“Too Bad”
That was the response today from someone when I was discussing the recent shooting of the 18 year old over armed robbery.
I was literally speechless. In his mind, I guess, the actions of committing armed robbery completely justify the shooting death of the 18 year old by the police because he “was a criminal.” And after all, if he just had the common sense to avoid answering the door without carrying something in his hand, this might all have not happened. We should consider ourselves lucky, though. If the OTHER man in the house, a friend of the deceased, had answered the door, we might have an actual innocent person dead. Fortunately, this time it was only a criminal.
I have to say that I’m a little depressed, because I don’t even know how to go about changing a mind like that. Someone who sees absolutely nothing wrong with the death of an 18 year old who was brandishing a deadly PS3 controller at police is someone who’s almost beyond the point of debate.
Of course, the police could stop acting like an occupying force, breaking doors down and brandishing automatic weapons, and actually do its job: to protect and serve their citizens. But that would put officers’ lives at risk, and we can’t have that. It’s understandable, though. There are criminals out there, dangerous criminals, criminals that brandish game controllers, and we can’t rest until each and every one of them is behind bars. Or dead. And I’ll be damned if some innocent deaths stand in the way.
