Old Tired Protests are Old, Tired
You could not pay me enough money to be a police officer in this area. Whether it's accusations of excessive force, people complaining that you're trigger-happy, racist, unstable, unwilling to follow police procedure--I wouldn't do it. I don't know how those in this area do it either.
This morning, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg announced that he would not press criminal charges against Officer Ian Birk, the policeman who fatally shot local woodcarver John T. Williams. Within minutes, protestors were out caterwauling about the decision. Nevermind that there are actual legal principles at play, like having to beat "beyond a reasonable doubt" in order to convict, or that the Williams family can take Officer Birk to court civilly, the protesters were out and loud. The one who is most indelibly pressed on my brain is the woman who sad "(Officer Birk) should be charged with murder, should be hanged so he can see his own death coming."
In Lakewood, a woman called in a domestic violence dispute, and when she came out the front door, after a while she came out, brandished a BB gun at the officers and repeated "Shoot me," so they did. It was labeled "suicide by cop," and out came a flood of comments on the various news sites that reported the story. I'll let you take a look at them for yourself if you're inclined. After finding out that one of them had the handle "Santa Clemmons," I was through. (For those not from this area, Maurice Clemmons killed four Lakewood police officers before taking the police on a chase around town, ending in his violent and appropriate death.
I am tired of the reflexive anti-cop bias that permeates this area. It is frustrating because I know that there are many more people who respect and love our cops, but they aren't the ones that make the news. People who rant about how Officer Birk could have done things differently get to have their soundbites on top-of-the-hour news, but no one seems to ask about how John T. Williams could have done things differently. After all, he's just a local inebriate who had been arrested over thirty times, so he wouldn't have a clue about how to interact with an officer, would he? A woman basically begs to be killed by police officers, but people seem to be willing to overlook that if that means they get to whine about escalation of force, overlooking the fact that the encounter lasted over half an hour. Nope, can't let things like the facts get in the way of a witch hunt, can we?
As much as people have the right to complain and protest injustices, I have an equal right to call people out when I think they've done something wrong. I think that almost all of the people out protesting today, or the commenters on local news sites, have gotten it wrong, and they're polluting the conversation, to the detriment of a dialog that this area needs to have.
This morning, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg announced that he would not press criminal charges against Officer Ian Birk, the policeman who fatally shot local woodcarver John T. Williams. Within minutes, protestors were out caterwauling about the decision. Nevermind that there are actual legal principles at play, like having to beat "beyond a reasonable doubt" in order to convict, or that the Williams family can take Officer Birk to court civilly, the protesters were out and loud. The one who is most indelibly pressed on my brain is the woman who sad "(Officer Birk) should be charged with murder, should be hanged so he can see his own death coming."
In Lakewood, a woman called in a domestic violence dispute, and when she came out the front door, after a while she came out, brandished a BB gun at the officers and repeated "Shoot me," so they did. It was labeled "suicide by cop," and out came a flood of comments on the various news sites that reported the story. I'll let you take a look at them for yourself if you're inclined. After finding out that one of them had the handle "Santa Clemmons," I was through. (For those not from this area, Maurice Clemmons killed four Lakewood police officers before taking the police on a chase around town, ending in his violent and appropriate death.
I am tired of the reflexive anti-cop bias that permeates this area. It is frustrating because I know that there are many more people who respect and love our cops, but they aren't the ones that make the news. People who rant about how Officer Birk could have done things differently get to have their soundbites on top-of-the-hour news, but no one seems to ask about how John T. Williams could have done things differently. After all, he's just a local inebriate who had been arrested over thirty times, so he wouldn't have a clue about how to interact with an officer, would he? A woman basically begs to be killed by police officers, but people seem to be willing to overlook that if that means they get to whine about escalation of force, overlooking the fact that the encounter lasted over half an hour. Nope, can't let things like the facts get in the way of a witch hunt, can we?
As much as people have the right to complain and protest injustices, I have an equal right to call people out when I think they've done something wrong. I think that almost all of the people out protesting today, or the commenters on local news sites, have gotten it wrong, and they're polluting the conversation, to the detriment of a dialog that this area needs to have.