7 Shots in the Back

“Be forewarned, the video is graphic and may be upsetting.”

That’s how the news anchors frame the video of another black man being shot in the back.

There are protests in another city in another state as the fires continue to burn.

I saw the video early on.

Had no idea that the man’s kids were in the car.

My first thought was:

“Why?”

Why would it escalate so quickly?

Can’t the police apprehend or subdue a black man without shooting him?

I didn’t want to look too much into it. I didn’t want to see where Joe Social Media argued that the shooting was out of context.

As Jonathan Blake’s relative said, “How can someone be convicted of a crime of a video without context?”

Yet in a shooting such as this we need more evidence?

I certainly would never want to work as a cop. No way in hell.

Yet, I’m thinking that the job can’t be performed as well as necessary if there’s an inherent lack of respect for the man you are questioning, or confronting.

“We just want the same justice system that other people in this country have.”

That doesn’t seem to be too much to ask.

There isn’t a cop in this country who is tasked as a judge, jury or executioner.

But that seems to be the instinct.

I always think of Dylan Roof. The young, white kid who shot up a black church and killed a lot of people.

He was apprehended without incident.

The story goes that he was hungry and the cops stopped and grabbed him a Whooper from Burger King.

I’m not sure how it can ever be solved.

I don’t think a white cop wakes up in the morning and thinks he’s going to shoot a black man...

...but it does continue to happen.

And protesters have every right to gather and protest without being pepper-sprayed.

Because lives do matter, all lives, but when discussing this topic, it’s the black lives that must be protected because it’s tragic each and every single time.

Those poor kids.