Two years have passed since the life of Destinee Thompson, a 27-year-old pregnant mother of three, was taken in an act of lethal force by officers from the Arvada Police Department on August 17, 2021. Her death is yet another scar on a nation struggling to reconcile with its own racist tendencies. Destinee’s family has filed a wrongful death and excessive force lawsuit against the department, fueled by a desperate hunger for justice.
Let’s start by addressing the landscape of this tragedy: Destinee Thompson was not just a statistic; she was a woman, a mother, a human being. Her life was snuffed out by officers who misidentified her as a shoplifting suspect. The layers of this case uncover not just a failure in police procedure but also a systematic devaluing of Black and Brown lives in America.
It’s been over a year since the district attorney decided not to press charges against the five officers present at the time of her death. To say that the system has failed Destinee and her family would be a painful understatement. District Attorney Alexis King wrote that the use of deadly force was “legally justified,” a conclusion that churns the stomach when one considers Destinee’s physical state: 5-foot tall and seven months pregnant. What kind of threat does such a woman pose to trained law enforcement officers?
According to CBS News, Destinee attempted to clarify her identity to the police, insisting she was not the suspect they were looking for as she continued walking. When officers insisted she stop and produce identification, the 27-year-old stated she had no ID to show.
The tension reached a boiling point when Destinee, now in her minivan, found herself encircled by a team of five officers insisting she exit the vehicle. One officer, in plain clothes, escalated the situation by using a baton to shatter her passenger window. “She then locked the doors and refused,” as reported by CBS News.
Caught off guard by the sudden act of aggression, Destinee hastily reversed her minivan, colliding with a police car positioned behind her. Officers initially and mistakenly believed she had struck one of their own, leading them to perceive her as an immediate threat.
Francis Thompson, Destinee’s father, speaks for many of us when he questions the credentials of these officers.
Francis Thompson, is a man hell-bent on seeing justice served. Speaking to CBS News, he passionately declared, “I want their badges.” The incredulity in his voice was palpable as he questioned the threat that his daughter allegedly posed: “She’s 5-foot tall, seven months pregnant. … You’re a grown man and you’re threatened by that? She was scared and trying to leave the area. And she was murdered, plain and simple. You don’t deserve to be able to wear a badge.” The intensity of the father’s sentiment is shared by the family’s lawyer, Siddhartha Rathod, who told CBS News: “This is a murder of a pregnant woman.” The family, standing united in sorrow and rage, echoes the feelings of countless others who have also lost loved ones to police violence. Carmela Delgado, Destinee’s stepmother, reflected on the terrifying events, telling CBS News, “Someone in plainclothes busted open the window. That’s terrifying — and here you are, a pregnant woman.”
On that fateful day, police were called about a woman who had reportedly stolen from Target and threatened an employee with a knife. The description was of a white or Hispanic woman with a white tank top and a chest tattoo. Destinee, who was half Hispanic and half Native American, was wearing a white tank top but did not have a chest tattoo. Yet she was surrounded, accosted, and ultimately shot by Officer Anthony Benallo, who fired eight shots into her minivan. Eight shots. Let that sink in.
The family’s lawyer, Siddhartha Rathod, correctly points out: “Not a single one of the other officers thought it was necessary to shoot.” And yet, Arvada Police spokesperson Dave Snelling maintains that the use of deadly force was justified.
Then, there’s the racial dimension. Would an affluent white woman in the same situation have met the same tragic end? Rathod doesn’t think so, and neither should you. It’s a question we must ask as a society that claims to be built on the principles of liberty and justice for all.
As reported by Atlanta Black Star, Destinee’s family has pointed out that authorities seem intent on using her past as a means to rationalize her untimely death. At the time of the incident, Destinee had multiple outstanding warrants and a postmortem toxicology report revealed the presence of Methamphetamine, fentanyl, morphine, and amphetamine in her system.
The unfortunate attempt to villainize Destinee posthumously adds another layer of insult to this tragedy. It’s as if the police are saying, “See? She was no angel.” No, Destinee was not an angel; she was a human being whose life had complexities and challenges like us all. That does not mean she deserved to die.
So where do we go from here? The Thompson family wants the badges of the officers involved. A more comprehensive demand should be an overhaul of a system that far too often results in the senseless deaths of Black and Brown people. We should amplify the calls for justice, not just for Destinee Thompson but for all victims of a system that continues to fail us.
We owe it to Destinee, her children, and to ourselves to demand justice and keep demanding it, until our voices can no longer be ignored.
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