Endorsement from a convicted ex-KCPD officer an affront to social justice | Opinion
What was Kansas City 1st District Councilman Nathan Willett thinking by accepting an endorsement from convicted killer and former Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere?
Courting the support of the first and only KC cop ever convicted of killing an unarmed Black man is flat out wrong. Further, Willett’s public acceptance of DeValkenarere’s support is disrespectful to the family of Cameron Lamb, the 26-year-old father of three whom DeValkenaere gunned down in December 2019.
Willett, a Republican candidate for Missouri’s 6th Congressional District, is among a handful of candidates vying to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Sam Graves. Willett should reject DeValkenaere’s endorsement in this race and apologize to Lamb’s family — especially Lamb’s mother, Laurie Bey, and his three children. The family has been through enough as it is. A sitting Kansas City councilman and aspiring U.S. congressman should know better.
On Tuesday, I reached out to Willett but my messages weren’t returned. If and when he does return them, I will update this column. He told Star reporter Kacen Bayless that DeValkenaere and wife Sarah were close friends — all were seen in a photo at a recent GOP fundraiser in Clay County.
“Eric and Sarah are great friends of mine and have done so much good for our community,” Willett told The Star. “I firmly stand with law enforcement and all first responder families throughout Missouri.”
No one is asking Willett to turn his back on the couple — he should support his friends. But did Willett ever consider how this would go over in the Black community?
It’s one thing to “back the blue” — if you support law enforcement, you should be the first one to condemn an officer who went against his training and his oath, and was found to have done so in a court of law. But it’s a totally different matter to spit on the grave of a dead man (in the proverbial sense) as I believe Willett has done.
We all must continue to call out cops who break the law and give police a bad name.
Forget the optics, too (although this is a terrible move on Willett’s part). Willett’s decision, reported this week by The Star, is a slap in the face to every law-abiding citizen in the entire region, not to mention an insult to Lamb’s family and the minority community.
Touting a convicted killer’s endorsement for public office is a misguided attempt at currying favor from the conservative base Willett is trying to charm.
And make no mistake about this situation: DeValkenaere is no hero. He killed an unarmed Black man who posed no threat to anyone in his own backyard. The ex-lawman was tried and convicted of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action, a decision that was upheld on appeal. DeValkenaere is free only because former Gov. Mike Parson erroneously commuted his six-year prison sentence over objections from former Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker and civil rights advocates here and elsewhere.
This week, Baker told The Star that she questioned whether Willett had actually read the trial transcripts and court rulings in the Lamb case. She raised a great point. I’ve read the transcripts, the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ruling, and rulings made by a federal judge in connection with a civil rights lawsuit Lamb’s family filed against and eventually settled with the Kansas City Police Board of Commissioners.
Nothing I’ve ever read in those documents casts doubt on DeValkenaere’s guilt. He killed Lamb, and it’s all a matter of public record.
So the question remains: Why would Willett accept the endorsement of a former KCPD detective who unjustly took the life of an unarmed Black man?
This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 2:35 PM.
