Right or wrong a needless death is always a tragedy.
Whatever the fellow was he is no more and never will be anything else but a statistic! Unless questions are asked his death is meaningless!
Sad fate that, be it for anyone!
If those doing the asking are doing it with subterfuge or hidden agendas, a pox on them, perhaps they will answer in time for their deeds! Mixed them in with the self righteous, victimized, desperate or people of harsh circumstances, then to paint all protest as racism is not morally defensible! Even if many are completely biased, prejudiced and woefully ignorant, others will be confident, having been subjected to circumstances where their trust is not as easily gained by what someone else says, no matter how truthful that someone maybe!
Skin colour has no jurisdiction on racism!
Life is a series of choices, in the end we are those choices.
Fault and blame are a finger pointing game that rarely has absolute truth as its heart! This is more a cause and effect, with those involved setting in motion a series of events that cumulated in death.
I recall the sad fate of a 12 year old that stole dad's car and drove it at 2:30 in the morning, shot a sling shot marble at someone's family home window where 8 drive by neighborhood shooting had recently occurred! Out comes a fed up parent, the kid panics after being told to keep his hands up, drops the hands perhaps to shift and drive away, the parent shoots the kid dead!
Son did not "deserve to die!" for breaking a window, deserve has got nothing to do with it! Kid set the jaws of fate in motion, could easily joy ride, get away, parked the car and sneak in! Dad might never know. Kid could grow up to be president!
Racism is often a condition of lifestyle, events that are at times beyond our control but we endure, at our choice of how to react. Rage at conditions and our personal circumstances is again a choice but integrity is the search for truth every day.
Accusations and recriminations are merely fodder for racism to display itself. I still like the concept of innocent until proven guilty be it for the suspect or the officers. No system is perfect and the attempt to be just, to do the right thing is not the same as the rule of law nor does it always clearly separate right from wrong.
Humans are not always dependable when it comes to critical moments! Yet we can choose to shine when our backs are to the wall!
No death of any sort could or should, at least in my humble opinion, be accepted as justified unless the facts as have been eluded to are crystal clear. As in any conspirers' theories many are willing to look beyond official explanations to see the unseen or think the unthinkable.
One could shoot a substance into another to make him look drunk or act weird and crazy glue a knife into his hand send him out to see if the cops will take him out.
Suspect could be unfortunate to panic, perhaps have an arresting officer a wee bit too nervous, he could trip or fall, he could have deliberately tried to commit suicide or simply had a booze filled rage, wanted to lash out at a bad time and the arresting officers chose to react as they did.
The officers could be following procedure to the letter or they could be corrupt and the guy was witness to something he should not have been! Witnesses have been known to perjure themselves or simply be wrong or the witnesses were credible and at risk as indicated!
Whether one chooses to belive reported news events as completely factual or with grains of salt in liberal portions. We live in a society where one can express concerns however outlandish or foolish, However, correct or just! The right to have those concerns has been brought at the expense of many deaths in many countries!
No fence sitters here on these boards! But gut reaction is not a guaranteed good action only a questioning one!
Good people as well as bad people will rage against death even if for different reasons! Separating fact and fiction as to the why people choose to do what they do is not always discernable especially without face to face discord and an airing of the evidence and views. Posting anonomously we are whistling in the dark against the wind. It mostly echoes in our own minds The difference in good reporting is those who hunt the facts connect the dots then tell the story those who gossip give us a story then ask us to connect the dots
eace.