© via Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post
Protesters in Fairfax, VA on Thursday 1/22/15
Protesters in Fairfax, VA on Thursday 1/22/15
"I feel like I could be next," Keith Harmon of Mount Vernon said. He was spotted holding a sign reading: "Q: Who investigates Fairfax Police? A: Themselves. FBI. No one."
Harmon explained that his neighbor "could well call the police, say I'm a madman with a gun, and the cops may show up and kill me."
That's about right...
It's been nearly 17 months since John Geer bleed to death after being shot in his doorway by a Fairfax County Police Officer on August 29, 2013. Geer had been standing, unarmed, with his hands his head on the doorframe, speaking with police officers for 50 minutes when one of them inexplicably fired one shot into his chest. When the SWAT team pushed into his house with an MRAP an hour later, John Geer was lying behind the door, dead.
It's important to note that Geer committed no crime. The entire incident started when Geer's partner, Maura Harrington, called the police to report that John was throwing her belongings out of the house. He'd become distraught after learning she was moving out and ending their relationship after 24 years. Harrington, one of Geer's two teenage daughters, his father, and his best friend were all on site, watching as the unbelievable tragedy unfolded before them. They have watched and waited for nearly 17 months as the Fairfax County Police Department and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors have stonewalled all attempts to get even basic information regarding what happened that day.
Comment: That's how it happens, every time. The boys in blue close ranks, the prosecutors let the case drop, the officer in question gets a paid vacation. Rinse and repeat. Can we call them Nazi's yet?
Comment: Protesting these crimes, in anyway we're each capable, whether that's a phone call to elected officials, getting out in the streets, or a quick share on facebook or twitter is well worth the effort.