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Police arrested a Mountain View man Sunday after he allegedly crashed into another vehicle, physically assaulted the other driver and made racist comments, leaving the scene before officers arrived.
Officers arrested the man, identified as 37-year-old Shamir Simmons, at his home following the two-vehicle crash at the 1600 block of Villa Street, according to a statement Monday. The person reporting the crash said that Simmons became “aggressive” after the collision, assaulted the other driver and his wife and made “racially charged” statements toward them. The couple is Hispanic, police said.
Officers searched for Simmons, receiving reports that he had run to an apartment complex on the 200 block of Chiquita Avenue. Police found and detained him at his apartment, and reported that he appeared intoxicated.
While in police custody, before being transported to county jail, Simmons allegedly threatened to kill a Mountain View police officer’s wife and children. Simmons was booked on suspicion of hit and run, driving under the influence, battery and committing a hate crime, as well as threatening an officer.
Simmons is a Mountain View Whisman School District employee, serving as an at-risk supervisor for students at Theuerkauf Elementary School. He has spent several years in the role, which provides intervention for vulnerable students. District officials placed Simmons on paid administrative leave on Tuesday until the outcome of the investigation, according to district spokeswoman Shelly Hausman.
“As an inclusive educational institution, MVWSD takes this situation seriously,” Hausman said. “We do not condone any behavior that is disruptive or harmful to any individual or group of people.”
Mr. Simmons – my friend Shamir – is the kindest, most accepting, lovely gentleman. His impact on the most vulnerable students at MVWSD over the last decade will echo for years. Always there with a smile, and the time to stop and be there for kids that needed an adult’s undivided attention.
Who knows the circumstances that led to the events on Saturday? Who are we to judge anyone after the year+ we have had?
What is important right now is to stop, check your privilege, and think about how this would be addressed if Shamir was white.
Shame on the MVPD to release the booking photo, and then to crop it to make him look even more menacing. Shame on the MVPD for writing a press release filled with innuendo and conflating the charges by adding the “hate speech” charge. Shame on the media who rely solely on the word of a police spokesperson for what transpired.
In this country, we are supposed to be “innocent until proven guilty”, yet will Mr. Simmons be allowed that right?
Shamir Simmons is a valuable member of our community, a long-time school district employee who has worked successfully with the communities most vulnerable children and families for years, why are we not wondering what led to his behavior on Sunday?
Could mental health issues or a substance abuse problem be behind behavior that is so uncharacteristic for Mr. Simmons? Likely, but we’re not talking about that.
The last time the MV Voice covered a hate crime in Mountain View, the alleged perpetrator seemed to be a mentally ill woman. And now we have coverage of a hate crime allegedly perpetrated by a black man.
Why have these been selected to have media coverage? Blacks make up less than 2% of our population. If I look at the demographics for MV, I would expect more than half of our hate crimes to be perpetrated by mentally fit whites. Where’s the media coverage for them?
The first post included this statement: “What is important right now is to stop, check your privilege, and think about how this would be addressed if Shamir was white.”
I suspect that the outcome would be the same, if not worse, for a white man. If a perpetrator is a POC, does that excuse the use of (inexcusable) racial slurs against people of a different race? I think not.
Mr. Simmons may be regarded as an upstanding member of the community, and may have personal issues that need to be brought into consideration, but HIS race should not come into it.
Dude yelled slurs out of rage because he HIT them. He wanted to pay out his pocket and do it HIS Way. They said NO.
He got MAD because he felt entitled and scolded them,
My latin familia called the police
He throws a bigger tantrum threatens the police
Gets booked
Also…
He wasn’t shot, beaten, or mistreated..
He’s still alive.. surprisingly cops did their job right.
Just because he’s black and a minority over here in this white folk ran community doesn’t mean he’s a person y’all can be woke about…
Take it from an Eastsider living in this city. Also a former employee of mvwsd fired when covid started because I was still on probation… ????
Mvwsd are full of weirdo scandals
Sad to see so many people here defending Sharmir Simmons because of his skin color or his work. What does that have to do with crime and justice? That’s like saying Jeffrey Epstein donated a lot of money to many causes and ran a charity so he should be forgiven for current crimes. Or Bill Cosby was a great actor and great with kids and he had a great smile, so he should not go to jail for what he did to those women.
If Mr. Simmons is found to be innocent after investigation, then that’s fine and he should be let go and forgiven. But it shouldn’t have to do with his skin color.
I would want the same justice for each crime no matter their skin color. Why is everyone becoming so racist and using skin color as a factor in how someone who might have committed a crime should be treated?
As a resident, I dont care what color is the person doing the crime or spewing hateful speech. They should be apprehended and treated according to the law and justice should be served.
Saw the guy interviewed on the news, he seems harmless enough, but the whole thing sounds weird. If they have video of him threatening a cop’s family and acting unruly, that does not bode well. On the other hand, the family that initially reported Simmons refused to be interviewed by the reporter, why is that? Sounds fishy…Better Call Saul.
A little more critical understanding of the U.S. Constitution might help: hate speech laws are unconstitutional. Mr. Simmons did not choose to run into a member of a particular ethnic group. Hence speaking his inebriated mind did not create an alleged violation of the unconstitutional law.
The alleged victims seem to slur our very professional police. Does he get charged with a hate crime too?
MVWSD replacement for “at-risk supervisor” at very High-needs school?
Hopefully the District administrators get going quickly on this. While TH has over 125 High-risk (SED poor) students, the same positions at Stevenson or Huff serve very few High-risk students (25 and 35 according to the latest state database).
“ed-data.org”
https://www.ed-data.org/district/Santa-Clara/Mountain-View-Whisman
Administrative Leave!!! After threats to kill an innocent child, and may still have a job working with children. MVWSD should not sweep this under the rug, protect our children, and have zero tolerance for such actions and threats.
This story honestly doesn’t surprise me, a POC being portrayed as a violent criminal. Anyone who knows this man understands that he is kind, helpful, and dedicated to our community. I knew him when he worked at Crittenden, he always greeted all the students with a friendly smile. I never witnessed or heard of anything disrespectful. I honestly hope for a thorough investigation, and he should be found innocent.