Amber Guyger, the woman who kept people glued to their phones and television as her trial took place this past week. Constant notifications were bringing updates on almost every detail that took place.

Guyger was a Dallas police officer who after working a 13-hour shift, parked on the wrong floor of the parking garage and entered the wrong apartment, thinking that it was hers. After asking to see the hands of the person who was in her apartment and not being able to see, she proceeded to shoot.

When this event occurred, it only stirred up more hate and frustration toward the men and women in blue from minority communities, specifically the African-American community. Police brutality is unfortunately a reality that they have to deal with on a daily basis.

There are numerous cases of where a police officer takes the life of an African-American where most of them were not in the wrong and just abiding by the law or what the police officer asked of them.

This case was more upsetting because Jean was in the alleged safety of his own home and still lost his life. African-Americans and other minorities are living in a fearful state whenever they see those blue and red lights in the their rear view mirror.

Sam Garcia, ACU alum who is a rookie in the Dallas Police Academy was willing to share his insight on how the case has impacted the department.

“The department is disappointed in the actions and decisions that she choose to make on that night. The best that we can do is to learn from her mistakes and aspire to be and do better.”

Garcia said that they are trained to apprehend life after they shoot, so Guyger definitely should have called for assistance after the shooting occurred. He also said the racially charged messages that were presented in court was definitely discouraging.

Guyger was found guilty of murder for the death of Botham Jean. This was definitely considered a win for the African American community because in past cases, officers either received, paid leave, probation or they were relieved of their position with the force. The cases that did go to court, they were never found guilty of their actions.

When asking Garcia his thoughts on Guyger’s verdict and sentencing, he said “In all the sentence was well deserved for the crime that she did. Ten years is sufficient but I believe that she regrets her decision and I pray for the best for her,”. On social media however, others disagreed. They did not feel that ten years was definitely not enough time that should be served.

One thing that has definitely taken many people aback, was the action of Bradt Jean, Botham Jean’s younger brother. In the courtroom, he fearlessly said that on his and only his behalf, he forgives Amber for her actions because that is what his brother would want. He also encouraged that if she was really sorry for what she did, that she would ask the Lord for forgiveness and to get saved. He then asked the judge if he could give her a hug.

Social media blew up with so many videos and photos of this touching act that occurred. It was not uncommon to see that the captions on all of these posts were in different variations of captions like, “Only my God could do this” or “My God is working right now” and so forth. In Matthew 5:44 it says “but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.  

As Christians, we definitely would strive to be like Brandt Jean in how forgiving he was.

However, can we all say that we would be as easy to forgive as Jean was? Especially if that person was responsible for taking the life of someone so close to you such as a sibling, parent or other close relatives?

Jean has helped remind us of how Christ would like for us to be. Moving forward let’s hope that we are all quick to forgive and love on our enemies. Even in the situations when the roles are reversed and a minority is responsible for the passing of a white person.