Corey Jones, Nouman Raja and racism

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

A few days ago, 31 year-old black man, named Corey Jones, who’s car had broken down and was waiting for a tow, at around 2:15 AM was shot to death by a plain clothes cop who apparently had stopped by to investigate the car pulled over by the side of the road.

The cops have claimed that Jones had his legally owned gun out and was acting aggressively towards him, though Jones’ family while admitting he owned a gun is disputing this.

What really jumped out at me about the case that seems to have largely been ignored is that the cop’s name was Nouman Raja, a name that screams “South Asian” which as far as I can tell has been largely ignored.

So it looks to me like we have two distinct possibilities, though we should be very, very careful since we still don’t have all the facts and more evidence may come up.

The first is that, Jones’ family is right and that he didn’t have his gun out and wasn’t acting belligerently towards the guy in civilian clothes who got ought of his van and approached him a 2:00 in the morning, and that Raja just panicked and shot Jones to death in which case one has to ask if Raja would have shot Jones if he was say, a blonde-haired white guy.

The second is that, Raja is telling the truth and that Jones had his gun out, was being threatening or hostile and he, more reasonably than in the previous scenario, pulled his gun and shot Jones to death.

However, if Raja’s account is accurate and stands up to scrutiny(which is a big if) I can’t help but wonder, would Jones have been as likely to respond that way if the guy he saw get out of the van was a blonde, blue eyed white guy instead of the brown-skinned man who shot him to death.

Either way, he seems to have been killed due to the irrational fear of black people so many have.

Not sure what to think.

2

What would have happened if Nouman Raja had been named “Bob Smith” and had been white?

3

Important part of the story that’s hinted at in the OP but not specifically called out is that the cop was also in an unmarked car. So a regular looking guy gets out of a regular looking vehicle.

This is a local story for me. Well, less than an hour north of me. I’m a little surprised it isn’t getting more national press. Maybe it’ll pick up steam.

4

I was in town when it happened, ftr. The key point to me is that the officer was in plain clothes and in an unmarked car with no lights etc., and no camera either in the car or on his clothing. Jones had no reason to believe he was being contacted by a police officer and not an armed robber. Procedures were either not followed or did not exist, making it the department’s responsibility as much as the trigger-happy cop’s. If there’s a racial aspect to this, then it’s secondary.

The PBGPD still doesn’t have a story for public consumption that gets them off the hook for a big suit/settlement.

5

Has it been determined that the officer did not indicate he was a cop when approaching the motorist? Do we know whether the motorist immediately asked the cop who he was and instead pulled out his gun to ward off a person of unknown intentions? Would that have been a better move than saying “whoever you are, I’ve called for a tow truck and they’ll be here any minute”? Were tragic mistakes made by one or both parties?

If the officer had been black and a white motorist whipped out his gun and shot him out of fear he was about to be assaulted/robbed, would the conversation then be about racial stereotypes and the need for “common sense gun legislation”?

6

Well, I began this thread by wondering if the officer was correct and Jones pulled his gun and pointed him at it if Jones would have reacted in such a way if instead of being brown-skinned South Asian, Raja had been a blonde white guy?

We obviously don’t know right now. In fact we don’t even know if the gun was in Jones’ hand or even on his person or if it was still in the car.

However, anyone who thinks that black people aren’t just as capable of being scared by brown people at night as white people has led something of a sheltered life.

If what I’m wondering about is correct, I don’t want it to be an indictment of Corey Jones, but a reminder of just how pervasive and insidious racism can be.

7

No, but even if he did, what reason did Jones have to believe him?

The only person who knows that is dead.

Let’s not be too hasty with the both-sides stuff.

8

I am S Asian. Here is what the officer in question looks like (Officer Nouman Raja: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com). If I had seen him, unless he had a noticble S Asian accent if identified himself as such, by name, frankly I would not have identified him as anything but a generic American. Maybe of Italian or Hispanic origin. I seriously doubt the victim could have told his ethnicity either.