Kim Foxx Won't Charge Officer Who Fatally Shot Jemel Roberson

MIDLOTHIAN, IL — Prosecutors have declined to charge Midlothian police officer Ian Covey in the Nov. 11, 2018, shooting of Jemel Roberson, state's attorney Kim Foxx said Friday.

"After an extensive and thorough review of the police-involved shooting resulting in the 2018 death of Jemel Roberson, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) has concluded that the totality of the evidence is insufficient to support criminal charges against Midlothian Police Officer Ian Covey," according to a statement from Foxx's office.

Foxx acknowledged it "may not be the result that many have hoped for."

Roberson, a Black security guard was fatally shot by the white officer as Roberson tried to subdue a third man with a gun outside Manny's Blue Room on that Sunday shortly after 4 a.m. According to previous Patch reporting, Roberson was armed and wearing a hat that identified him as security.

Police said Roberson ignored Covey's "verbal commands," calling him an "armed subject" in a statement released soon after the shooting. But while Covey claimed he told Roberson to drop his gun before opening fire, witnesses — including another guard — said they didn't hear it.

"He (Roberson) had somebody on the ground with his knee in back, with his gun in his back like, 'Don't move,'" witness Adam Harris told Patch in 2018. "(When police arrived, e)verybody was screaming out, 'Security!' He was a security guard. And they still did their job, and saw a Black man with a gun, and basically killed him."

According to an autopsy, Roberson was shot multiple times in the side and at least once in the back.

Roberson's family have filed a civil suit against the police department and are asking for a federal investigation into the shooting, which inspired protests this summer amid national outcry over the killings of other Black men and women by police, including: Rayshard Brooks, Daniel Prude, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others.

"I am acutely aware in this age of civil unrest that police-involved shootings are viewed under a microscope, as they very well should be," Foxx said. "The death of Jemel Roberson is tragically heartbreaking, and while it might feel to some people like justice was not served here, I have both an ethical and legal obligation to make charging decisions based on the law and the evidence."

Foxx, whose team has met regularly with the Roberson family, according to her office, said the decision was based on more than 100 witness interviews and other "critical physical evidence and information surrounding the events."

But prosecutors' account of the shooting differs significantly from that of some witnesses. Roberson's hat labeled "SECURITY," for example, never made it into evidence.

Here is the account of the shooting from prosecutors' declination memorandum:

"When Officer Covey exited his police vehicle, he was approached by at least one patron who indicated that someone had been shot in the bar and there was someone with a gun inside. Officer Covey retrieved his medic bag and rifle and entered the bar. Officer Covey encountered a loud and chaotic scene inside and outside of the bar including individuals who sustained gunshot wounds, police officers tending to injured individuals, and a crowd that had formed behind the bar where an employee who sustained a gunshot wound to the head laid. In an attempt to provide cover for those tending to the injured individuals, Officer Covey stood on top of the bar and shouted for the crowd to stop, get down, and not move.

"On his way into the bar and again inside of the bar, Officer Covey encountered two separate security guards who identified themselves as such. Officer Covey acknowledged them. Patrons and security guard directed Officer Covey to the side door of the lounge which led to the parking lot, indicating the shooter was out there. Officer Covey went to the side door where he viewed the parking lot. Officer Covey observed a male, now known to be Jemel Roberson, wearing all black clothing with no identifying markings, straddled over a male who he held face down on the ground. Mr. Roberson held the gun in his right hand which he pointed toward the front area of the bar where patrons were exiting and responding officers were arriving. Mr. Roberson's clothing had no indication that he was a security guard. Officer Covey ordered Mr. Roberson repeatedly to, "Get down" and drop the gun. Mr. Roberson turned in Officer Covey's direction but did not acknowledge or follow Officer Covey's verbal commands. Believing Mr. Roberson was the active shooter, Officer Covey fired his Rock River Arms Model LAR-15, 5.56mm caliber rifle four times, striking Mr. Roberson four times on his right side and right back, which was the part of Mr. Roberson's body facing closest to Officer Covey. A Glock 17 semi-automatic handgun fell from Mr. Roberson's right hand and was recovered by officers."

Read the memo in full here:

None of the officers involved in the shooting were wearing body cameras, and no video of the shooting exists, prosecutors said. But apparently a microphone in Covey's car "recorded the verbal commands Officer Covey gave as he entered Manny's as well as those he gave to Mr. Roberson."

Given the "loud and chaotic scene," it's not clear how the microphone in the car captured those commands or how prosecutors determined which commands were issued to Roberson.

Nonetheless, prosecutors determined "any trial would include evidence indicating that when Mr. Roberson did not acknowledge or follow Officer Covey's verbal commands to get down and drop the gun, it was not unreasonable for Officer Covey to believe that Mr. Roberson was the active shooter on the scene who was intending to cause further harm."

Across the country, police officers are rarely charged in deadly shootings and almost never convicted when they are. Civil rights attorneys cite officers' relationship with prosecutors — who are often dependent on police testimony for convictions — conflicts of interest when police departments investigate themselves, and the so-called "Blue Code of Silence" that prevents officers from testifying against other officers. Even when officers violate department policy, such as in the death of Eric Garner, punishments are rarely severe.

Officer Ian Covey has been on paid leave since 2018.