Unconscious while Black: Justin Robinson’s death by D.C. cop sparks outrage

WASHINGTON––Early Sunday morning on Labor Day weekend, 26-year-old Justin Robinson was unresponsive in his car in the parking lot of McDonald’s newly named Marion Barry SE after a car accident had occurred. What followed was allegedly an execution-style murder by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). No first aid was administered after the shooting.

Brian Gilchrist and Vasco Mateus, the two officers involved in the shooting, have been placed on Administrative Leave pending an investigation. Mateus, featured in bodycam footage eventually released by the police department, screamed, “I’m going to shoot you in the fucking face,” while sticking his firearm in Robinson’s vehicle. Robinson, who was awakening upon the police ambush on his car, reacted to the officer’s gun in his face and was then gunned down with ten bullets.

Robinson should be alive today, but due to the police’s wonton violence toward working-class Black people in the district, he was murdered. The 26-year-old, who recently launched an LLC called L.O.V.E Our Youth to uplift the community and children in the district, leaves behind a loving family, including a twin and numerous friends.

Robinson was also a violence interrupter for the Attorney General’s Cure the Streets program. He fought against that same gun violence that he was a victim of and that is so often committed by the MPD and the 27 other law enforcement agencies that operate in D.C. (which does not include the University and private agencies that operate in the district as well).

On Friday, September 6, the family of Robinson held a vigil joined by hundreds of community members from Wards 7 & 8 (SE, the wards with the highest concentration of Black people in the district) and organizations, including Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, Black Lives Matter D.C., D.C. Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression and more, to honor the memory of the victim and call for justice in his name. The vigil included speeches from the family and local activists, prayers from religious leaders, and a massive orange balloon release. The color orange is significant as it is the chosen color to bring awareness to gun violence––the very movement Robinson was part of.

Robinson’s sister and mother, Tralicia and Alicia Robinson spoke lovingly of their lost family member. They also called for MPD to release the entire 19-minute bodycam footage of the incident. As they recalled viewing the video, they were told by MPD that if it was released they would redact parts of the video. This is seen by many in the movement against police brutality as a common tactic of police throughout the country to hide the context around a shooting to possibly confuse the public or justify the excessive force.

Tralicia stated, “We want you [all] to see the whole video…[the cops] came as if he had already committed a crime and it was a pure execution.” Between the heartfelt messages and solemn sky filled with orange balloons, chants of “We will not rest until our demands are met” rang out from the family and community rang out in a demand for accountability and justice.

On Monday, September 9, the D.C. police heeded to the demands of the family and released the full bodycam video of the police killing (though, not all footage was released), leading to more community outrage and confrontations with the police. More actions are being planned by community organizations demanding police accountability.

There are still several questions being pondered by the community and the family. For example, why did the police escalate the situation? Why did they not render medical attention after receiving a call about a car accident? Why did they kill a D.C. government employee?

The family is still demanding all bodycam footage to be released to the public, all the names of the officers involved with the shooting, release of the 911 call made for Justin Robinson, termination of all officers responsible for the murder, and to prosecute officers Mateus and Gilchrist for the killing.

This fatal shooting follows the indictment of a former D.C. police sergeant, Enis Jevric, who pleaded guilty to shooting and killing An’Twan Gilmore, a 27-year-old Black man who was sleeping in his car at a stop light in 2021. Jevric was recently sentenced to just five years in prison for the murder.

Robinson’s family held a press conference in front of the US Department of Justice on Monday, September 16 along with their legal representation to demand a federal civil rights investigation into the police murder and the practices of MPD.

During the press conference, Alicia Robinson tearfully stated regarding her son, “Justin Robinson was my baby. He was the youngest of my kids… Justin just wanted to recreate a safe haven for children. We’re gonna miss him. Say his name––Justin Robinson. Justice for Justin.”