Thread by @HoarseWisperer

In April 2017, a police officer named Roy Oliver opened fire on a car carrying five black teenagers leaving a party killing 15-year old Jordan Edwards.

Today, a Dallas jury convicted Oliver of murder.

But this isn't a story of justice being served.

1/
cbsnews.com/news/roy-olive…

Instead, it's a story of how little systemic regard there is for people of color - and just how much it takes for even a known "bad cop" to ever face justice for their entirely foreseeable and avoidable violence.

The backstory here speaks much louder than the verdict.

2/

Oliver's laundry list of red flags began when he was in middle school.

According to court records, he was a member of a group called Caucasians in Effect, carried a stun gun and a knife, posted swastikas in public places and "hated anyone who was not caucasian."

3/

When Oliver applied for a job in law enforcement in 2011, his psychological exam flagged him as having an "elevated score" on the "risk-taking index."

The applicant with a history of white supremacy had poor impulse control...

...and it gets worse.

4/

Per the same exam, Oliver ""may not care what others think of him or of his behavior," and "may feel so insensitive to threat that his judgment may be impaired in evaluating the risk of danger."

A cop unconcerned about public judgment and unable to manage public safety.

5/

The very tool police forces use to screen out candidates like Oliver flagged him as at "elevated risk" for "the possibility of behaving in an antisocial manner."

Then, a police force hired him anyway.

6/

As an officer, Oliver was uncooperative as a testifying witness.

He used profanity from the witness stand.

"I don't understand the [expletive] question." he once said in court.

Yet, the Balch Springs, TX PD kept sending him out into the community with a gun and a badge.

7/

Weeks before he murdered the 15-year old Jordan Edwards, Oliver pulled a gun on a woman and her friend after a minor car accident while the woman's 13-year-old sister looked on from the car.

Dallas police responded to the road-rage incident... and let him go uncharged.

8/

Literally two weeks before he murdered a child in the passenger seat of a car, Roy Oliver was thought to have committed aggravated assault... and walked away without missing a day of work.

Aggravated assault with a handgun - and not a single charge was filed.

9/

Then came that night in April 2017 when Oliver and his partner were called to break up a house party.

The night would end with Jordan Edwards dead in the passenger seat of a bullet-riddled car as an unhinged Oliver stood over it giving it the finger.

10/

Oliver initially claimed the car had been advancing toward his partner.

The Balch Springs PD entirely backed him up...

...but then came body cam footage proving he was lying... and his partner being forced to testify he had been in no danger.

11/

Three months after the murder, after Oliver had already murdered an innocent young man; lied about it; and been fired from the police department...

after public scrutiny turned toward police themselves...

...charges were filed for the earlier aggravated assault.

12/

Today, a Dallas jury convicted a murderer of murder.

For years, the system sent a volatile, known racist out into the community despite red flags, warnings and criminal conduct.

Yet, the shock is that even THAT was enough to see him convicted.

This is America.

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