Man assaulted, arrested, and put on trial for walking down wrong side of the street

Police shot at David Blair the moment he emerged from his door. 

(Source: Dallas Morning News)

DALLAS, TX — On his first night staying in a new apartment, an Oak Cliff man says police opened fire on him as he stood in his doorway — unarmed — after he rebuffed their interrogation efforts during an operation to apprehend call girls and johns in the area.  Welcome to the neighborhood.

41-year-old David Blair had just moved into his new residence with his girlfriend and 3-year-old son October 2nd and says he was speaking to his brother on the phone when police officers Richard Cantu and Jesse Aquino exited their cruiser and shined a spotlight in his face.

“I tell them ‘Get that spotlight out of my face,’” said Blair. He said he went back into his apartment; he was entering and exiting the residence as he moved his possessions into his new home. He said when he opened the door again he was met with a hail of gunfire.

“I grab my son and his mom and we go back up to the back room,” he said.  Blair was unscathed from the bullets that flew by him and blew through the walls of his apartment.  His girlfriend and son, Daveion, who were inside, also managed to escape harm.

Police claim Blair came out of the apartment and shined a spotlight of his own at them before they heard a loud bang they believed to be a gunshot. Blair said a detective later told him the officers were probably reacting to the popping sound his screen door makes when it opens and closes.

“They had no business messing with me,” Blair said to the Dallas Morning News.  “What if I came out with my son?”

Reverend Ronald Wright of an area civil rights group called Texas Justice Seekers said the police account “didn’t make any sense.” After nearly being shot to death, Blair was arrested for aggravated assault on a police officer. He was released after several hours in custody.

“I guess I wasn’t supposed to tell them to get the light out of my face,” Blair said.

This incident occurred less than two weeks before Dallas police capriciously gunned down a mentally troubled man outside his home, then lied about him charging with a knife.

And officer Jesse Aquino had been a subject of controversy before. In 2011, the police department concluded he had falsified a report after striking a man he suspected was holding cocaine in his hand. After internal affairs concluded Aquino had lied about details in his report, he was allowed to make revisions to his account of events and remain on the force.

Blair said he isn’t impressed with Aquino’s character, nor presumably the department’s emergency response efforts.  He said after he heard the gunshots and hurried back into his home he “called 911 about four times.”

Fortunately no one was maimed or killed in yet another collision between overzealous police and the innocent citizens they’re ostensibly sworn to protect along the warpath abutting victimless crimes. Blair and his loved ones nearly had their lives snuffed out over a hooker dragnet.  Sadly, so long as violent vice squads are sent out to stomp on victimless crimes, unwarranted state-sponsored violence will continue unabated.