‘THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL’
The world reacts to the conviction of former US police officer Mohamed Noor
JUSTINE RUSZCZYK DAMOND’S former neighbour says the Minneapolis community she had adopted as home before her 2017 death is “grateful” that Mohamed Noor has been found guilty after a five-week trial. On April 30, former police officer Noor was convicted of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, and is now being held as he awaits sentencing on June 7. He faces up to 15 years in prison. On May 3, it was announced Justine’s family will receive a record payout of $29 million by the city of Minneapolis.
“The way that Justine was treated when she was trying to help someone else, to be killed in that way, is the ultimate betrayal,” Todd Schuman, who is part of the community advocacy group Justice for Justine, set up after the 40-year-old’s death, tells WHO. “We don’t believe that Officer Noor went out there that day to kill a person; we don’t think that was his intent. At the same time, people need to be held accountable for their actions.”
The Australian life coach was shot by Noor, 33, on July 15, 2017, outside her home after calling for police assistance when she heard noises that sounded like a woman being assaulted nearby. Noor and his partner, Officer Matthew Harrity, arrived at the scene in their police car and, according to his court testimony, Noor fired his weapon through the
open car window after hearing a “loud bang”.
Damond, who was barefoot and wearing pyjamas, died 20 minutes later at the scene. None of her fingerprints – which could have accounted for the startling noise – were ever found on the squad car. The prosecution argued that this defence was concocted by the police officers days after the shooting. Noor, whose police training had been fast-tracked, said after realising Justine was dead, “It felt like my whole world came crashing down.”
After the jury handed down their decision, Justine’s fiancé, Don Damond, issued a scathing rebuke of the Minneapolis police force’s failures. “That night there was a tragic lapse of care and complete disregard for the sanctity of life,” he said. “The evidence in this case clearly showed an egregious failure of the Minneapolis Police Department.”
Her father, John Ruszczyk, said the aftermath of his daughter’s death had been a “painful journey” but the family was satisfied with the outcome. He noted that the guilty verdict had been reached despite the investigation into his daughter’s shooting being hampered by either the “active resistance or gross incompetence” of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
“The jury’s decision reflected the community’s commitment to three important pillars of a civil society: the rule of law, the respect for the sanctity of life, and the obligation of the police force to serve and protect,” he told reporters.
US public reaction has focused on race being a factor in the case going to court and ending with a guilty verdict. Many have noted that unlike most victims of police shooting fatalities, who are overwhelmingly black while the perpetrators are usually white, this case saw the reverse.
Damond, who grew up on Sydney’s northern beaches and studied veterinary science at the University of Sydney, moved to the US after getting in engaged in 2014. She and Don were due to marry in August 2017, just weeks after her death.
Schuman said that Damond’s local community were in awe at how strong the Ruszczyk and Damond families had been.
“I saw a family that was dragged through the terrible, torturous ordeal of watching their loved one’s last moments on this earth and then having to sit there and listen to these officers conspire and lie to cover one another,” he says. “Having to sit there and watch all that takes an inhuman amount of strength and will.”