Friday, January 2, 2015

Close to Home...

With all the attention to police shootings in the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, John Crawford III and all, one would hope that there might be some progress. However, right in my own "backyard" just the other day: 

police shooting after traffic stop

and also see this:  widow speaks

Now at this point, we can't be certain of all the details of the shooting of Mr. Reid.  But I think we can make some observations.  First, they wasted very little time in reporting his past problems with the law.  His wife did acknowledge these.  But is digging this stuff up really necessary and is it really of import here? Maybe, maybe not.  Second, note in the comments section below the second article that the moderator closed comments for incivility - things like casting aspersions on family members and even celebrating the fact that a person had been killed. I just don't understand that kind of mentality.  Even, even if someone is killed in a clear case of self-defense, I just don't see it as cause for celebration.  Third, we really need to look at what is making police so quick to pull the trigger.  This mindset needs to change; there needs to be a shift toward de-escalating the situation if at all possible.  

So in light of protests that have sprung up recently, actions and calls for change must not stop.  We must all advocate for a better justice system.




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