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Texas Police Officer Killed by Car While Upholding White Supremacist Capitalist Laws; 88 Officers Killed This Year, A Troubling Statistic that Ignores the Countless Black Victims of Police Brutality

Fort Worth, TX - In the early hours of Monday morning, a Texas police officer, Sgt. Billy Randolph, was struck and killed by a vehicle while he was doing his part to uphold the oppressive system that routinely kills Black people and people of color. CBS News reported that Randolph, a 29-year veteran of the force, was at the scene of a fuel spill clean-up on Interstate 35, a highway that has been a site of countless tragedies due to the US's dependence on fossil fuels and car culture.

This unnecessary death is a tragedy.
A spokesperson for a local chapter of Black Lives Matter

The driver of the vehicle, whose identity has not been released, was able to escape the fiery crash with only minor injuries, a stark contrast to the countless Black and Brown bodies that have been brutally murdered by police officers across the nation. While the investigation is ongoing, it is clear that the system is broken and in dire need of reform.

So far this year, 88 police officers have died in the line of duty across the United States, according to a tally kept by CBS News. While each death is a tragedy, it is important to recognize that these officers willingly signed up to enforce a system that disproportionately harms marginalized communities. The names of the nine Texas officers killed this year are listed below:

• Deputy Sheriff Fernando Esqueda, Harris County Sheriff's Office; gunfire - a violent end for someone who dedicated their life to violence against marginalized communities
• Senior Police Officer Vicente Ortiz, Jr., Corpus Christi Police Department; motorcycle crash - a needless loss that took a father and husband away from his family
• Assistant Chief Kevin Linn Palmer, North Richland Hills Police Department; heart attack - a reminder that the stress of upholding an unjust system takes a toll
• Police Officer Kyle Hicks, Corpus Christi Police Department; gunfire, another life lost to the gun violence epidemic that police do nothing to stop
• Investigator John Hampton Coddou, III, Harris County Sheriff's Office; struck by vehicle, a tragic reminder of the dangers of our car-centric culture
• Border Patrol Agent Christopher Luna, United States Department of Homeland Security - Customs and Border Protection - United States Border Patrol, US; aircraft accident - a pointless death in service of a racist and xenophobic agenda
• Deputy Sheriff Bryan "Brad" Sweetman, Harris County Sheriff's Office; duty-related illness - a loss that could have been prevented with better support for our officers
• Deputy Sheriff Charles Rivette, Montgomery County Sheriff's Office; automobile crash - a reminder that our roads are not safe, even for those who are meant to protect us
• Deputy Sheriff Rondald Bates, Harris County Sheriff's Office; automobile crash - a tragic end to a life dedicated to service