NAACP reacts to Fort Worth ex-cop Aaron Dean’s manslaughter guilty verdict
The local NAACP expressed “relief that justice was served” in the conviction Thursday of Aaron Dean, the former Fort Worth police officer who shot Atatiana Jefferson to death in her home in 2019.
“The Officers and members of the Fort Worth Tarrant County Branch of the NAACP join others across the nation in expressing relief that justice was served in the Aaron Dean verdict,” said a statement signed by Estella Williams, the chapter’s president.
“We’re optimistic that this decision may represent a paradigm shift, where we begin to overcome racial and social injustices locally, regionally, and nationally that have been pervasive in policing.”
Dean’s conviction is believed to be the first of a law enforcement officer in Tarrant County in a killing while on duty. The jury could have convicted him of murder. The manslaughter charge could put Dean in prison for 20 years.
“Whatever you feel about today’s verdict, it’s another reminder of how much more we have to do to heal as a nation,” the NAACP statement said. “There must be a strategy for change that will ensure an America that will be true to our constitution.”
