The family of Amber Guyger—the Dallas police officer who shot and killed unarmed 26-year-old Botham Jean in his apartment last week—is speaking out to defend themselves against accusations that they are racist. Various social media photos are being circulated as proof that the family is either racist or has racist leanings.
As the Dallas Morning News reports, there are three different pictures being shared on the internet to illustrate that Guyger’s family members may have racist ties. Guyger, who is white, shot Jean—who was black—after she “mistakenly” entered his apartment and thought it was her own.
One picture shows Guyger’s brother-in-law, Noe Garza, flashing the “OK” symbol—a symbol some say has been co-opted by white supremacists. In a phone call with the Morning News, Garza denied the allegations.
“My last name is Garza. I’m a Mexican,” he said. “I don’t care about your nationality. I don’t care about the color of your skin. We all bleed red.”
Garza said the photo was taken when the family was out celebrating his father-in-law’s 69th birthday, and his hands are supposed to be signaling the number 69.
At the request of the Morning News, the Anti-Defamation League took a look at the photos. ADL spokesman Jake Hyman said experts with his organization “don’t think there is any white supremacist intention here.”
In another photo, Guyger and her sister Alana are pictured with their mother—who is wearing a shirt that says “All Lives Matter.”
All Lives Matter is a phrase that has been repeatedly thrown around to derail Black Lives Matter.
Alana Guyger, who is Garza’s wife, told the Morning News that her father gave the shirt to her mother after the July 7, 2016 ambush in which five Dallas police officers were killed.
Garza told the Morning News he hates “the fact that I have to prove I’m not racist.”
Meanwhile, Botham Jean? Still dead.
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