Tag Archives: police shootings

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All lives matter, including black lives

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Pastor Mark Burns did that thing this week that makes me crazy.

He stood before the Republican National Convention delegates and hollered at the top of his lungs that “all lives matter!” as if to suggest that the Black Lives Matter movement means that only black lives deserve to be protected.

Burns, an African-American clergyman — and no doubt a dedicated Republican — brought the house down with his spirited rant.

But he did what so many anti-Black Lives Matter individuals and groups do: He demonized the movement’s message, which isn’t nearly as it’s being characterized by its critics.

The notion that black lives matter doesn’t preclude anyone else. The intent of the movement — which became known after the deaths of young black men who were killed by white police officers — is merely to suggest that the lives of African-Americans count right along with everyone else.

Have some of those Black Lives Matter protestors gotten out of hand in their demonstrations against the cops? Sure they have, the massacre of those five Dallas police officers being the most egregious example. They also have been condemned by politicians of all stripes and all affiliations — and that includes the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

Burns cried out Thursday night on the GOP convention’s last day: “The only colors that matter are the colors of the red, white, and blue!”

Fair enough. But how about ending the demonization of a movement whose message has been distorted beyond recognition?

national news

Grief will linger for a long time

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I cannot stop thinking about police officers … or their loved ones.

Two incidents of police-related violence erupted in Louisiana and then in Minnesota. Two men were shot to death by cops. They were African-American; the officers are white. The events made me think, “Oh, no. Not again!”

Those events are horrible on their face. The officers involved directly on those events need to held accountable for what happened — if it turns out that they reacted badly. My hunch is that they did, but there’s more to learn about what actually happened.

Then came the event last night in Dallas during a peaceful march that protested those earlier shootings. A sniper opened fire on police officers and killed five of them. The cops cornered the suspect, tried to talk him into surrendering. He refused. Then the police deployed a bomb-loaded robot and detonated it near the suspect. He died on the spot.

Did the first two events justify the third? Did the monster who assassinated those police officers have cause to do what he did? Of course not.

My heart breaks for the families of the two men who died at officers’ hands in Louisiana and Minnesota.

It also breaks for the families of those men who died last night in Dallas.

I am reminded of a brutal truth about police work: It is that there is nothing “routine” about that profession. Indeed, I keep hearing the term “routine traffic stop” used to describe the Minnesota event that led to the death of the African-American man. Every cop on the beat will tell you: There is no such thing as a “routine traffic stop.”

The men who went to work Thursday fully expected to go home at the end of their shift. Their loved ones expected them to walk through the door. They didn’t. Those loved ones’ lives are shattered forever.

I’ve had a long-standing respect and admiration for the men and women who take the oath to protect and serve our community. The carnage that erupted in Dallas just reaffirms it.

Every day potentially could be their last day on Earth.

I’m not yet ready to buy into the notion that America is coming apart. I want to hang on to the faith I have in the basic good will of our people. We’ve been through paroxysms of violence before. I think of 1968: war protests turning violent; the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and then Robert F. Kennedy. And oh yes, this all occurred during a presidential election year.

We had that election. And over time, the nation pulled itself out of its emotional quagmire.

I will hope that in this case history will repeat itself.

Until then, though, I am going to pray for all the families of the violence that has erupted.

What’s more, I offer a word of thanks to police officers for all they do to keep my family safe.

national news

More tragedy, more violence

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There must have been a reason my sleep pattern last night was so fitful.

When I rolled out of bed this morning, I discovered the horrible truth about what was unfolding overnight in Dallas: five law enforcement officers shot to death by snipers.

Millions of Americans are dumbstruck, shocked beyond belief at what transpired.

A demonstration turned into a riot last night after crowds gathered to protest the shooting deaths of two African-American men by police officers in Baton Rouge, La., and in a suburb of St. Paul, Minn. ; and yes, the officers are white.

Our knowledge of those tragedies is pretty compelling, too, and at one level I share the anger of African-Americans in those communities over the alleged conduct of the officers involved. It’s a fair question to ask: Would these men have died had they been white?

But then … to react in this fashion in Dallas?

Authorities have suspects in custody and they apparently have acknowledged that the shooters were targeting white police officers, that the shootings were acts of revenge over what happened in Baton Rouge and near St. Paul.

Hmmm. Do the Dallas shootings qualify, then, as hate crimes?

What in the name of all that is holy justifies this hideous violence?

The demonstrations in Dallas reportedly were peaceful, quiet and the demonstrators were interacting with police officers. I heard reports last night of officers posing for “selfies” with some of those who were protesting the violence elsewhere.

And then this.

It’s hard to come up with words of wisdom so soon after such senselessness.

I won’t try.

Perhaps it’s best at this point to rely on our first option — which is to pray for the victims, their families, for the community that’s in shock and for the nation that has been stricken once again by violence.

national news

Where are the demonstrations for the cops?

Normally, I disagree with the New York Post’s editorial policy.

Not this time.

The Post has asked a legitimate question: Why won’t there be demonstrations supporting a young New York City police officer who has been put into a medically induced coma after being shot while on duty?

http://nypost.com/2015/05/03/another-nypd-officer-shot-and-no-one-will-march-to-protest/

An ex-con with a history of violent behavior is in custody for the shooting.

Since we’ve been focusing lately on the incidents involving white officers harming black suspects, it’s fair to note that the suspect in this incident is black and the officer is white.

Officer Brian Moore is the fifth New York City officer to be shot in the line of duty since December. The Post takes appropriate note of the risk that these officers face every single day they report for duty. Moore clings to life now because of someone’s callous disregard for civil order.

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has expressed his support for Moore’s family and vows to be there for them as they pray for the young officer. He took some undeserved criticism by the police union in the wake of earlier tragedies involving officers and suspects in their custody; officers turned their backs on the mayor as he spoke at the funerals of two officers ambushed in Brooklyn. That should not have happened.

Brian Moore devotes his life to protecting others.

He and the other officers, as the Post states, “need the full, unqualified support of every New Yorker. Heaven knows they’ve earned it.”