FAIRFAX, VA – On Wednesday, February 22, 2023, two Fairfax County police officers shot and killed Timothy McCree Johnson, 37, as he fled them on foot near Tysons Corner Center. Johnson’s killing is yet another despicable act of brutality by Fairfax County police, whose violent track record includes six shootings of community members in 2022.
As with previous shootings such as that of Michael Vaughn in 2022, FCPD chief Kevin Davis has taken pains to criminalize Johnson, emphasizing that he was “concealing designer sunglasses” as he exited a Tysons store. Davis’ focus on luxury merchandise confirms that police exist to protect property, not people. No human deserves to die over a pair of sunglasses.
Under David, Fairfax County police have released fewer and fewer details in a timely fashion after every recent shooting. This lack of transparency is not only unconscionable; it reveals FCPD’s desire to manipulate information to serve their narrative of criminalization.
We condemn FCPD’s violence, hold Johnson’s family and community in our hearts, and demand that Fairfax County divest from violent, racist policing and invest in resources that support true community safety.
Police killed Johnson just one day after Fairfax County released its proposed FY2024 budget, which includes an increase of nearly $3 million in funding for FCPD. Given the immense amount of blood on FCPD’s hands from this and other acts of violence, we demand immediate revision of the proposed budget to reallocate at least 50% of police funding to resources like housing, education, and healthcare.
To create safer communities, we must end cycles of poverty by addressing their root causes, not further criminalize and harm those most affected by those cycles and thus at greatest risk of police violence: our Black, brown, disabled, queer, trans, and unhoused neighbors.
We urge you to use alternatives to calling the police and join us in the fight for a community that funds care rather than cops and places people before property. Real community safety starts with defunding NoVA police.
Johnson family GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/9ff3773d
https://bit.ly/fairfaxcountysafetybeyondpolice
https://defundnovapolice.net
