Pardon for Killer Cop: 'Justice' Redefined for State Violence
📰 THE STORY: Former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin granted a posthumous pardon to a former police sergeant, Johnathan Ortman, who was convicted of manslaughter for the fatal 2023 shooting of an unarmed man, David Washington, accused of stealing sunglasses. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: This isn't an isolated incident. The pattern of official pardons or light sentences for law
enforcement officers involved in fatal shootings is deeply embedded in US history. From the systemic impunity during the Civil Rights era, where police violence against Black Americans went largely unpunished, to the present day, data consistently shows that convictions for on-duty killings are rare, and even rarer when the victim is Black. The murder of George Floyd in 2020 was an anomaly in
terms of conviction, propelled by mass protests, not typical institutional accountability. Double Standard: Imagine if a civilian, even one with a clean record, had killed an unarmed person over stolen sunglasses. The narrative would be one of cold-blooded murder, a swift conviction, and a lengthy sentence. Yet, when law enforcement commits such an act, the political machinery often kicks in to
mitigate consequences, framing it as a 'tragic error' or 'act of duty.' The media largely follows suit, sanitizing the language around state-sanctioned violence compared to civilian crime. Follow the Money: While not a direct money trail in this specific pardon, the broader political economy of policing in the US reveals clear beneficiaries. Police unions, often powerful lobbying forces, spend