Share and Follow
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) has come forward to defend her former security worker, who was killed during a police standoff in Dallas. The man, who faced accusations of impersonating a police officer, was involved in a confrontation with law enforcement on Wednesday.
Diamon Mazairre-Robinson, 39, became the focus of police attention when he barricaded himself inside a parking garage at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. Authorities were pursuing him as part of an active warrant investigation, according to a report from Fox News on Monday.
Police body camera footage captured the tense moments when SWAT officers urged Robinson to exit his vehicle and comply with their instructions to ensure his safety. In an attempt to extract him, officers used tear gas. As Robinson eventually emerged from the car, officers repeatedly warned him not to reach for anything.
Despite the warnings, Robinson appeared to reach toward his waist and allegedly aimed a firearm at officers, prompting them to open fire.
Robinson, who also went by the alias Mike King, owned a company named Off Duty Police Services. He faced allegations of posing as a law enforcement officer by wearing fake uniforms that suggested he was a federal agent. His business was accused of fraudulently hiring legitimate police officers for off-duty assignments.
The gun he was holding during the standoff was also reportedly stolen.
In a statement on Monday, Crockett defended him by saying, “As a former public defender, I’ve always believed people are more than the worst thing they’ve ever done. I believe in redemption. The man we knew showed up with respect, care, and commitment to protecting others.”
She said her team followed all protocols by the House to hire additional security, adding they were “unable to locate any violent offenses.”
Crockett added the suspect had been around her team for many years and “What we’re now learning about his past doesn’t fit the person we came to know as Mike King… Our hearts grieve the loss of someone we knew and the lost good that could have come from his redemption.”
A Fox 4 report showed mugshots of the suspect from 2010 up until 2017:
Crockett in September suggested poverty can drive people to commit certain crimes and prosecutions are not always justified when offenses involve their basic survival needs, per Breitbart News.
She later claimed that just because someone commits a crime it “doesn’t make them a criminal.”