It is indeed open season on Black men. Having a car break down on a highway can be added to the list as another reason police can murder Black men for no reason.
Corey Jones, 31, of Boynton Beach, Florida, was on his way home after a band gig. The son of a minister, Corey Jones was highly respected in his community as a church drummer. Jones’ car broke down on Interstate 95 around 3:00 a.m. While waiting for a tow truck on the side of I-95, a plainclothes police officer in an unmarked van with tints and no police lights pulled in front of Jones’ car perpendicularly and confronted Corey Jones.
The officer, Nouman Raja of the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department, never showed a badge or told Jones that he was police. Moments later, Raja killed Jones by shooting him at least three times. There is no dash- or body- camera footage of the incident.
Jones was carrying a firearm at the time of his death. He had a concealed weapons permit for his gun in compliance with Florida state law. He carried it for protection while traveling for concerts with expensive equipment and money. Prosecutors confirmed that Jones never fired his weapon at Raja.
Raja didn’t stop to render aid to a stranded Jones. He did nothing to identify himself as an officer. Raja confronted Jones because he was a Black man standing next to an inoperable car. Raja was on a special detail to investigate auto burglaries in the area of Palm Beach Gardens. Palm Beach Gardens is an affluent area of Palm Beach County, Florida. It is home to many millionaires living in gated resort-style communities. The Professional Golfers Association (PGA) it headquartered there.
If Raja was going to help Jones as opposed to target him, he should have called over the radio to send a tow truck to Jones (law enforcement in Palm Beach County regularly call private towing companies when they impound vehicles) or radioed for a uniformed officer in a marked car to help him. Or he should have just left Jones alone.
Records released on Oct. 21 reveal that this is not the first time Raja engaged in police misconduct. Raja did not disclose on his job application that he had been reprimanded at his last police job for being in possession of morphine pills that he had seized from a suspect three weeks earlier.
On Oct. 22, hundreds gathered of demonstrators gathered outside the Palm Beach Police Department. Protesters held signs saying, “We want answers,” “Black lives matter,” and “I can’t breathe.” “We believe Corey went to his grave not knowing if this was a real cop,” said Benjamin Crump who is representing the Jones’ family.
Crump represented Trayvon Martin’s family. Trayvon Martin died at the hands of neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida, which is about two and half hours north of where Jones died. Go to the Gulf side of Florida and you’ll find the family of Rodney Mitchell – an unarmed college football player who was shot to death by Sarasota deputies minutes after a traffic stop for a minor seatbelt violation. This is the same state that acquitted Zimmerman, yet prosecuted Marissa Alexander (demanding a mandatory 60-year sentence at one point) for firing a warning shot to protect herself from her abusive husband. The list goes on and on.
The State Attorney’s Office has met with Jones’ family but the prospect that this gesture will result in meaningful change is grim. This is the same office that has charged as adults and made convicted felons of multiple Black juveniles for joyriding. The same prosecuting agency is jailing the homeless for panhandling, yet failed to convict a local police officer that raped a stranded woman at gunpoint while on duty earlier this month.
What sets Jones’ death apart from other police killings that have made the headlines is that Jones was armed, though it has been confirmed that he never shot a round. Florida is notorious for its Stand Your Ground law. It set George Zimmerman free yet gave no protection to Marissa Alexander.
So then, hypothetically, what would have happened to Jones if he had fired his gun at the armed stranger who mysteriously confronted him at 3 a.m. on the side of a highway? Undoubtedly, Jones would be in jail facing murder charges and labeled a cop killer. As of the time of this writing, Jones’s killer, Officer Raja, is on paid administrative leave.
