Standing on the steps of the Frank Crowley Courts Building, Lyndo Jones didn't think twice before answering the question.
Does he still watch the bodycam footage of the night he was shot twice in the back by a Mesquite police officer?
"I watch it every day," Jones said, flanked by half a dozen civil rights lawyers and activists who had huddled around him in prayer beforehand. "It's in my mind. It ain't goin' nowhere."
On Monday, former Officer Derick Wiley, who was fired after the November 2017 shooting, was found not guilty of aggravated assault, 10 months after a Dallas County jury deadlocked 8-4 in favor of acquittal during his first trial.
"It was not the verdict we were hoping for, but we know the fight is not over," said Jones' attorney Lee Merritt.
He and others gathered Friday evening to pledge their support for Jones, whose civil rights lawsuit against the city of Mesquite continues.
"The faith community stands behind you," Dallas-area Imam Omar Suleiman told Jones before addressing the media regarding what he called "a miscarriage of justice."
"This isn't a happy ending," Suleiman said. "But we pray that Lyndo can have a new beginning."
Merritt and others called for criminal justice reform and argued that, often, too much credibility is given to police officers in such situations, including those who testify on their own behalf.
Jones, 31 at the time of the shooting, had gotten out of his own vehicle under Wiley's orders in a dark parking lot and was pleading "No, no, don't shoot" when he was shot in the lower back and near his left hip.
"If that's done by the book, then we need to burn the book and start over," Merritt said.
Wiley was charged with aggravated assault by a public servant and faced five years to 99 years or life in prison if found guilty. He told jurors he felt threatened by Jones' "erratic" behavior and body language and said his aggressive approach was necessary to control a man he first thought was a stranded motorist, then possible a vehicle burglar.
After Monday's verdict, Wiley said he plans to return to police work and has appealed his termination.
Civil rights lawyer Jasmine Crockett said it shouldn't be about Jones' color, "but it is. … The only thing we're asking is for the law to be applied evenly, no matter who it is."
Jones and Wiley both are black.
At Friday's news conference, Jones, in a red T-shirt and blue cap, spoke softly but resolutely.
"It ain't over," he said. "I just want to live my life. I want my life back — before I got shot."
