Protesters in St Louis marching for the wrong Reason

In the wake of the Michael Brown murder, the Trayvon Martin killing and so many others who have died because of misinformed neighbors and do-gooders or overzealous cops, one can truly understand why any police involved shooting of anyone is being looked at and scrutinize to no end.  Parents, guardians and caretakers owe it to those who are shot or brutalized by police to look a little deeper than just the surface.  Those placed in charge of society protection should be held to a much higher standard as well as those who fight so hard to carry weapons in public.  If you wear it, you must then be willing to own it which means any actions you take regarding a weapon.

Having said that, this statement is also true for those who are not given the authority to protect society.  This statement is true for those who wish to carry and use a weapon for their own gain and to instill fear and commit crimes against society.  They too must be held to account but more than that, the public who cries for them must also take some accountability for these actions as well.  We need to stop this dumping of all blame and responsibility on another when we deserve just as much of it ourselves.  Nothing defeats a purpose faster than calling out others for the dirt that they do while trying make sure that your dirt is never spotted at the same time.

In an article titled “Protests erupt in St. Louis after cop kills black teen” written by Doug Stanglin for USA TODAY is reports that “Angry protests erupted Wednesday night in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis after an off-duty police officer shot and killed an African-American teenager who, police said, had fired three shots at him.”  Now the article mentions several points that do deserve much more looking into and I think, clearly shows the over-reach of the police.  The article states that “The police chief said the shooting in Shaw unfolded after a 32-year-old officer, working off-duty for a private security firm, confronted three black teens who fled as he drove by.  Reuters reported that the officer, who was wearing his city police uniform, is white, but he has not been identified.  After a chase on foot, one of the teens approached the officer "in an aggressive manner," Dotson said, and refused to stop or surrender.  The two got into a "physical alteration" that pulled off the suspect's gray-hooded sweater. As the teenager ran away, grabbing at his waist, Dotson said, the officer felt that the teenager was carry a firearm.  Dotson said, however, that the unidentified officer, a six-year veteran of the St. Louis police force, did not open fire because "he wanted to be certain it was a gun."   So my question is what was the “parable cause” to engage the group especially if you were off duty and moonlighting.  Even though you may have been in uniform you were not on the clock as a guardian of the city so at that time, why did the officer not just keep an eye on them and call it in.  Everything else may not have ever happened if this veteran of the St. Louis Police Department had been more pragmatic instead of attempting to be the uncapped crusader.

Regardless of the many other points of restraint that this officer should have shown, the primary point of being a better witness than a white shirt vigilante would have been a much smarter choice than the one he made, we are looking at fruits from a poisonous tree now because everything after that could have been avoided.  However, being a veteran one has also got to look at the leadership of that department and wonder why it is not paramount that this is taught to all officers.  Why management allows this kind of action while you are not on the clock as sentry for the city.  I have to wonder how many others off-duty police officers run around after shift trying to clean up a city as if they were that fictional character Batman and their city was Gotham.  Leadership needs to be held accountable for situations like this as well because they could prevent these things from happening just by making sure that the new rule of “no S on the chest” is followed by all their officers.

But the most important of any of this is the community denial that many of those found in these situations were no of that individual’s choosing.  No one made him hang out and possibly carry that weapon that was a choice that he made and if it is proven that he did have a weapon and fired at the officer until his weapon jammed, then breaking windows on police squad cars is not the solution.  The solution resides with us; these are every parent, every community leader, every person and every child that lives there.  Parents, family members and neighbors know what many of these children are doing and is up to but they say not one word until one dies, then and only then do we join the nearest protest to hopefully get on camera to make claim and bear false witness.  God gave us free will to make choices and each of us must take up our own cross and live with the choices that we make.  If this young man chose to commit this action, then those who had a chance to correct his momentum but refused are just as guilty.  No need to bust store windows, riot and destroy property if you are in the right.  Only those who know that they are wrong will commit actions which is designed remove suspicion from themselves.  For it written that any information we share with anyone that contributes to the demise of a soul will also be a sin we must pay for.  Refusal to get involved to help educate someone about the possible loss of their soul will be our row to hoe.  You know what your child is doing yet you refuse to say something or didn't care to take the time to help correct it, be prepared to answer to God for that.

We have been blessed with the power and authority to rid this world of all evil but because too many of us choose to blame others instead of taking responsibility ourselves, evil will reign because we stand not on earth but in Satan’s world.  This young man died because of a choice many people made and because we are still unclear just how a decision we make can affect others, we refuse to discover just how small that separation really is. A young man died, a community in morning, a veteran police officer will have nightmares and sleepless nights for life and a parent lose their child, just how much pain and suffering must we allow before we all step up and stand up to do our little part on educating those around us how closely we really are and how a decision made by one can affect so many more.  We are all connected, whether we wish to believe it or not, all of us regardless of color, creed, religion, and sex, it’s time we started acting like it.