Botham Jean's father: I forgive Amber Guyger but I wanted stiffer sentence
Bertrum Jean, the father of Botham Jean, said on Thursday he wished his son’s killer had received a stiffer sentence. But he also said he agreed with his surviving son Brandt, who amid extraordinary scenes in court in Dallas on Wednesday offered forgiveness to former police officer Amber Guyger.
Related: Amber Guyger: ex-officer sentenced as murdered man's brother urges healing
“I felt the same way as Brandt,” Bertrum Jean told CNN. “I wish I could’ve extended that same courtesy … I don’t want to see her rot in hell. I don’t want to see her rot in prison.”
Guyger shot Botham Jean dead last September, after entering his apartment thinking, she said, it was hers on a lower floor and he was a dangerous intruder. The 26-year-old accountant was sitting on his couch, eating ice cream.
Guyger, 31, was fired by Dallas police. Convicted of murder, she received a 10-year sentence. The maximum sentence available was 99 years. Prosecutors had asked for 28 years, based on the age Jean would have attained had he been alive today.
At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Brandt Jean, 18, told Guyger: “I forgive you … I don’t even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you. Because I know that’s exactly Botham would want you to do.”
He then asked permission to embrace Guyger, and did so. Film of the moment went viral. The judge in the case, Tammy Kemp, embraced Guyger and also gave her a Bible.
Asked on CNN what allowed him and his son to be so forgiving, Bertrum Jean said: “That’s what Christ would want us to do. If you will not forgive, neither will your Father forgive you.
“I don’t want to see her rot in hell. I don’t want to see her rot in prison. I hope this will help her to change and recognize the damage, the hurt that our family’s going through.
“So I wish her well and I will pray for her family and pray for her as well.”
Asked about the sentencing, he said: “We expected a conviction, and I felt the sentence may not have been sufficient based on the crime. I think it could’ve been a little more. But the jury has spoken.”
Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Jean family, said he had not seen anything similar in a courtroom.
“This was an extraordinary moment from an extraordinary family,” he said. “They are a very godly family and what Mr Bertrum and Brandt were talking about was her internal grace, even though Alison, the mother, has expressed that there must be worldly consequences.”
Crump said the case was historic, as it was believed to be the first time a white female police officer has been convicted of murder for killing a black man.
Further controversy was sparked, however, when it emerged that the judge, Tammy Kemps, also embraced Guyger after the jury had left, and gave her a copy of the Bible, recommending a verse.
On Thursday, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a secular Wisconsin-based advocacy group that challenges religious displays in government, accused her of proselytizing from the bench. The group filed a complaint with a Texas state agency that investigates judicial misconduct.
Walked into the Jamaican spot yesterday and stood in line behind to black cops. One of them says “She shoulda got 20 years, 10 is too light.” Other says “You ever see a judge hug one of us after being convicted of murder?”
I was *shocked* to hear NYPD, even black ones say that.— jelani cobb (@jelani9) October 4, 2019
The two scenes prompted wide reaction from across the political spectrum. Texas Senator Ted Cruz described the act as one of “a beautiful, powerful example of Christian love and forgiveness”.
But others saw the hugs in terms of the power dynamics of racism in the United States, and noted the lack of focus on statements from the victim’s mother, which called for new police training.
“Forgiveness is palatable because it lacks institutional power – the might to forgo it and force a reckoning for those who’ve done wrong,” wrote Zak Cheney-Rice in New York Magazine. “As Americans, we’ve rarely had the luxury of seeing what grace looks like when it is practiced by powerful people, instead of scorned and only celebrated when it facilitates their absolution.”
Dallas county district attorney John Creuzot said he had expected a longer sentence but he respected the jury’s decision.
Bertrum Jean told CNN that Botham had been “a gentle giant, because of his size. But he was so soft. He just embraced everyone.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
