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Arcata Police Do Not Want to Solve Josiah Lawsons’ Murder !!!
After closely following this case for the last ten months, I have come to the conclusion that the Arcata Police Dept. does not want to solve the murder of HSU student David Josiah Lawson.
There are two possible reasons for this lack of a proper investigation:
1.) The Arcata Police believe that white Kyle Zoellner stabbed black Josiah Lawson in self-defense.
OR
2.) The Arcata Police believe it probably was a black-on-black crime. In either case, The Arcata Police Do Not Want to Solve Josiah Lawsons’ Murder! Justice Delayed is Justice Denied !’
-Arcata
Tina Sampay, known as Slauson Girl, is a journalist, author and media founder from South Central Los Angeles. Her Bachelor of Arts in Critical Race and Gender Studies informs how she examines race, gender and power in her journalism. She founded Slauson Girl Media Group, a Black woman-owned news and media organization. Her reporting, podcast conversations and video interviews center local news, community voices, culture and the issues shaping Los Angeles.
I completely disagree with the above anonymous opinion as to why the Arcata Police do not work to solve the case of the murder of David Josiah Lawson, a young, vibrant beautiful black man. The anonymous person lists two “possible reasons” the Arcata Police Department (APD) “does not want to solve the murder,” and both ‘reasons’ assume a black person is somehow guilty for or deserved the stabbing; and that the APD wants to cover that up. Nonsense! The idea that the APD would lie so as to not blame a black person flies in the face of everything we know about police throughout the U.S. U.S. police forces are institutionally and culturally racist. That is why arrests, convictions, and killings in this country are disproportionately levied against people of color. Police, DA’s, and courts are known to participate in cover-ups and fake investigations to falsely blame crimes on a person of color and protect the image of a guilty white person who committed the crimes.
Frankly, I think a primary reason the City of Arcata fails to properly investigate the death of David Josiah Lawson is because the Arcata police and the Arcata city government know they are LIABLE for Josiah’s death. The Arcata police refused to allow friends to put Josiah in a vehicle and get him to the hospital, less than 3 minutes away. The Arcata police acted like they needed to “contain” the victim’s friends while completely failing to deal with Zoellner’s car as part of evidence; they failed to questions or fingerprint Zoellner’s lying girlfriend (oh, I heard her testify and talk in the courtroom hallway and she is not to be trusted); and completely failed to properly preserve or deal with the crime scene. But, most important, the Arcata police let Josiah die.
The Arcata police wanted Josiah’s loved ones and the public as a whole in Arcata to keep rooting for their investigation, to feel like the cops are on their side. That way, the City of Arcata could distract from its own racism and liability. Cover-ups are important when you are trying to keep the public on your side.
This awful situation is not happening in a vacuum. Arcata has a long history of racism (hell, it can’t even get rid of the McKinley statue, a glaring symbol of white supremacy terror), and its police and its County’s prosecutors and judges perpetuate the same racism that steals the lives of our black, brown, and indigenous loved ones every day.
Down with this racist, violent system.
Justice For David Josiah Lawson REST IN PEACE AND POWER