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Home · News

Hugs From Judge And Brother At Amber Guyger Sentencing Sets Off Black Twitter

In a shocking display of kindness, Botham Jean's brother and the judge presiding over his case, embrace his murderer during her sentencing.
Hugs From Judge And Brother At Amber Guyger Sentencing Sets Off Black Twitter
By Tanya A. Christian · Updated December 6, 2020

Amber Guyger, the disgraced Dallas police officer who murdered her neighbor, Botham Jean, was sentenced to a minuscule 10 years in prison yesterday. In a shocking gesture, Jean’s brother and the judge who presided over the case, embraced Guyger before she exited the courtroom.

“I love you as a person and I don’t wish anything bad on you,” 18-year-old Brandt Jean told Guyger during the moment. The hug lasted nearly a minute. 

“What he did today, was remarkable, and he did it all on his own,” the victim’s mother Allison Jean, told CBS News. “What Brandt did was to cleanse his heart towards Amber … I do not want it to be misconstrued as a complete forgiveness of everybody.”

Article continues after video.

Brandt’s act of kindness triggered emotions both inside and outside of the courtroom. While Judge Tammy Kemp was moved to tears and, to later embrace Guyger herself, Black Twitter was frustrated by the interaction. The entire sentencing scene sparked a debate about forgiveness in the Black community.

One Twitter user wrote, “The idea us black folk must always forgive our oppressors is just another arm of white supremacy. And it in a way serves to uphold the white supremacist power structure. They don’t want justified black rage or anger. Black bodies are barely buried, before they expect forgiveness.”

The idea us black folk must always forgive our oppressors is just another arm of white supremacy. And it in a way serves to uphold the white supremacist power structure. They don’t want justified black rage or anger. Black bodies are barely buried, before they expect forgiveness.

— Morgan Givens 🎧 (@Optimus_Mo) October 2, 2019

Others weighed in on a range of perceived issues which included the power of white tears, the disparate treatment of Black and white people within the justice system, and the overall handling of the case.

We can have a conversation about black folk and our unconscionable forgiveness in the face of hate and violence. I don’t get it.

I recognize two things, Twitter ain’t the space for this dialogue and I’m not that far along in my Christian journey.

— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) October 2, 2019

How Botham Jean’s brother chooses to grieve is his business. He’s entitled to that. But this judge choosing to hug this woman is unacceptable. Keep in mind this convicted murderer is the same one who laughed about Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination, and killing ppl on sight. https://t.co/Nu5QGOIR1K

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 2, 2019

I'm not arguing for harsher sentencing.

I'm not arguing for less compassionate courtrooms.

I am saying that who gets harsh sentencing and who gets a break, with hugs & Bibles from judges & hair petted on by the police falls suspiciously down lines of race & privilege.

— Shaun King (@shaunking) October 3, 2019

It’s interesting watching people who never have anything to say about the issue of police brutality against people of color all of a sudden become quite vocal about the need to forgive and hug Amber Guyger …

— Eugene Scott (@Eugene_Scott) October 3, 2019

Amber Guyger is a racist convicted murderer. Why does she get a sweet, caring hug from the judge? Because she was a cop? Because she's a white woman (which means she deserves sympathy)? Name the last Black man you saw hugged by the judge after a murder conviction #AmberGuyger pic.twitter.com/B8KeIZ3Gnu

— Police Brutality🚫 (@AfricaMustWake) October 3, 2019

We would be living in a very different world if many of the people who exult in black displays of forgiveness reciprocated that grace and mercy but that’s not reflected at all in our criminal justice policy, and it makes you question what they really find compelling about it.

— Adam Serwer🍝 (@AdamSerwer) October 2, 2019

Despite the opinions of social media, Jean family attorney Daryl Washington told CBS News that Brandt’s compassion is what the deceased would have wanted.

TOPICS:  Amber Guyger trial campaign proposal Democrat Ubuntu
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