In a concerning trend of gang-affiliated violence in Dallas, 19-year-old Jamarion White, a suspected gang member, has been charged with possession of multiple Glock switches, which are devices that illegally convert semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic weapons. U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton announced the charges against Mr. White, who is also accused in the June 9 murder of an 18-year-old boy, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas reported
Simonton expressed deep concern over the implications of such firepower in the hands of violent perpetrators "To think that some of our DFW’s most violent alleged criminals are armed with machinegun conversion devices is not just unsettling – it’s terrifying," said Simonton, as per the U.S. Department of Justice, noting that switch-equipped guns can fire faster than military-issue M4s and emphasizing the need to crack down on such cases to protect communities. On June 12, merely days after the alleged murder, police were tipped off about two suspicious men, leading to the discovery of Mr. White with a Glock pistol, which he left behind as he attempted to flee only for the officers to lose sight of him in a chase that ended with him being found at a nearby residence a bystander reported seeing another man taking a bag from White's vehicle during the chase; that bag was later found to contain three loaded Glocks with switches.
The investigation that led to the charges against Mr. White was a coordinated effort involving Homeland Security Investigations' Dallas Field Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives' Dallas Field Division, and the Mesquite Police Department, with the federal firearms investigation running alongside the Dallas Police Department's investigation into the murder. White faces up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted of the machinegun charge. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marissa Aulbaugh is leading the prosecution of the federal case against White.
This case falls under the jurisdiction of "Operation Texas Kill Switch," a statewide push against the spread of these dangerous conversion devices, spearheaded by U.S. Attorneys including Simonton, alongside Alamdar Hamdani, Damien Diggs, and Jaime Esparza, this operation is a collaboration between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, additionally reinforced by incentives offered through Crime Stoppers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals involved with these illegal conversion devices.
