It was clear the Fort Worth City Council did not want to hear from the hundreds of angry residents who showed up to their meeting this past Tuesday.
The police murder of Atatiana Jefferson, in her own home, sparked outrage that crowded City Hall. The council tried to hold regular business and delay public comment on this "new business" until 9:30 at night.
For shame.
And it's unfortunate that the many black citizens speaking their pain that night will not get the Twitter attention that Courtney Miller will. That said, her comments received a standing ovation from citizens of every race at the meeting.
Ms. Miller noted that she had experienced police on her property while sitting at home, in very similar circumstances to Atatiana Jefferson. She was at home, lights on, watching TV, when her dog wanted to go outside to her backyard.
She heard her dog bark frantically and walked to her back patio to find two flashlights glowing on her property. She called out and received a reply: "It's the police."
Miller noted that in her white neighborhood she got a visit from the police over a barking dog.
"I am alive, and Tay is not. And that's white privilege right there because...I was afraid, as a white woman, what if the police had shot my dog. If I were a black woman in this city, my biggest fear would have been what if they shot me."
“I’m still alive and Atatiana Jefferson is not,” she said. “That’s white privilege.”
She ended by demanding that a CRIMINAL defense attorney be included on any Police Oversight Committee.
