We all understand the sentiment, but personal responsibility for one's actions comes into play at some point, don't you agree?
Cleveland police have released footage of an officer fatally shooting 12-year-old Tamir Rice in a park, in a press conference on Wednesday. On Sunday, police shot down Rice after two officers reportedly confused the child's airsoft gun for a lethal weapon. Rice was rushed to the hospital and later died of his injuries. The video initially shows the boy walking back and forth underneath a park gazebo. Eventually a police car pulls up, and within seconds, Rice falls to the ground, before the officer in the driver's seat has even stepped out of the vehicle.
Continue with what? Volunteering? If so ..... the kids who are poor that I interact with are in such a situation due primarily to their parent(s). Most don't have a male figure in the picture. Most have the parent or guardian who themselves are not well educated. What are these kids options? Become educated or choose to drop out of school. If they drop out what are their future prospects? Shitty job, if any. Limited job skills. Girls getting pregnant as early as 5th grade (that I've seen). Teen age boys who father these kids. The boys hang out in the 'hood, sell drugs, do drugs, think they're badasses. Find a way to get a gun. Commit crimes. And end up in jail or prison. Or ... they study, get decent grades. I've spoken to many groups on career day. I've shown them copies of newspaper articles about kids equally poor, who live in these same communities, who have received $500K to $600K in college scholarships. Also. see what Moneytrust has posted. He can better address the realities than I. My experiences are very limited as opposed to someone who lived those conditions. And what is the difference between myself and someone in these communities. A lot. I had parents who didn't accept poor grades. Parents who didn't tolerate unacceptable behavior. Parents who cared. Parents who taught me to respect authority. Every kid knows right from wrong. Poverty doesn't play a role there. Kids who disrespect teachers upset me. The very people who are trying to help them achieve. Yet many in 3rd, 4th, 5th grade talk back to teachers. And I think many poor black kids have been brainwashed that whitey is the bad guy. These shootings are tragic but preventable. Both Michael Brown and the kid in Cleveland were responsible in a major way for their own deaths. Had they done what the cops told them to do both would be alive. So back to respecting authority ... and sadly Brown's parents want to blame everybody other than their son.
I've seen the video. That boy did not even have enough time to show his hands before he was murdered. And he didn't have time to drop the weapon. I don't even think the cops had enough time to tell him to show his hands. They pulled up to him and shot him as they were getting out of the cop car. And the kid never pulled out a weapon either because his hands were already out. Watch the video: http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/26/justice/cleveland-police-shooting/
Again .... (1) The kid was waving the gun around ... even pointing it directly at the person who they blocked out in the video (2) The orange piece was removed making it impossible to know if it was not a real gun (3) A BB gun is not a 'toy' (4) Officers told him to raise his hands (5) He reached into his waist band for the gun (6) The cops don't have 5 minutes to analyze the situation .. .. cop figured shoot him or be shot? Split second decision. (6) The officer was close to the kid .. and likely saw no orange piece which would suggest it was a real gun (7) Why does a 12 year old have a BB gun at a public park? (8) And why would parents allow the kid to take this to the park? (9) This is not normal behavior .. 12 year olds don't run around pointing guns at other humans Tragic event ... but had he obeyed the cops he'd be alive
Again . . . a police car pulls up, and within seconds, Rice falls to the ground, before the officer in the driver's seat has even stepped out of the vehicle.
Off-Duty Cop Allegedly Shoots Woman In Head During Road Rage Incident An off-duty Texas cop got upset at a woman for cutting him off and allegedly fired his gun into her window, hitting her in the head. Now Precinct 6 Deputy Constable Kenneth Caplan is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to Click2Houston. The woman, whose name was not released by the station, said the bullet grazed the left side of her head, allowing her to avoid a major injury. "I feel like I got a taste of death, honestly," she told the station. "My heart was slowing down and I couldn't really breathe." The incident took place on Nov. 11. The woman said Caplan cut her off so she did the same to him. That got him so upset, she said, that he pulled out his gun and fired into her vehicle. Now, she tells KHOU, she's scared that, because Caplan is a police officer, she could be retaliated against. "I keep thinking someone is going to come up and shoot me," she told KHOU. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/29/cop-shoots-woman-in-head-road-rage_n_6237910.html
A BB gun is not a 'toy' And while we're on the subject: Ohio is a traditional open-carry state. The open-carry of firearms by those who legally possess the firearm is a legal activity in Ohio with or without a license.