forced to turn themselves in; they were subsequently charged with second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. The shooting happened on November 3 and by November 6 there were bail hearings for the cops. The office of the attorney general of Louisiana didn’t need prompting from social media or protest on his doorstep to force him to seek justice for little Jeremy. No secret grand jury and other delaying tactics in this case. The prosecutor, Matthew Derbes, knew on whose behalf he fought and it was not on the accused cop’s side this time around. Jury members were eager and willing to do their jobs. It took them only three hours to find officer Derrick Stafford guilty of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. The judge did his job: he sentenced the guilty officer to 40 years in prison for the killing of Jeremy and 15 years for wounding Chris. Said the judge:
"This senseless tragedy simply never should have happened. Many mistakes were made," Bennett said. "However, the evidence is totally clear that at the time that officer Stafford pointed his 40-millimeter handgun at Christopher Few and shot 14 times, the Few vehicle was stopped and Christopher Few was looking at officer Stafford and had either already raised his hands in surrender or was in the process of doing so."
This is how racism fucks with one’s psyche: Little Jeremy deserves justice. Christopher Lew deserves justice. My heart goes out to little Jeremy’s loved ones...I know the pain they feel. But along with the sense of satisfaction at the outcome of this case, I also have to deal with an oversized dose of bitterness and resentment and hate even. What about little Tamir? Doesn’t he deserve justice? And Michael Brown? Did you see that last sentence in the aforementioned quote from the judge? Let’s look at it again:
"However, the evidence is totally clear that at the time that officer Stafford pointed his 40-millimeter handgun at Christopher Few and shot 14 times, the Few vehicle was stopped and Christopher Few was looking at officer Stafford and had either already raised his hands in surrender or was in the process of doing so."
People found the idea that Michael Brown could have had his hands up or could have been in the process of putting his hands up absolutely ludicrous. The only explanation they’ll accept was that despite being wounded and bleeding, Michael bulked up like a demon and got ready to attack Wilson thus forcing the murderer to fire the execution-style shot to the head. That can be the only logical explanation — the teenager was black after all.
Compare and Contrast
Other than the tragic murder of little Jeremy, what else happened in 2015?
37% of unarmed people killed by police were black in 2015 despite black people being only 13% of the U.S. population
Unarmed black people were killed at 5x the rate of unarmed whites in 2015
Only 10 of the 102 cases in 2015 where an unarmed black person was killed by police resulted in officer(s) being charged with a crime, and only 2 of these deaths (Matthew Ajibade and Eric Harris) resulted in convictions of officers involved. Only 1 of 2 officers convicted for their involvement in Matthew Ajibade's death received jail time. He was sentenced to 1 year in jail and allowed to serve this time exclusively on weekends. Deputy Bates, who killed Eric Harris, will be sentenced May 31.
Volunteer Reserve Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Bates — a white man — was sentenced to 4 years in prison for killing Eric Harris.
Deputy Marshal Derrick Stafford — a black man — was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the killing of little Jeremy. Jeremy was white.