Last year George Floyd, who was Black and had hypertension, an enlarged heart, and a bunch of other medical issues (including having enough Fentanyl in his system to kill a horse), died after being arrested and fighting with police.
The MMMs swung into action: Floyd’s been canonized and the officer who knelt on him is in prison for murder.
Last month, police officer Nicholas Reardon shot and killed 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, who was also Black, while she was attempting to stab someone. Reardon’s now suspended and Bryant was well on her way to sainthood as well, until today:
A few weeks ago three of four sheriff’s deputies on the scene in Elizabeth City, N.C., shot and killed Andrew Brown, who was, again, a Black man. Once again, the MMMs insist they murdered Brown for no reason at all.
Oh sure; the deputies were there to execute a felony arrest warrant and a search warrant. And yeah; the warrants were issued because Brown was allegedly dealing in narcotics. And okay; if you’re really gonna get picky, Brown was trying to run the deputies over with his car.
If you want to verify whether anything I just said is true, prepare yourself to wade through a bunch of news items that gloss over those issues, or don’t mention anything at all except that the deputies shot and killed Brown.
With the media’s attention focused on Ma’Khia Bryant and Nicholas Reardon, this incident wasn’t getting much attention.
Until today, when District Attorney Andrew Womble had the unmitigated gall to announce that the sheriff’s deputies were justified in using deadly force, given that Brown was trying to run them down with his car. The deputies won’t be fired. They aren’t being charged with any crimes.
It’s an outrage.
I suspect, though, that the interrupted canonization and crucifixions won’t get much farther, at least not in North Carolina. A Sheriff and District Attorney with the backbone and balls to make and stand by a decision based on facts, not by media and political pressure, probably won’t tolerate rioting, arson and looting.