A family is in mourning after a black man, acting heroically at work, was shot and killed by police.
NPR.org reports that Jemel Robinson, who worked as security guard at a Chicago-area nightclub, was subduing a drunken suspect who was asked to leave but the returned and opened fired in the bar. According to eyewitness accounts given to Chicago’s WGNTV, police arrived on the scene and opened fire on Roberson despite the fact he was wearing an article of clothing with the word “security” printed on it and was licensed to carry the weapon.
On Tuesday, Illinois State Police issued a statement saying that “a Midlothian Police Officer encountered a subject in plain black clothing with no markings readily identifying him as a Security Guard, armed with a gun in the west parking lot.”
“According to witness statements, the Midlothian Officer gave the armed subject multiple verbal commands to drop the gun and get on the ground before ultimately discharging his weapon and striking the subject,” the statement said.
Roberson was holding a firearm he was licensed to carry. Other witnesses, and a lawsuit filed by Roberson’s family, reportedly said he was wearing a hat emblazoned with the word “security.”
“Everybody was screaming out ‘Security!’ ” Harris told WGN. “And they still did their job, and saw a black man with a gun, and basically killed him.”
Another witness, Jakia Woods, told member station WBEZ’s Miles Bryan that Roberson was wearing an orange vest and the hat marked “security.”
When police arrived after reports of a shooting over the weekend at a bar outside Chicago, witnesses say Jemel Roberson, a 26-year-old security guard who worked there, had already subdued the alleged assailant in the parking lot, pinning him to the ground.
In a statement to the press following the shooting, Midlothian Police Chief Daniel Delaney said t his officers “encountered a subject with a gun” and shot him. According to the report, witnesses at the scene say the unidentified officer emerged from the club’s back door and opened fired while he said: “get on the ground.”
Roberson, who was declared dead shortly after arriving at a hospital, is the only fatality resulting from the incident. Four others at the bar, including the shooting suspect, sustained non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The NRA and other gun carrying proponents have yet to speak out on behalf of Roberson who did not commit a crime and was legally and lawfully carrying a weapon.
Roberson’s family filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Midlothian police department and the officer who shot him, seeking damages of $1 million.
Lane Tech, where Roberson graduated in 2010, posted their condolences on Twitter. To see their message, and the full news report, flip the page.
RIP Jemel Roberson. May your family get justice for your murder.