Youngkin commutes sentence of police officer who fatally shot a shoplifter
Gov. Glenn Youngkin commuted the sentence of the police officer convicted of fatally shooting an unarmed Black man outside the Tyson’s Corner Center in 2023.
Former sergeant Wesley Shifflett and his partner had responded to a call for a shoplifting incident at Nordstrom involving designer sunglasses. They chased the suspect, Timothy McCree Johnson, 36, and shot him.
A jury convicted Shifflett in October for the reckless handling of a firearm but acquitted him of involuntary manslaughter.
On Feb. 28, Fairfax County Circuit Judge Randy Bellows sentenced Shifflett to five years in prison with two years suspended.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Youngkin called the court’s sentence of incarceration “unjust.” He said. “Sgt. Shifflett has no prior criminal record, and was, by all accounts, an exemplary police officer. It is in the interest of justice that he be released immediately.”
“I’m outraged at Youngkin’s decision tonight,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano. “Glenn Youngkin has spent the last four years honing his Trump impersonation, and now he’s following in his footsteps by commuting sentences just to score political points. This is an insult to all Virginians who value an untainted justice system.”
11 responses to “Youngkin commutes sentence of police officer who fatally shot a shoplifter”
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He’s hoping to be JD’s VP pick in 2028!
He wants to run for Senator against Warner next year.
What wasn’t reported here is that the first grand jury convened by Descano returned with no charges to indict… But no firearm was recovered and now Descano’s empty hand didn’t sit well with him. So, he convened a second special grand jury that is successful in getting only the reckless handling charge delivered. Jail time was not recommended by any Virginia officials tasked with making such recommendations to the Court. The only “tainting” of justice here can be said to come from Descano and the presiding judge that handed out the maximum 5 yr sentence on a Class 6 Felony reckless handling charge. And now, the best Descano can come up with in the slap-down is a political statement.
Clearly a great decision. Here’s a tip, try to avoid stealing and then resisting arrest in the dark and not showing your hands when ordered to.
Yeah! The punishment for theft should be execution!
Here’s a tip, try to avoid being a terrible person. Have the day you deserve!
He wasn’t executed for shoplifting. He was shot because he made the officer fear for his life. Kinda different than your characterization!
It’s a travesty that Sgt. Shifflett is not immediately reinstated with back pay. He faced a decision where he risked death and was not given more than a second to make that life and death decision. I’m sorry the criminal died, but he created the situation and failed to comply while in pitch black darkness. It’s really easy for people who have never been in such a situation to armchair quarterback. The police are not expected to hope not to die… they have a right to defend themselves. This is a tragic situation, but it doesn’t mean the officer’s life and career should be ruined. I’m awestruck that we are still attacking the police who are doing their jobs as professionally as humanly possible. We have too many betas among us that don’t understand the fundamentals of 3 dimensional IRL concepts like reaction time. Watching movies with Daniel Craig doesn’t make you an expert in use of force. God Bless this officer and his family, as well as the criminal and his family.
Teach your children not to run from police – it will greatly reduce your risk of getting shot.
Also, teach you children not to be black.
This trope has been completely decimated by the thousands (tens of thousands?) of bodycam incidents available on YouTube. Bodycam has exonerated the police, where the intent of requiring bodycam was to condemn them. Quite a backfire for the race hustlers.
Is there an occasional misuse of force? Sure, police are human and make mistakes. But if you watch hundreds of bodycam videos as I have over the last three years, you’ll see that, though a disproportionate number of certain demographics are represented in crimes and resisting arrest, it has nothing to do with police targeting people because of these demographics.
Rather, there is some cultural problem – the causes of which baffle me – that results in total disrespect of those in public, the police, and generally anything having to do with civilized society. The police as a group, which are comprised of all races and genders and even citizenship in certain states, are to be honored, not demonized.
What A Shame —
This Is Not Justice.