A Virginia Attorney is enraged when a Special Grand Jury is convened and indicts an ex-White Cop who shot an Unarmed Black Man Charged with Shoplifting

 A Virginia Attorney is enraged when a Special Grand Jury is convened and indicts an ex-White Cop who shot an Unarmed Black Man Charged with Shoplifting

An ex-police officer from Fairfax County, Virginia, is suspected of murdering an unarmed suspect who was allegedly stealing at the Tyson Corner Center in February 2023. A special grand jury decided that there was enough evidence to prosecute the officer with both homicide and careless weapon discharge.

Court documents state that Timothy McCree Johnson, 37, was being chased by a security guard while Wesley Shifflett and another police were on patrol at the mall. Johnson was suspected of stealing sunglasses from a Nordstrom department store.

Johnson was struck by bullets fired by both cops, but a police inquiry determined that the Black man was killed by Shifflett's gunshot.

The man's mother found it hard to accept that such a little larceny had resulted in her son's death.

"He was killed by theft. neither stealing something nor robbing someone with a pistol. According to Johnson's mother, Melissa Johnson, "an unarmed shoplifter is dead right now. We also believe he did not pose a threat to the officers."

Police Chief Kevin Davis dismissed Shifflett a few weeks after the incident because he saw on film that the former officer "failed to live up to the expectations of our agency, in particular use of force policies."

The chief claimed to have seen a two-minute video of the incident that night that was dimly lighted. A slowed-down version indicates that there were two rounds fired prior to the officer ordering the subject to "get on the ground."

Bodycam footage shows Shifflett telling his colleague that Johnson was "continually reaching in his waistband" and that he refused to cooperate when he ordered him to "let me see your hands" after Shifflett shot Johnson. On the video, however, that order is not audible.

Watch the whole bodycam video here.

Additionally, the cops never once discovered the supposed weapon.

"The police body camera video often speaks for itself. This time, it doesn't," the chief reportedly said, as reported by The Associated Press.

A grand jury declined to indict Shifflett for Johnson's murder earlier this year.

Steve Descano, the Commonwealth's Attorney for Fairfax County, was not pleased with the outcome and convened a special grand jury to launch a new inquiry. He referenced Virginia law, which gives him additional control over this procedure.

Descano thinks that the "Blue Wall of Silence" prevented the jury from convicting him. Furthermore, he said, Virginia law prevented him from being present for the trial where Shifflett was released from custody.

When taking such legal action is necessary, charging cops with crimes is part of the job of public safety, according to Descano. "It is no small achievement that the grand jurors returned a true bill after reviewing this case," the prosecutor said. "Our nation's justice system has historically been biased in favor of protecting wealthy institutions and individuals."

Descano's move to hold a special grand jury wasn't unanimously endorsed.

Shifflett's attorney, Caleb Kershner, contended that Descano ought to respect the first grand jury's decision to dismiss an indictment.

The counsel for this commonwealth thought it wasn't good enough. To have control over the proceedings, he had to put together a special grand jury, according to Kershner.

Few people comprehend what it's like to have a pistol drawn on you and often be in danger of dying, he added. Every day, these soldiers and civilians serve by risking their lives.