Amber Guyger is currently on trial for killing Botham Jean in his own home on Sept. 6, 2018. To any thinking person, it is clear that Guyger killed a man, which would appear to be a crime but not to Texas Ranger Sgt. David Armstrong. He says the former police officer did not commit a crime.
On the stand yesterday, Armstrong said, “I don’t believe that (the shooting) was reckless or criminally negligent based on the totality of the investigation and the circumstances and facts.”
He also maintained that several people went to the wrong floor, which is allegedly why Guyger went to Jean’s apartment. He also explained how she got through a locked door, “On multiple occasions, the door would close all the way and the door would also not completely close depending on the distance. And we were just letting go of the door not using any force and sometimes it would close all the way sometimes it wouldn’t, depending on the distance.”
Ranger was also allowed to talk on her mental state, “Physically your heart rate goes very, very high. Your vision becomes narrowed, which is commonly referred to as tunnel vision. You begin to think very, very quickly and because your vision is narrowing, you begin to concentrate on what you believe your threat is … and that’s due to blood rushing to the major organs of the body because your body is saying ‘I need to do this right now,’ which is either fight or flight.”
Watch the video below:
According to CNN, Prosecutor Jason Hermus objected to the testimony because Armstrong wasn’t qualified to speak to Guyger’s state of mind, “What Ranger Armstrong believes is Ranger Armstrong’s opinion. His opinion and belief doesn’t help the jury. … The fact that he believes something based on evidence doesn’t mean the jury is going to believe the same thing.”
On Sept. 6, Guyger said that following a long day on the job as a Dallas police officer, she implausibly mistook his apartment for her own and, after ordering Jean not to move, shot him twice before realizing the error of her ways. Her story was met with doubt because of a number of factors, especially her assertion that Jean’s door was ajar. Videos posted on social media by neighbors appeared to show that apartment doors in the building shut automatically, which seemed to indicate that Guyger was lying.
Twitter was obviously disgusted by Armstrong’s testimony. See the reactions below:
