By: John Fullinwider
In one of the most anticipated criminal cases recently in Dallas, the opening day of the Amber Guyger murder trial did not disappoint with fireworks. Dallas Police Officer Martin Rivera, Guyger’s mentor, and partner testified to the fact he destroyed vital evidence from the night of the murder of Botham Jean on September 6, 2018.
“Officer Martin Rivera admitted under oath that he destroyed evidence which are in the form of text messages between himself and Amber Guyger,” Collette Flanagan stated at a Wednesday press conference. She is the founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality (MAPB), an organization she founded because the Dallas police killed her own unarmed son, Clinton Allen, in 2013. “The lawyers call him her rock and her mentor. We now know he is more than that, he’s her mentor, her partner, and her lover. And he covered for her. He is a little bit more than that, he is a killer.”
Officer Rivera killed an unarmed black youth, Brandon Washington, on March 22, 2007. That night, Mr. Washington, 20, was suspected of shoplifting a candy bar by a clerk at the 7-11 store on Lake June Rd. Officer Rivera fired four shots at Washington, mortally wounding him in the head and leg. Rivera did not stand trial for that homicide; he was never charged with any crime by the department, the District Attorney, or a grand jury. He was no-billed in June of that year.
“I have a child that I can’t talk to, I can talk to ya’ll, but I can’t talk to him,” a tearful Antoinette Washington shared at the Wednesday press conference. Brandon’s mother is also a member of MAPB. “It’s not fair they are sweeping it under the rug like it ain’t nothing,” she added.
“Brandon’s case always haunted me,” said Flanagan. “A young man dead over what – an alleged theft of a candy bar? Rivera said he thought Brandon had a gun, but he was just using the cop’s get-out-of-jail-free-card. And it worked,” Collette said. “Now we have Brandon’s killer revealing, in sworn testimony, that he destroyed evidence in the killing of Botham Jean. If he would lie and hide evidence in his girlfriend’s case, why should we think he told the truth when he himself was the killer in 12 years ago?”
Members of the MAPB make it very clear, they want Rivera fired.
“Trials like this are extremely important because they lift the blue veil and show us what is happening in the police department,” Sara Mokuria stated during Wednesday’s press conference. MAPB believes Rivera for more than 16 years has defied polices, mistreated people, and ultimately escalated to murder.
According to Mokuria, “We are not safe with officers like Rivera patrolling the streets.”
Speaking by phone after the press conference, Flanagan acknowledged MAPB has not formally requested the meeting with Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall and District Attorney John Creuzot.
“We are going to go back to our strategy table,” Flanagan stated. “We want the meeting to be strategic and on point, because we want deliverables when we come out of the meeting.” She anticipates sending a formal request for the meeting next week.
Additional reporting by Ruth Ferguson, NDG Editor.
