Residents Voice Frustrations At Fort Worth City Council Over Shooting Death Of Atatiana Jefferson
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Concerned community members packed the Fort Worth City Council's first meeting since Atatiana Jefferson was shot and killed inside her own home by a police officer.
Council chambers quickly reached maximum capacity at 350 people as residents wanted their voices to be heard after now-former officer Aaron Dean fatally shot Jefferson while responding to a call about the front door of her home being open.
Dean was arrested and charged with murder Monday and was released after posting a $200,000 bond. However, the community wants a lot more to be done about the city and police department as a whole.
The meeting started at 7 p.m. but people had to wait two and half hours to talk about the shooting as the city council first went through its scheduled agenda. Those who tried to speak on anything but the topic at hand were escorted off the podium by city marshals.
At around 9:30 p.m. people began to make comments about what happened to Jefferson and their thoughts on the city and the police department during citizen presentations.
"I think what we need is for you to acknowledge that this is a systemic, racism issue," one person said.
"Mayor Price, this is an emergency that will require much more than a letter that says all the right things and tells the citizens of Fort Worth how they need to react," another person said.
The most common message people shared is that they don't feel safe in Fort Worth.
Speakers also talked about the need for oversight of the police department, called for City Manager David Cooke and Assistant City Manager Jay Chapa to be fired, and demanded all body-cam video from every officer on the scene of the shooting be released to the public.
