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Earlier this month, 43-year-old Brandon Durham, a Black man in Las Vegas, Nevada, called the police to report an intruder who had broken into his home. Later, while Durham was in his underwear and pleading for help, an officer shot and killed him — instead of the intruder. Now, the accused intruder, who set the whole tragedy in motion is facing justice, but the cop who pulled the trigger and took Durham’s life remains on paid leave and has not been charged with a crime.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Alejandra Boudreaux, 31, was charged Monday with home invasion, assault constituting domestic violence, child abuse, and disregarding the safety of a person resulting in death or substantial bodily harm, and her bail has been set at $1million. Durham’s family and friends were in attendance at court Monday, with some members wearing T-shirts that read, “Justice for Brandon.”
“I think there’s some relief in the fact that there’s justice in motion, but we haven’t achieved justice yet,” Cannon Lambert, one of the attorneys representing the family, said after the hearing.
However, Durham’s loved ones have also demanded that charges be filed against Metropolitan Police Department officer Alexander Bookman, who shot and killed Durham while he was struggling to wrestle a knife away from Boudreaux, who later claimed she was trying to commit suicide by police, according to the department.
From the Review-Journal:
Body camera footage that has been released by Metro showed Bookman, 26, walking into the house and finding Durham, who was in his underwear, struggling with Boudreaux over a knife. Bookman yelled, “drop the knife,” and then immediately opened fire, stepping forward and continuing to shoot Durham as he fell to the ground, the video showed. Police said Bookman fired his gun six times.
Prosecutors argued for the judge to set bail for Boudreaux at $1 million, acknowledging that she likely could not afford to post the required percentage of bail to a bondsman. Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani said the bail would be “tantamount to a detention order” but argued that Boudreaux is a threat to the community and has “gone to extreme measure” in an attempt to die by suicide.
“The defendant made the conscious and deliberate decision to commit suicide by cop,” Giordani said when describing the home invasion.
The video footage shows very plainly that Durham was wearing boxer shorts, as someone would be if they were a resident in the home, and he was struggling to get a knife away from Boudreaux, who was the only one notably dressed like someone who intended to break into a home. Not only that, but according to police records, Bookman had been to Durham’s house the previous night when another call had been placed by Durham to complain that Boudreaux would not leave his home. Still, despite having had previous contact with both parties, Bookman not only shot the victim in the head instead of the intruder, but he shot the victim several more times after he was down. How exactly is Bookman not also in custody right now?
More from the Review-Journal:
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he would not make a decision about whether to prosecute Bookman until Metro has finished its investigation into the shooting, which is expected to take at least several weeks.
“I don’t expect to receive the very voluminous file for at least a number of weeks, if not a month or two,” Wolfson told reporters on Monday. “I can’t, nor should I, make a decision until I have all of the evidence. And once I have all of the evidence, I apply the law to the facts in making my decision.”
Lambert continued to push for a quick decision from officials on Monday, pointing to Bookman previously being dispatched to Durham’s home and the body camera footage of the incident.
“Our eyes don’t lie, the video doesn’t lie,” Lambert said.
Exactly — we saw what we saw!
“Charges need to be filed (against Bookman),” Durham’s sister, Diane Wright, told reporters Monday. “This is wrong. Anybody with eyes can see — this is wrong.”
Hopefully, we’re not looking at yet another case of the “justice” system going out of its way to protect law enforcement, and everyone responsible for Durham’s tragic death is held accountable, not just the convenient criminal suspect.
SEE ALSO:
Brandon Durham Called 911 To Report An Intruder. Police Killed Him.
DOJ Launches Federal Civil Rights Investigation Into The Killing Of Sonya Massey
Home Intruder In Brandon Durham Case Held On $1M Bond…But What About The Cop Who Shot The Victim?
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