A coalition of the South Bay’s Black community on Thursday called for more accountability for a former San Jose police officer who wrote a slew of racist text messages as well as the dropping of all charges in criminal cases that involved him.
Officer Mark McNamara resigned last week after correspondence was released showing him mocking a shooting he was involved in at a downtown San Jose taqueria and writing to another officer, “I hate Black people.”
The release already has led the Santa Clara County’s District Attorney’s office to review at least one case involving McNamara unrelated to the taqueria shooting.
“We have a challenge in front of us, San Jose,” the Rev. Reginald Swilley said at a news conference Thursday morning at the city’s African American Service Agency. “How are we going to deal with bad policemen? Are we going to let them continue to infect everybody we hire? Or are we going to be brave enough and say, ‘This guy can’t be in this department.’ ”
Swilley, along with leaders of racial justice organizations including the local chapter of the NAACP, Silicon Valley DeBug and the Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet, also are demanding that other police officers who corresponded with McNamara be investigated. The officer who received McNamara’s messages, who has not been publicly identified, has been placed on administrative leave.
Community leaders said they want McNamara to be decertified under a new state law that aims to hold police officers accountable for misconduct by stripping them of their ability to work in law enforcement.
In a statement released just hours after Thursday’s news conference, San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata said his department has submitted documents to the state commission in charge of the decertification process.
“I want our community to know that I am committed to an anti-racism culture within our department and am already working with our community partners to update our officer training,” Mata wrote. “The updated training will include this incident as a case study, emphasizing the importance of an anti-racist mindset and culture.” The police department’s union president said that he supports the decertification and the district attorney’s review of cases involving McNamara.
Mayor Matt Mahan described McNamara’s messages in a statement as “vile” and said the “language and conduct does not represent the many officers in our department who work everyday to keep us all safe.”
McNamara, who joined SJPD in 2017, resigned after being notified of a probe into the text messages, according to Mata. The messages were discovered while the department’s internal investigations unit was looking into an unrelated criminal matter involving McNamara.
The text messages immediately put a spotlight on an incident in March 2022 where McNamara shot and wounded K’aun Green, who is Black, after Green appeared to stop a fight that broke out at a taqueria near San Jose State University. Green was shot while holding a confiscated gun in the air after disarming a person during the fight.
On Wednesday, the City of San Jose recused itself from representing McNamara in a civil lawsuit filed by Green.
“We believe this is probably just the tip of the iceberg,” said Adanté Pointer, Green’s attorney, during Thursday’s press conference. “Because (McNamara) was not sending those text messages to himself.”
In one of the text messages from McNamara, he referred to the shooting involving Green, writing “N—- wanted to carry a gun in the Wild West … Not on my watch.”
In another correspondence, McNamara ridiculed Green’s attorney, who is also Black.
“The other day this n— lawyer is like Mr McNamara, you know we can still find you guilty of excessive force right? I’m like, hmmm yeah then (what) happens?? … Think I give a f—- what y’all n—- think?!???? I’ll shoot you too!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!,” McNamara wrote.
Now, other past incidents involving McNamara also are being scrutinized.
The Santa Clara County public defender’s office said Thursday that it has requested that local prosecutors dismiss a 2022 case where McNamara was involved in the arrest of a Black man. The individual, according to Deputy Public Defender Karina Alvarez, was arrested for a robbery but ultimately charged with vandalism and petty theft.
The district attorney’s office confirmed the request from Alvarez’s office and that prosecutors were reviewing new evidence but declined to disclose the name of the person arrested.
“We at our office have already started the review process of every single case that this former officer has touched,” said Alvarez, who added that she would also be seeking redress for cases involving McNamara through the Racial Justice Act. The law allows defendants to appeal their cases if they can prove to a judge that racial bias played a role in their conviction.
Source: www.mercurynews.com