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Outrage After White Bar Owner Who Shot and Killed 22-Year-Old James Scurlock Dodges Criminal Charge

HeadlineJun 02, 2020

Activists are calling for justice for James Scurlock, a 22-year-old Black man who was fatally shot Saturday night by a white bar owner in Omaha, Nebraska, during anti-police-brutality protests. Prosecutors said Monday bar owner Jake Gardner will not face charges because he appeared to act in self-defense in surveillance footage of the shooting. But others say James Scurlock was attempting to deescalate a scuffle outside the bar which started after Gardner and his father provoked a crowd and Gardner fired his gun. A Facebook post by Jake Gardner, a 38-year-old ex-marine, just hours before the killing, reads, “Just when you think, 'what else could 2020 throw at me?' Then you have to pull 48 hours of military style firewatch.” Gardner has been arrested on criminal charges at least four times, including once for third-degree assault. He has also faced accusations of discriminating against Black patrons and making transphobic comments.

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