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My Birthday Wish for Bam Bam

Picture this, you're 9 years old. You're changing to your fourth elementary school and it's, again, outside of your feeder district. You know that you will not know a single kid in the school. You know you've bounced all over the place, from Christian schools to inner-city schools, to now a higher-end, more well regarded school that all your summer camp friends say they would love to be in. You walk in for your first day and sure enough, you know nobody. You are already a tiny human, inside a massive building that is swarming with kids laughing and playing and catching up on how their summer break was and how much they missed each other. Quite simply, you feel SMALL and invisible. You're sitting in the cafeteria, staring at your breakfast eating it as quickly as you can to try to get yourself out of the awkward situation. Then, you see this warm, kind face coming towards you with a giant smile, I mean ear to ear! You're thinking, his friends must be sitting behind me, right? Instead this smiling face walks directly up to you, sits down, introduces himself as "Jeremy, but my friends call me Bam Bam and you're my friend now so that's what you can call me." I was stunned. I told him my name and that I was brand new here and he spent the rest of breakfast calling his friends over to, now, our table to introduce us all. He walked me to our homeroom with his arm around my shoulders, telling everyone we met in the hallways "this is Kris, she's my friend so she's yours now too." I swear, this human made me immediately feel safe. He made me feel like I fit right in and had been going there my whole childhood right along with them. He walked me to each class, introduced me to the teachers and even ate lunch with me, from that day on, for the next 2 years! When it came time to move on to middle school, I cried my eyes out knowing we wouldn't be going to the same school. But Jeremy's memory never left my mind. Then, in 2015, I saw a 'breaking news' alert on Facebook, which was still pretty new and nowhere near as popular as it is now, but it caught my eye when I saw 'man in wheelchair shot after engaging with Wilmington Police officers.' Something told me to open the article, so I did. And my heart immediately broke into a million pieces when I read the name "Jeremy 'BamBam' McDole" was the man who was killed. For the next few weeks, I saw article after article accusing Bam of pointing a weapon at these officers. Accusing Bam of making threats to the officers. Accusing Bam of being the aggressor and of being a monster. And I couldn't believe it. I knew there was NO way these articles were right. And I knew this without even having spoken to this man in at least a decade. Then, the video came. And I watched that video, probably 30 times that night. Trying so hard to understand why such a kind and humorous soul was yanked from his family and friends. But instead, I saw a video that INFURIATED me! I saw a man in a wheelchair, who appeared to be injured, dazed and barely comprehending the situation unfolding before him. I saw an officer arrive on scene, say back to back within seconds "show me your hands, show me your hands" then BOOM. And then 16 more shots. And then I watched the young man who forever impacted my life, roll out of his chair and fall to the ground. And I cried. And cried. And cried. I later saw the AGs report, Matt Denn at that time, who indicated that Jeremy had done nothing wrong, rather that the WPD officer who arrived last and shot first, was guilty of "incredibly poor police work" and I got angry. If he's guilty of poor police work, why is Bams name still being smeared in the media, day after day?? If he's guilty of poor police work, why is Bams family not seeing this officer in court?? But I didn't understand the laws and how shady this state really is back then. In 2020, our City came together, in the THOUSANDS to stand in protest of the murder of George Floyd and I immediately got angry all over again. These people didn't come stand together when BamBam was murdered right here in our town, but they're coming together for this gentleman from Minnesota?? I was ANGRY! Now, to know me back then was to know an incredibly shy person who couldn't even walk into the mall by herself without having a full on panick attack. But that day, I made a choice to go stand for BAM in the midst of these thousands of people. I grabbed the largest pieces of cardboard I could find and bought a pack of 4 sharpies (PS, signs take up alot of sharpie ink, in case you ever want to make one, grab more markers than you think you'll need) and made the largest, darkest 'JUSTICE FOR BAM BAM' signs I could possibly carry on my own. Then I drove to the Riverfront, parked amongst the masses and walked myself to the epicenter of the March meeting spot. Where I stood with my sign held as high as my 5 foot body would allow me to. Then, I heard it. An angry, hurt voice on a bullhorn screaming Justice for Jeremy McDole. I spotted a tall woman, who looked exactly like BamBam holding the bullhorn and ran to her. Literally, I ran to her. I showed her my sign and told her "I should have been here in 2015, I'm sorry. I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere. Use me however you see fit! Let's get justice for Bam." She introduced herself as his sister, Keandra. We cried and hugged for a little bit. I walked with my sign in the March. She left, understandably upset with the community for failing her brother. The next day, I found her on Facebook and we've been by each others sides ever since. Matter of fact, I will be by her side till she says no more! And even then, she'll probably need a PFA to get rid of me because she's become my blood! But in our conversations, I got more detail. I got more information. More facts. And then I started researching. Jeremy's murder is why I am involved the way I am now. Jeremy's murder is why I will never stop fighting and never give up this mission for justice. Jeremy was a genuinely good person, who did everything he could for his family and loved ones. Who would have given you the shirt off his back. He was a son, a brother, an uncle and an incredible friend and he did not deserve to die. Especially not at the hands of the same officers who had spent years harassing him. Jeremy's birthday is in 2 days, December the 14th and on that day, we will have our second public meeting going over the details of the Jeremy McDole Reform Packet, which aims to improve police and community relations, improve 911 call response and help to add social workers to respond to calls like what initiated Jeremy's murder in September of 2015. This year, I hope to help in any way possible to finally get some kind of justice in Jeremy's name. Jeremy will never see real justice, because our state protects murderous police officers. But in Jeremy's name, we will prevent it from ever happening again in Delaware. And hopefully across the country. My wish is for Jeremy to have some peace, to continue watching over his family, especially our sister and to know that we will never give up the goal of JUSTICE FOR JEREMY MCDOLE! Happy heavenly birthday Bam Bam. We love you forever.

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