Vox Sentences: Shots fired in Hong Kong

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Former Dallas police officer convicted of murder; protests in Hong Kong escalate with police using live ammunition.

A jury agrees: shooting an unarmed man in his home was murder

Former police officer Amber Guyger, who is white, was convicted Tuesday of murdering her unarmed black neighbor Botham Jean, when she shot him in his own home in 2018 while off-duty. [NYT / Marina Trahan Martinez and Sarah Mervosh]
Jean was a 26-year-old from St. Lucia who dreamed of one day becoming the island’s prime minister. He worked as an accountant in Dallas; his family and friends remembered him as passionate about social justice. [Dallas Morning News / Jennifer Emily]
Guyger claims to have accidentally entered Jean’s apartment, one floor directly above her own, thinking it was hers, and shot Jean because she thought he was an intruder and she was “scared to death.” [NPR / Bobby Allyn]
The judge ruled that Guyger’s defense lawyers could point to Texas’s controversial “castle doctrine,” a state stand-your-ground law that protects citizens using deadly force in self-defense on their own property — even though Guyger was not in her own home. [Texas Monthly / Dan Solomon]
While Guyger’s lawyers said the shooting was “tragic, but innocent” in nature, the jury was not convinced. Guyger faces up to 99 years in prison. [AP]
In September 2018, Jean’s family filed a civil lawsuit against the city and Dallas police department for failing to “implement and enforce such policies, practices and procedure for the DPD that respected Jean’s constitutional rights.” [Vox / P.R. Lockhart]
Guyger is the first Dallas police officer to be convicted of murder since the 1970s. [Dallas Morning News / Jennifer Emily, LaVendrick Smith and Dana Branham]

Violence in Hong Kong protests

For the first time in four months, police used live ammunition on Hong Kong protesters, escalating the violence in demonstrations for sovereignty from mainland China. [Vox / Jen Kirby]
At least 66 people were injured during today’s protest, with four reported to be in serious or critical condition. The police injured at least one person with live ammunition. [The Guardian / Emma Graham-Harrison and Verna Yu]
Today’s “day of grief” protest directly coincides with Beijing’s celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the founding of communist China. [BBC]
Following the influx of armed police units to the province last month, China appears to be preparing to crack down more directly on the protests. [Reuters / Greg Torode, James Pomfret, and David Lague]