Last week I was watching the news in the morning and I saw a story that made me wish I wasn't in my apartment alone.
I needed someone else to look at incredulously. The story actually got me so fired up, I sat around for another 30 minutes to watch it again.
Summary:
The police, acting on a hunch, went into a neighborhood to look for a stash of drugs. They spot a young man who breaks out running. Not sure why he's running, the police run after him and they all end up in his house. They ask him to open the door, they got no response so they knocked down the door.
One shot is fired and the boy ends up dead.
According to the police, they thought they heard a weapon.
Later, it was found that there was no weapon on the boy, and he was just trying to dispose of his weed.
Cue the obligatory shot of his crying mother and aunt.
His mother then turns to the camera and describes her deceased son.
Saying, "[He's] like a regular kid, he's like you know, just like any other kid. You know you have kids who get in trouble, simple other stuff. But he wasn't that bad, he wasn't a bad kid. Not the kind of kid who carries guns around and slings no guns, he's not that type of kid."
Then she says the only drug he had was marijuana.
The mother is outraged. The community is now demanding answers.
Ummm....
Yes, the loss of a life is tragic. Especially, when he didn't threaten the life of anyone else. Yes, there is seemingly an increase in the instances of the police acting outside of protocol.
However....
Since when do "regular kids" run from the cops and flush weed? Where was the community outrage at the kids having/selling drugs on their block in the first place?
Before I honed in on the story and I just heard the lede audio of the mother's cries, I was ready for her to say, my son was in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing and he was killed senselessly. I was not ready for the mother to say, "yes...my son had drugs (that is still illegal right?)....and yes he ran from the police....and yes he ignored requests to open the door...but how could he end up dead?"
Maybe its just me.
