Lawyers demand criminal charges for racist San Jose officer who shot their client
SAN JOSE -- A San Jose police officer is no longer employed by the city after an internal investigation uncovered racially biased messages including, "I hate black people."
The messages were made public Friday by San Jose police chief Anthony Mata, who said Officer Mark McNamara was no longer employed by the city after an internal investigation uncovered the texts.
The messages appear to refer to the shooting and a lawsuit in which K'aun Green contends he was an innocent victim and accuses police of excessive use of force.
Officer McNamara could be seen in a restaurant surveillance video shooting and injuring K'Aun Green in March 2022.
"(That) he felt no way in his heart that he was wrong is pretty scary to me," Green said.
San Jose police on Friday released the text messages McNamara reportedly sent to two people where he bragged about shooting Green and repeatedly used the N word. He also directed his texts at Green's attorneys.
"I never thought somebody could just have that much hatred in their heart to where they would want to kill me just because of what I look like," Green said.
The 22-year-old Green, a defensive end on the City College of San Francisco football team, is still recovering mentally and physically. He says football is his therapy.
"I used to be able to dunk a basketball. I can barely jump off my left leg now. Everything pretty much hurts. But, just because I don't want to go through any more depression or just be so down on myself, I force myself to play," Green said.
At La Victoria Taqueria in downtown San Jose on March 27 2022, surveillance video showed a man pulling out a gun during a fight. Green disarmed the man. Officer McNamara shot Green as he backed away from the man holding the confiscated gun in the air.
San Jose police said McNamara shot Green four times, twice in the arm, once in the stomach and once in the knee.
"(Green was) doing the right thing and was being a hero," Green's attorney Adante Pointer said.
Pointer said that, because of McNamara's racial bias, they believe the shooting was premeditated. He wants the Santa Clara County District Attorney to file criminal charges against McNamara. Green's attorneys also want the state to decertify McNamara so he'll never work in law enforcement again.
Pointer said the racist texts sent by McNamara to a fellow officer demonstrate it isn't just a few bad apples on the San Jose police force. He says there is a culture of "racial animus."
"To where racism of those carrying badges and guns not only survives in the San Jose Police Department but thrives," Pointer said.
The San Jose Police Officers' Association president Steve Slack responded to that claim with a statement:
"It's unfortunate that in the pursuit of financial gain, Mr. Green's attorney has no difficulty pointing at the racist thoughts and behavior of one individual and then painting every officer with the same brush. It is a testament to the culture of the SJPD that our internal affairs investigators found these texts, reported these texts to the chief of police and the chief took immediate action to rid the cancer of Mr. McNamara from our department. Our culture also reinforced our union's decision to not defend these horrid texts or Mr. McNamara but to condemn both in the strongest possible terms."
Green said he won't let the incident hold him back.
"I'm still hoping to make it to the NFL," Green said. "I'm trying to put everything I have into that school and on the field."
Green and his attorneys filed a federal civil lawsuit against the city of San Jose. It is scheduled to go to trial next year.
Bay City News contributed to this report