When this writer first reported the story of Jamarion Robinson, it was emotionally jarring on a visceral level. Rolling out was invited to see the aftermath of the death of Robinson by U.S. Marshals serving a warrant on behalf of Gwinnett County police and the Atlanta Police Department. I did not know a lot about Robinson other than he was another Black man gunned down by police. But since his death, and the overwhelming and some would say unjustified use of force by police, Fulton County DA Paul Howard has been stymied in his investigation, allegedly by the U.S. Marshals office in Atlanta. It has gotten so bad he was left with no choice but to announce a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice.
Back in August 2016, Robinson, who police knew suffered from mental illness, was at his girlfriend’s apartment watching movies, when members of the U.S. Marshals executed a no-knock warrant, breached the door and killed Robinson in a hail of prolonged gunfire, followed by a flashbang grenade. Robinson went was shot 76 times according to his autopsy report.
Howard has been attempting to find out primarily from the U.S. Marshals service-specific information on the officers and the use of force that day to determine if it was legal. Almost three years later and the officers involved in the shooting have not complied with a request for statements by the district attorney’s office. In response to this continuing failure, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office will file a federal lawsuit today, Dec. 28, 2018, against the Department of Justice for failure to provide information in the Robinson case requested through the Freedom of Information Act.
After members of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations processed the crime scene, there was still vital evidence left behind. A private investigator hired by the family discovered perhaps the most damning evidence embedded in the floor. Rashid McCall, the senior investigator with Opposition Research LLC, found two bullets in a floor that seemed to indicate that Robinson was shot while prone as someone stood over his body. McCall had cut away a piece of blood-soaked carpeting to recover the slugs and turned the evidence over to the GBI.
To learn more about the background of the death of Jamarion Robinson, follow rolling out‘s previous coverage below:
Police shooting of former CAU student in Atlanta causes outrage
DA opens investigation into shooting of college student Jamarion Robinson
Jamarion Robinson: A mother’s pain after police kill her son (NSFW)
