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NEW YORK—In a desperate, perhaps final attempt to prevent the earth’s temperatures from rising to catastrophic levels, a last-ditch climate change report issued Tuesday by the U.N. includes nothing more than the whereabouts of top oil executives and directions to secret weapons caches. “For decades, we have failed in our efforts to spur action by describing in rigorous scientific detail the ways in which global warming will cause widespread misery for billions of innocent people, and so this time we have taken a different approach,” read the report, a 500-page directory that simply lists the names and addresses of key players in the fossil fuel industry, along with the precise coordinates of several bunkers containing extensive stockpiles of firearms without serial numbers. “We have provided the security codes necessary to bypass the gates of each oil executive’s mansion so that their homes may be entered at night and they may be murdered in their sleep. An appendix is included with instructions on how to bash in a skull with a hammer if the bullets run out. It may not seem like a lot on its own, but if everyone comes together and does their part, we can make a tremendous difference.” At press time, sources confirmed no one had bothered to read the report.
**Update: An earlier version of this article used the word “pardon” as opposed to “commute” or “freed.” We have updated it throughout the piece.**
JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Missouri Governor Mike Parson has reduced the already lenient six-year sentence of Eric DeValkenaere, the white KCPD detective convicted of executing Cameron Lamb in his own backyard in December 2019. While this commutation doesn’t erase DeValkenaere’s historic conviction – it ensures the killer cop will walk free after serving a fraction of his sentence.
This is nothing short of a declaration of war against, and a license to kill Black people in Missouri.
“This reprehensible act speaks volumes about Parson’s priorities,” wrote Gwen Grant in a scathing statement to The Defender, “clemency for a white former officer who took a Black life yet continued refusal to grant clemency for wrongfully convicted Black men like Kevin Strickland and Marcellus Williams.”
Kansas City residents deserve to know why a governor would use his final days in office to reinforce the message that police officers who kill Black citizens will face no real consequences in Missouri. – Gwen Grant, CEO & President of the Urban League of Kansas City
The System Working Exactly As Designed
To be crystal clear: DeValkenaere’s conviction was more than historic – it was in fact a statistical miracle in a system designed to protect white cops who murder Black people. In KCPD’s 145+ year reign of terror, he was the first and only white cop ever convicted for killing a Black person. Now, even that singular moment of accountability has been snatched away by a governor who has shown us exactly whose lives he values.
DeValkenaere was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in November 2021 – a conviction that exposed the deadly consequences of KCPD’s unconstitutional tactics. Judge J. Dale Youngs concluded that DeValkenaere had no legal right to be on Lamb’s property when he and his partner invaded Lamb’s backyard without a warrant, probable cause, or permission.
The prosecution’s case revealed how DeValkenaere recklessly gunned down Lamb, who was simply backing his truck into his own garage. While DeValkenaere’s defense team tried to justify the killing by claiming Lamb had pointed a gun at his partner, this story fell apart under scrutiny – DeValkenaere’s own partner gave contradicting testimony that undermined their attempted cover-up.
“The court is further compelled to find beyond a reasonable doubt that when defendant shot and killed Cameron Lamb, number one, defendant was not acting in lawful self-defense,” Youngs stated in his ruling. “Number two, defendant was not acting in lawful defense of Sgt. Schwalm.”
Despite DeValkenaere’s desperate attempts to escape accountability, multiple courts saw through the thin blue line of protection. The appellate courts upheld his conviction in October 2023, and the Missouri Supreme Court rejected his appeal in March 2024. Even a federal court ruled in September 2024 that DeValkenaere had no legal right to invade Lamb’s property before killing him.
The Cruel Theater of “Justice”
While Parson rushes to free a convicted killer cop, let’s remember he recently allowed the execution of Marcellus Williams – a Black man who was unquestioningly innocent. As the Missouri NAACP powerfully states:
“Marcellus Williams, a man convicted on insufficient evidence, was executed on September 24, 2024, over the objections of the local prosecutor and after a circuit court found he was likely innocent. Meanwhile, Eric DeValkenaere tampered with a crime scene after killing a man in his own backyard, and Governor Parson is talking about making sure he gets home for Christmas.”
The Machine of State Violence
DeValkenaere’s actions that day were a perfect expression of what policing in America truly is. After shooting brother Lamb, he didn’t render aid or show an ounce of human decency. Instead, he blocked emergency medical services for 14 excruciating minutes, ensuring Lamb would die on his own property, just feet from where he should have been safe.
For Black people in Missouri, this sends a chilling message as we descend further into an era of emboldened fascism and white supremacy: not even your own backyard is sacred ground. The state’s machinery of violence will attempt to invade any space, violate any right, and desecrate any sanctuary where Black people dare to exist.
Thus, we must take heed of this message and remain vigilant – organizing our communities, protecting our people, and building power that can stand against this rising tide of state violence. Our survival demands nothing less.
“I am asking that you respect the rule of law, as I have always done,” pleaded Laurie Bey, Lamb’s mother, before the commutation. “A man found guilty… should not be pardoned. It’s not the right thing to do.”
But in a system built on white supremacy, even a mother’s grief carries less weight than a white killer cop’s comfort.
The Mask Comes Off
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, who secured the original conviction, has faced vicious attacks from police unions and their political allies for daring to prosecute a white officer. “I’ve been a prosecutor for 28 years. I don’t respond to someone that debases my 28 years in a variety of different ways with one word,” Baker stated, pushing back against claims her office was “woke” for simply doing its job.
This commutation comes as KCPD remains under federal investigation for its systemic racism and discrimination – ranking among the nation’s five worst police departments. But the plain truth is that no federal oversight will save us from a system that’s rotten to its core.
The Path Forward
For Cameron Lamb’s family, this commutation is another brutal reminder that in America, justice remains a privilege reserved for the white and powerful.
But for our movement, this moment crystallizes what we’ve long known – reform is a dead end, a band-aid on a system designed to crush Black life. The only path forward is the complete abolition of the police state and the entire carceral machine that protects killer cops while criminalizing Black existence.
We are far past the point of asking this system to deliver justice – it’s functioning exactly as designed.
The real question is: how long will we allow this machinery of white supremacist terrorism to operate? The time has come to dismantle these institutions of oppression and build in their place a world where Black people can truly live free, where mothers don’t have to fear their children will be gunned down in their own backyards, and where our communities protect and sustain themselves.
The post BREAKING: Missouri Governor Frees Eric DeValkenaere, the First White Cop in KC History Convicted for Lynching a Black Person appeared first on The Kansas City Defender.
