“We commend the District Attorney on the selection of Mr. Russell Wilson as the Special Prosecutor in this case. We now have an obligation to make sure that he receives all of the community support he needs in order to receive a conviction in the case of defendant Jon Romer,” says Rev. Kyev P. Tatum, Sr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.
Two African-American leaders in Fort Worth on Thursday called for the firing of a police officer who was recorded on video punching a man in the face with no apparent provocation.
Officer Jon Romer was indicted two weeks ago, accused of official oppression and perjury, over an incident that happened at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in November 2016.
NBC 5 obtained video of the incident Wednesday.
“It’s the climate of this city,” said Rev. Michael Bell, one of the police department’s most vocal critics. “What will give a police officer the confidence to go up and just cold cock somebody? That’s the climate we’re in. Our community is under siege by police.”
Videos Show Indicted FW Officer Punching Man in Face[DFW] Videos Show Indicted FW Officer Punching Man in Face
An indicted Fort Worth police officer punched a man in the face who had just been discharged from the hospital after the man called him bro according to videos of the incident obtained by NBC 5.(Published Wednesday, March 21, 2018)
The department took Officer Romer’s badge and gun the day he was indicted.
But he hasn’t been fired.
“Why is Romer still a police officer, even on restricted duty?” Bell asked.
Videos Show Indicted FW Officer Punching Man in Face
Another activist, Rev. Kyev Tatum, made the same point.
“He definitely deserves to be fired now, but he should have been fired a long time ago,” Tatum said.
The incident happened the month before another video involving Fort Worth police sparked racial tensions — the controversial arrest of Jacqueline Craig, a mother who reported a neighbor had assaulted her young son.