Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) is defending the man who worked security for her but was killed during a law enforcement standoff in Dallas on Wednesday and has been accused of pretending to be a cop.
Twenty-nine-year-old Daimon Mazare-Robinson barricaded himself inside a parking garage at Children’s Medical Center Dallas after police pulled him over while investigating an active warrant, Fox News reported Monday.
Police video showed the moments when SWAT officers asked Robinson to get out of the car and follow their commands so he wouldn’t get hurt. Officers used tear gas to force him out of the vehicle and as he stood up from the car, an officer told him several times not to approach.
However, it appeared that the suspect raised his hand to his waist and pointed the gun at the officers, who opened fire:
In addition to going by the name Mike King and running a business called Off Duty Police Services, Robinson was accused of impersonating a policeman, wearing a fake uniform that made him appear to be a federal agent, and running a fraudulent business hiring legitimate police officers for off-duty programs.
The gun he was carrying during the standoff was also reportedly stolen.
Crockett said in a statement Monday defended He said, “As a former public defender, I have always believed that people are more than even the worst thing they have ever done. I believe in redemption. The man we knew showed respect, care, and commitment to protecting others.”
He said his team followed all protocols put in place by the House in appointing additional security, and added that they were “unable to detect any violent crimes.”
Crockett said the suspect had been around his team for several years and “what we are learning now about his past does not square with the man we knew as Mike King… Our hearts mourn the loss of the man we knew and the lost good that could have come from his redemption.”
The Fox 4 report showed mugshots of the suspect from 2010 to 2017:
According to Breitbart News, in September Crockett suggested that poverty may drive people to commit some crimes and that prosecution is not always appropriate when the crimes involve their basic survival needs.
He later claimed that just because someone commits a crime, “doesn’t make them a criminal.”
