WHO I AM
My name is Edna Lora. I live in Decatur, Georgia in un-incorporated Dekalb County off Lawrenceville Highway. I live in this community and am a member of a private social networking site called NextDoor. Nextdoor is a wonderful tool that can help build community. Unfortunately it can also spread fear.
You can verify this story by calling John Evans of the Dekalb NAACP or Deacon Richard Tolcher coordinator of the Prison and Jail Ministry of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. My email is ednaknightlora@gmail.com.
I HAVE ALSO STARTED A FACEBOOK PAGE CALLED FRIENDS OF SHAMAR WALKER
On April 25th of this year, my husband
and I noticed a large, black pick-up truck slowly following a young black man
(a kid really) in the Linwood Woods neighborhood close to our home. We were
frightened for him. We stopped and talked to him. We all introduced ourselves. I thought Shamar Walker was neatly dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. He talked to us like a regular kid. He has a great smile and is
quite handsome. My husband and I were in the [name deleted by me] neighborhood to
check on a friend's dogs. My friend lives in Lindmoor Woods. It was about 6:30 pm. I know because our
son's Spring Concert started at 7:00 pm in Decatur. Later that evening, we learned Shamar had been arrested.
WHAT HAPPENED
I learned later that evening that Shamar Walker had been
arrested for Loitering and Prowling as well as Obstruction of a Law Enforcement Officer. According to the Neighborhood's Watch Captain, Shamar was in a gang called the
Bloods and he purposely swung at a police officer to increase his street credibility among other gang members. He indicated that the neighborhood was
really proud they had come together to put this “gang member” in jail.
Shamar had been profiled and labeled as a gang member by a neighborhood's Watch Captain. Affronted neighbors asked him what he was doing there. They called 911. They snapped his picture. They stalked him in a big, black pick-up truck.
Why does this sound familiar?
WHAT I HAVE FOUND OUT
- Shamar Walker is not in a gang. He moved to this area
earlier this April with his mother, aunt, and two sisters from Valdosta,
Georgia. He was planning on getting his high school degree and joining the
Marines or Police.
- The family moved HERE because they thought the
opportunities were better. They were living in the Motel 6 at I-285 and
Lawrenceville Highway because it was affordable and central. They had
hopes of a better life.
- Shamar has ADHD. He was living in a single motel room with four others, all women. Just for some breathing
room, he would take walks. He walked
in the areas adjacent to Motel 6, which includes some of the residential
areas nearby. One could argue he
was walking in his own neighborhood, as he was only 1/2 mile from his
"home" when he was arrested. His mom said it was important to
him to get a sense of place and belonging.
- Shamar is a friendly, handsome young man. He turned 17 on April 24, 2014. While walking in the neighborhood a bike riding enthusiast couple saw him and waved to him. Shamar waved back. This same couple, on a different occasion witnessed Shamar being followed by a big, black pick-up truck. They were afraid for him. Apparently Shamar was afraid because he went up to a house and asked to use the phone. He told the homeowner he was afraid.
- Shamar Walker was put in a police car because an officer had seen him before. They apparently moved him from one police car to another. At that time he allegedly swung at a police officer with a closed fist. Shamar was very upset. He was charged with Loitering and Prowling (misdemeanor) and Obstruction of a Law Enforcement Officer (felony).
- A charge for Obstruction of a Law Enforcement Officer is quite complex. It can be a misdemeanor or a felony. Giving false information to a police officer is obstruction; pushing, shoving or swinging at a police officer is considered felony obstruction even if the acts do not cause injury or harm to an officer. Oftentimes, people are just upset about being suspected or arrested for a crime. Many police officers over-react when their authority is challenged. Consider the situation Shamar found himself in. He was surrounded by angry people who were convinced he was a gang member and that he had criminal intent. The situation was emotionally charged. There were a number of police cars on the scene.
- Because Shamar was 17-years-old by one day he was booked into the Dekalb County Jail AS AN ADULT. He is in jail with adults, not juveniles, his peers.
It is Friday, July 11, 2014. Shamar Walker remains sitting in jail. He does not know or understand his rights. No one
at the jail has explained things to him such as the commissary account or the phone
call account. He does not even know how to call his mother. I asked the
visitation officers if they could call his pod and ask one of the officers on
the pod to coach him a bit. They responded with shrugged shoulders and said that the
inmates have to ask.
What We Need
Shamar is in desperate need of legal
representation. His bail is several thousand dollars and is "cash only".
His family does not have the funds to pay for bail and is unable to afford a bail
bondsman to pay the typical 10% to release him from jail.
- Shamar needs $2,500 cash for bail. He can only have a bond hearing every 90 days. The public defender has put in the paperwork to change his bail to "cash" only. It may take more than a month to get the hearing.
I was quite uniformed about our criminal justice system
until this community kerfuffle, but I am learning fast! What I am
discovering is startling and more than alarming because I have an 18-year-old
son who self-identifies as a person of color who walks in his and the
surrounding neighborhoods. I don't want to live in a community that lacks compassion,
which perpetuates misinformation about crime statistics, discourages diversity,
or criminalizes the poor.
The
Impact
What I know in my heart of hearts is that Shamar Walker does
not belong in jail. If he ends up with a conviction, the rest of his life
will be impacted. It will be difficult for him to get a job, to rent an
apartment, to get credit, or to buy a car. He becomes a statistic.
-
Shamar is considered "indigent"
so he has been assigned a Public Defender. According to The Yale Law Journal, faced with overwhelming caseloads and inadequate
resources, public defenders must engage in triage; that is,
deciding which cases deserve attention and which do not. Although it is up to the inmate whether or not he wants a trial, if it does go to trial, a public defender will not have the time or resources to ensure success. At the moment, his public defender thinks she can reduce the felony obstruction to misdemeanor obstruction then try to get first time offender status. He could get his conviction off his record eventually. Is that what is best?
-
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, one
in three black men can expect to go to prison
in his lifetime. Individuals of color have a disproportionate number
of encounters with law enforcement, indicating that racial profiling
continues to be a problem.
-
A report by the U.S. Department of Justice revealed
that blacks and Hispanics were approximately three
times more likely to be searched during a
traffic stop than white motorists. African Americans were twice as likely
to be arrested and almost four
times as likely to experience the use of
force during encounters with the police.
- According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, at
the end of 2011 there were 2,266,800 adults incarcerated in U.S. federal
and state prisons and county jails. This number is almost 1% of adults in
the U.S. resident population.
- According to the World Prison Population List 8th
edition:
![]()
Risks &
Challenges
There are persons in our community who
don't want to cause conflict or confront the people that are working for the
benefit of their community. Some people don't speak out against mean-spirited or
racist comments. Neighborhood watch programs are beneficial to a community but they need to be led by informed and
thoughtful people whose decisions are not driven by biases and
misinformation. Inflammatory comments
have real consequences. Neighbors were told that a "gang member" had
been plucked from the streets of Lindmoor Woods and jailed. Unfortunately, not
one resident of Lindmoor Woods has questioned the validity of that
"success" story. No one has attempted to discover the truth. The neighborhood watch captain has "law enforcement" experience. He is also a black man. Because of this the people in Lindmoor Woods take what he says as fact. Please
remember that in our justice system, a person is innocent until proven
guilty. To prove guilt all the evidence
must be presented.
Shamar
Walker needs our help, but our community and others around the country need our help, too.
I have filed a complaint
with the NAACP and ACLU Georgia. I have contacted WAOK AM host, Derrick
Boazman. I have shared this incident and Shamar's story with the Social Justice Committee of my
church. I have contacted a person to serve as Shamar's pastor who is willing to
visit Shamar and offer comfort. I have also quietly spoken to some
of my friends that live in Lindmoor Woods and through this have discovered
other witnesses in the defense of Shamar Walker.
Other Ways You Can
Help
Funds are needed, but if you can't donate you can still
help!
- Share this campaign and make some noise about it. The
share tool is easy to use. Keep checking back to find out what is going on
with Shamar.
- Find out about the Neighborhood Watch group in your
neighborhood. Stay alert to mean-spirited comments and other comments
based upon fear or misinformation. Stand up to the bully in the group!
-
Get involved with The Sentencing Project, the ACLU and other
organizations that work for peace and justice for all.
- If your church has a Social Justice Committee, join it.
If it doesn't, then form one.
- If you have an apartment available with reasonable
rent, then let us know. Shamar's family wants to be in permanent housing
when he is released.
