‘Not racist but …’: White police officer who killed innocent black man in his home sent offensive texts
Botham Jean,Dallas,Police Brutality,Violence In America
When a white ex-Dallas police officer recounted her thinking as she fired the two shots that killed an innocent black man in his own living room last year, she told a jury it was fear, not racism, that drove her to pull the trigger.
“This is not about hate,” she testified in court Friday. “It’s about being scared.”
But after a jury convicted Amber Guyger, 31, of murder on Tuesday, prosecutors introduced text messages sent by the former officer that show her making offensive statements. In the texts, Guyger jokes about Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, mocks her black colleagues and discusses a dog that her friend warns “may be racist.”
Related Coverage
AllSides Picks
Red Blue Translator
Police Brutality
Headline Roundup
Kamala Harris Calls for Expanding Supreme Court, Revisiting Electoral College
August 1st, 2026
Headline Roundup
Massachusetts Expected to Allow Abortions at Any Stage
July 31st, 2026
The Insight
The Insight: What NYC's City-Run Grocery Stores Mean for America
AllSides Staff
July 31st, 2026