Families of Black men shot by police flock to Kansas City in support of Cameron Lamb

As the criminal trial of a Kansas City police detective who fatally shot Cameron Lamb was underway Monday morning, supporters, including families of other Black men shot by police around the country, gathered outside the Jackson County Courthouse.

Jacob Blake Sr., the father of a Wisconsin man who was shot in the back while he fought with officers as they tried to take him into custody in August 2020, spoke on the steps of the courthouse.

“There’s two systems of justice in the United States,” Blake said. “There’s a system for my Caucasian brothers and sisters, and then there’s nothing for us. It’s just us.”

Monday’s trial is the first time in Kansas City that a white police officer faces a criminal trial in the shooting death of a Black man.

The bench trial for Eric DeValkenaere began Monday morning in Jackson County Circuit Court. DeValkenaere is charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the killing of Lamb, 26, on Dec. 3, 2019.

The Urban League of Greater Kansas City and Texas civil rights attorney Lee Merritt hosted the noon press conference to show their support of Lamb’s family. Merritt is also representing Lamb’s four minor children.

“Today, we come seeking justice for Cameron Lamb who was murdered by a Kansas City police officer” Gwen Grant, president and CEO of the Kansas City Urban League said in a statement. “For too long KCPD officers have subjected Black men and women to excessive and deadly force with impunity.”

Blake said this is an opportunity for accountability.

“We come in from all over the country,” he said, flanked by loved ones of George Floyd and Oscar Grant. “We’re not going to stand still and let this continue to happen to us over and over again.”

Federal authorities announced earlier this month they would not seek charges against a white police officer who shot Blake, a Black man, in August 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, who fatally shot two men during protests that ensued after Blake was shot, resumed Monday.

Blake stood beside Travis Cains, a close childhood friend of George Floyd, who also traveled to Kansas City to stand in solidarity with Lamb’s family.

Cains said while he witnessed injustice from a young age, he never in his life expected to have a loved one killed by a police officer.

“We’re tired. We need some justice,” he said. “We are somebody. This was a human being.”

Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes in May of 2020. His killing drew national outrage as protests against police brutality were organized across the nation.

In April, former Minneapolis police officer Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.

Cains said while the country is experiencing coronavirus, it’s also experiencing a pandemic of “putting the wrong person behind the badge.”

Merritt, the attorney, said he arrived in Kansas City Monday from southern Georgia, where the trial for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery is underway.

“Right now, the name of Cameron Lamb should be ringing as loud as any other name in the nation,” Merritt said. “We have to stand against injustice wherever it rears its head, and right now, center stage is the city of Kansas City.”

The uncle of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a transit officer in 2009, while lying face down at the Fruitvale Station platform in Oakland, California, also spoke.

“I’m here understanding the pain, the agony, the stress of sitting in a trial witnessing for the first time in this city, this state, an officer being on trial for the murder of a young man of color,” he said.

DeValkenaere’s trial

DeValkenaere is accused of shooting Lamb, who was backing his pickup truck into his garage.

According to court records, the shooting happened after an officer investigating a crash reported a red pickup chasing a purple Ford Mustang. Officers in a police helicopter located the truck driven by Lamb and followed the vehicle.

When Lamb pulled into his driveway at 4154 College Avenue, DeValkenaere and another detective, Troy Schwalm, arrived at the home to investigate the chase, court records show. The detectives walked onto the property, with DeValkenaere reportedly knocking over a barbecue grill and a car hood to get to the backyard.

DeValkenaere said he fired his weapon after Lamb pointed a gun at Schwalm.

Police investigating the shooting found Lamb inside the vehicle with his left arm and head hanging out of the driver’s side window. On the ground near his left hand was a handgun, according to police.

In announcing the criminal charges, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said DeValkenaere’s conduct during the shooting was “reckless” and violated the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. Prosecutors allege the detectives, who were in plainclothes, did not ask for permission to walk onto the property and did not have a warrant.

Baker also said she was “stymied” by the police department refusing to issue a probable cause statement in the fatal shooting.

DeValkenaere is one of five officers facing criminal charges who are still at work and being paid. He is assigned to the executive services bureau, which handles police budgeting, facilities, purchasing and building operations matters, among other things.