In the last week, the news has been flooded with updates on the two LASD deputies who were shot. This has provoked national outrage, over $500,000 has been raised for the deputies, a $200,000 reward was created, the Sheriff has called for Lebron James to match the reward, and false equivalencies have been made to police murders of unarmed Black men. As always, the police and right-wing media are using this to foment outrage in a disingenuous way. You can identify this as disingenuous because police have been killed by white people several times over the last few months, including both targeted murders and reactionary killings, and yet there was no national response like this.
•
On June 29, David Ware, a 32-year-old white man, shot two Tulsa, OK police officers, killing Sgt. Craig Johnson and wounding Officer Aurash Zarkeshan. Why didn’t you hear about this in the same way that you heard about the LASD deputies? Well, it doesn’t fit a narrative of linking Black people, BLM protests, or Antifa with violence toward the police.
•
This week, Tulsa PD reluctantly released the bodycam video of the incident with Ware. What stands out in that video is the infinite patience that the Tulsa police had with him. We know that nobody Black would have been given all the opportunities to comply with the officer’s orders. The officers extended every opportunity for Ware to comply, giving him warning after warning. We do not advocate for increased violence or decreased patience toward white people because what cops do to white people, they do 10x worse to us. To close the gap in treatment, they must do better to us, rather than worse to white people. It seems that white officers don’t see white men as a threat at all and it so as 12 years old Tamir Rice with a toy gun shot seconds. The young man buying toy guns in Walmart killed on arrival. The last to are black. Black lives don’t matter. And most white American wants it to stay that way. They did not even care when a 17-year-old white male shot 3 white males and killed two in black lives matter protest. Let see how they make excuses for this one
TULSA, Okla. — The man accused of shooting two Tulsa police officers is now facing the death penalty, according to court records filed in Tulsa County district court Thursday.
Tulsa police Sgt. Craig Johnson and Officer Aurash Zarkeshan were shot by David Ware during a June 29 traffic stop, prosecutors allege.
Johnson died from his injuries and Zarkeshan is still recovering from a gunshot wound to the head.
Ware is charged with several crimes, including first-degree murder and shooting with intent to kill. He has pleaded not guilty in the court
“The defendant fired multiple rounds at Officer Zarkenshan and Sgt. Johnson creating a great risk of death to them both,” Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler wrote in court documents.
Kunzeiler also said the murder of Johnson was cruel and committed in order to avoid arrest.
Matthew Hall, who police say helped Ware leave the scene, is charged with accessory to murder.
Ware and Hall are scheduled to be in court for a district court arraignment Oct. 5, according to court records.
