The family of Jalen Randle, who was killed in April by a Houston police officer after a brief car chase, met this week with Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
On Monday, friends and neighbors of Randle, 26, had their say when dozens of them gathered in protest outside Ogg’s office demanding that she charge the officer with murder.
“I want the same justice that would happen for anybody else in America,” said a longtime friend, Paul Collins, according to The Houston Chronicle. “Everybody should be held accountable for the actions they take; it shouldn’t be that because [the police officer] has a badge, [he] can do whatever he’s capable of.”
Randle was fatally shot in the neck by Officer Shane Privette on April 27 after a brief car chase in which he was reportedly struck by bullets before he could comply with Privette’s commands.
Monday’s protesters from Randle’s Pleasantville neighborhood say they want Ogg to hold Privette and the Houston Police Department accountable. “Oh, s–t!” they reportedly chanted, repeating what the officer could be heard saying in his body camera video after he shot Randle.
Randle’s kin is represented by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is calling for criminal charges against the officer. Crump recently announced the family is filing a civil rights complaint against the Houston Police Department.
When Ogg met with Randle’s family ahead of the protest, she explained the process for handling police shootings while hearing their concerns. Her office’s Civil Rights Division is reviewing evidence from HPD’s internal investigation, with plans to present its findings to a grand jury that will decide whether or not to indict Privette. It could take anywhere from six months to a year.
Privette is currently on administrative duty.
“Anytime you’ve lost a child, the trauma is profound, and so much of the meeting is letting them simply express their grief, their frustration with our system and police department and city government, and so I listen,” Ogg said. “And then we try to convey information that will let them know what’s going to happen, not as a result of, but through the process.”
If indicted, this would be the second time Privette has faced indictment. He was previously accused of aggravated assault in 2019. However, the charges were dismissed after new evidence was presented to a grand jury.
According to The Chronicle, Randle’s family maintains that before the shooting, Privette said of his eventual target, “he ain’t gonna live to leave this neighborhood.” However, a spokesperson for the Houston Police Officers’ Union said Privette stumbled over his words saying, “he ain’t gonna liv- leave this neighborhood.”
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