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A former Virginia officer who fatally shot a Black man accused of stealing sunglasses has been granted clemency, per Newsone.
On Sunday (February 2), Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that he was commuting the sentence of ex-Fairfax County police officer Wesley Shifflett, who was convicted of reckless discharge of a firearm in connection to the 2023 shooting death of Timothy Johnson.
Johnson's shooting unfolded in February 2023 after he was accused of stealing sunglasses from a Nordstrom store. Shifflett chased Johnson outside the mall and into a wooded area. The officer opened fire, hitting Johnson in the chest and killing him.
During his trial, Shifflett testified that he thought Johnson was about to pull out a gun from his waistband. Investigators never found a weapon on Johnson or at the scene.
Prosecutor Jenna Sands argued that if Shifflett had waited for more officers to respond to the incident, the situation would've ended differently.
“Seconds could have meant life for Mr. Johnson rather than death, but he didn’t pause,” Sands said in court. “He rushed in and he was reckless.”
Shifflett claimed he “did not have the luxury to wait to see a gun.” “We are trained that hands are going to harm you and hands are what are going to kill you," the officer previously said.
On Friday (February 28), Shifflett was handed down a five-year prison sentence with two years suspended, meaning he would've only had to serve three years. Youngkin, however, used his executive clemency authority to ensure Shifflett wouldn't have to see prison time at all.
“I am convinced that the court’s sentence of incarceration is unjust and violates the cornerstone of our justice system—that similarly situated individuals receive proportionate sentences. I want to emphasize that a jury acquitted Sgt. Shifflett of the more serious charge of involuntary manslaughter, a conviction for which the sentencing guidelines recommend no jail time or up to six months incarceration," Youngkin said in a statement Sunday. “In this case, the court rejected the Senior Probation and Parole Officer’s recommendation of no incarceration nor supervised probation and instead imposed a sentence of five years incarceration with two suspended and an additional five years of probation. Sgt. Shifflett has no prior criminal record, and was, by all accounts, an exemplary police officer. It is in the interest of justice that he be released immediately."
“My action does not limit Sgt. Shifflett’s right to appeal his reckless discharge of a firearm conviction," the governor added.
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