From the Frontlines: Omaha
Left: James Scurlock | Right: Jake Gardner with Donald Trump and an unidentified companion
By Jessica Wise
The knee on the neck of George Floyd represents the nail in the coffin of black frustration in America. Protests for justice have sparked globally, inciting Tokyo, the UK, Iran, Italy, and others to join black American citizens in the fight to end police brutality. As marchers and rebels take the streets, white supremacists and undercover agitators lurk in the shadows to taint the movement and push their darker agendas.
But in middle America, an ally for hate took the danger of being on the frontlines to new levels. On May 30th, twenty-two-year-old protestor James Scurlock was murdered by local bar owner Jake Gardner at the end of a protest in Omaha, Nebraska. Gardner was seen by witnesses agitating some of the crowd before getting into a fight where he fatally shot Scurlock at point blank range (Source: Omaha World-Herald). (Original accounts claimed that racial epithets were heard from Gardner as well, but this source has since then removed that from original report.)
Gardner was arrested immediately, but Omaha’s County Attorney Tom Kleine announced today in a press conference that they would not press charges and that Garnder had been released. Video evidence, which was presented at this conference, shows Scurlock being shot after trying to protect others from Gardner, who had already fired two shots during an altercation involving the two, Gardner’s father, and other protestors on the street outside the bar. This would have been the second time civilians had tried to stop Gardner from firing his weapon. Before shooting him dead, Gardner gets on top of Scurlock and breaks his clavicle.
The full press conference and video are available to watch here.
TRIGGER WARNING: The content of the video evidence is sensitive.
However, Audacity had the opportunity to speak with Chad Cunningham, who has worked with Gardner in the past. He had kindly volunteered to offer a firsthand account of his encounters with Gardner, highlighting a particular incident that occurred when Gardner became aggressive with Cunningham during his shift at M’s Pub. The photo below is an annotation of the incident Cunningham documented as the confrontation took place. He reported this to his upper management and recorded on the following audio for evidence.:
Cunningham, a biracial videographer, attested to witnessing Gardner showing both racially prejudiced behavior against black people and POC at work, towards his own employees and patrons. Cunningham’s relationship with Gardner began when he was contracted for freelance work, shooting content at The Hive (Gardener’s bar, where the murder took place), and later evolved to Cunningham working there as a bartender. As he worked with Gardner more closely, he began to see patterns that were concerning and eventually pushed him to resign. Here are events they shared with us. In hindsight, he admits that Gardner was a ticking time bomb:
Gardner is a veteran with a service dog, and has shown signs of depression and PTSD. Cunningham has visited his home and smelled dog urine, saw weeks worth of dirty dishes, and ashtrays everywhere from multiple smoking sessions.
During the Cunningham’s tenure as a contracted videographer for Gardner, they were mandated that they edit a group of black men out of the videos, on grounds that they looked “thuggish.”
Before agreeing to work with Gardner again, Cunningham spoke directly with Gardner and made it clear that they did not agree with the behavior they had seen in the past. Gardner assured him he was working on learning how to do better, including attending meetings with the LGBT and communities of color to educate himself. No concrete evidence of this has ever been presented.
Gardner is a friend of local “good ole boy” veterans and the Omaha Police Department, who he often contracted as security at the bar. These veteran patrons often would refuse service from our witness and pick fights with him, particularly during Colin Kaepernick’s historic national anthem protest. The group also had to be reprimanded multiple times for bullying or agitating other patrons.
Gardner also pit bartenders against one another with faulty sales incentives and stationing minority workers all on one side of the bar.
Cunningham noticed multiple incidents of racial prejudice with Gardner and security against black men, particularly when dancing with white women and trying to gain entry into the bar.
Cunningham cites one of the incidents mentioned above occurred while they were on duty. During their shift, a black male was denied entry for not wearing a belt. Meanwhile multiple white patrons had already entered with sagging pants. The man was physically removed from the venue, instigated by Gardner according to the witness. A friend who attended with the patron posted photos at the scene, corroborating the story:
Following the scuffle, Cunningham went to the office to speak with Gardner about this event. At the time they were up for head bartender, and wanted to see if there was a chance for changes to be made if they were to continue working there. Upon entering the office, the witness saw that Gardner’s locker was fully stocked with weaponry, including ARs, 9mms, extended clips, bulletproof jackets and masks.
While they were not present for the murder of James Scurlock, the firsthand evidence from our character witness more than speaks to the fact that Gardner should have been charged like any American citizen. Scurlock died a hero, trying to save others from yet another tragic instance of domestic terror.
The public seeks justice still, citing additional incidents speaking to Gardner’s concerning patterns. Gardner has since been evicted from his downtown Omaha apartment, and his liquor license has been revoked (Source: Omaha World-Herald). As activists prepare and strategize on behalf of James Scurlock and his family, we will keep you posted on new developments.
To take action for justice for James Scurlock, sign the petition at Change.org.
Update: On June 3, 2020 County Attorney Don Kleine Announced that James Scurlock’s Murder Would be Reviewed by a Grand Jury
County Attorney Don Kleine’s Statement (Source: CountyAttorney.DouglasCounty-NE.gov)
Update: On September 16th, 2020, Jake Gardner Was Indicted by a Grand Jury.
Charges included:
Manslaughter
Use of a Deadly Weapon to Commit a Felony
Attempted First-Degree Assault
Terroristic Threats
Update: On September 20th, 2020, Jake Gardner Committed Suicide in Portland, Oregon in Light of the Pending Trial.
We will continue to remember JAMES SCURLOCK, and speak his name.
