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Hey folks,
First and foremost, I’m absolutely floored in response to the generous contributions and support of 163 people who’ve contributed to our reporting GoFundMe for a total of $9375.
Our overall goal of $50,000 for in the field reporting resources and equipment is ambitious but with a growing viewership hungry for real reporting on real stories that matter, I firmly believe we’ll get there and beyond.
In fact, we're SO close to $10,000 of our goal (click here to see realtime updates of what we've raised so you can join in the fun of watching the bar go up) that we're hoping to reach that by the end of the day (today, Sunday).
There's a big reason for that...
I’m excited to report that thanks to your support so far, Ty and I are en route to Dallas,Texas to cover the murder of 26-year-old African American Botham Jean by a white police officer named Amber Guyger.
On September 6th, Jean was hanging in his apartment like I am as I write this email—like you might be as you read. Suddenly, Guyger, who was off-duty at the time and lived directly under Jean in the apartment complex, intruded into his apartment and shot him dead.
Since then, there’s been a musical chairs of tales coming from Guyger about what happened that night. Frankly, as I’ve reported, her story defies logic and common sense, but being that this is the United States, the police have closed ranks around her, leaking a disgusting account that Jean had marijuana in his apartment in the age old attempt to blame the victim.
And now, like in the Laquan McDonald murder cover-up in Chicago (fortunately, Jason Van Dyke was just found guilty of second degree murder and is facing serious prison time), the Dallas PD is refusing to release the 911 call made after Guyger shot Jean—and her police records, which include details of Guyger shooting a man in 2017 she claims took her taser during a struggle.
As a white man with privilege that black Americans have been deprived of for generations, I’ve always felt a strong responsibility to cover murder of and oppression toward our black brothers and sisters.
Hell, Ty and I just celebrated (I guess!) the one-year anniversary of us getting locked up in a St. Louis jail for the crime of covering protests in the aftermath of another MURDER from the gun of a white police officer—that time assassinating 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith.
To me, the murder of Botham Jean—a black man JUST HANGING OUT IN HIS APARTMENT—is absolutely heinous. That’s why we’re headed down to Dallas to put a spotlight on it. As of now, there’s been little on-the-ground national media attention.
Keep your support to our GoFundMe coming as we plan on covering many more important stories in the field after this. $100 gets you a bad ass Status Coup hat or shirt. $127 gets you both!
We’ll be live all week on YouTube.com/JordanCharitonReports, Facebook.com/JordanChariton, and @JordanChariton on Periscope.
Always remember: most people aren’t lacking compassion; most people have NO IDEA what the fu*k is going on.
Sincerely,
Jordan
P.S. Remember—Those who donate $100 or more get to choose a Status Coup hat or shirt as a reward. Those who donate $127 or more get BOTH a Status Coup hat and shirt. Here's that link... and your support helps us give the microphone back to the people.
>>> https://www.gofundme.com/status-coup-news
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