{"id":11584,"date":"2021-04-25T08:32:57","date_gmt":"2021-04-25T12:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11584"},"modified":"2021-04-25T08:33:02","modified_gmt":"2021-04-25T12:33:02","slug":"chauvin-makhia-bryant-a-hard-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11584","title":{"rendered":"Chauvin, Ma’Khia Bryant & a hard reality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This was a hard week\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many eyes first followed the long-awaited verdict of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. First and foremost, how hard it was to watch a man die; it doesn\u2019t matter who the man is. God be with the Floyd family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us also say, it was hard to watch the many who suggested due process was not necessary in this situation. Incorporated in the Constitution, due process is a legal requirement afforded to all people. Even when it\u2019s hard.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the verdict was announced, many eyes moved quickly to Columbus, Ohio, where only 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, was shot to death by a police officer. Initial reports are that Ma\u2019Khia was fighting with two other foster children\/teens over a messy house and unmade bed. My heart hurts once more. How absolutely tragic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LeBron James quickly tweeted out a photo of the cop, with the caption, “YOU’RE NEXT #ACCOUNTABILITY.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ACLU called it “murder.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No question this is tragic. Gut-wrenching. There is also more to the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police were responding to a 911 call in which the caller, amid a commotion in the background, alerted them that someone is \u201ctrying to fight us, trying to stab us, trying to put their hands on our grandma. Get here now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon released video shows Bryant with a raised knife in her hand, yelling \u201cI\u2019m gonna stab the f**k out of you, b***h,\u201d and then lunging at an unarmed other girl dressed in pink. Bryant was shot as she lunged at the other girl. How absolutely heartbreaking and awful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still more public reaction… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A CNN segment referred to the girl Bryant was attempting to stab as “the child in pink who was so close to Ma’Khia when she was shot.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NBC Nightly News played the 911 tape. They omitted the part that said someone was \u201ctrying to stab us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LeBron James deleted his tweet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friends, this is hard. We want to wrestle with reality rightly. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While every death is tragic, even when our hearts are hurting \u2014 as angry and passionate as we may be \u2014 we need to take time to discern the rest of the story \u2014 as opposed to instantly reacting to the narrative we think we know. Not every incident fits into our narrative. Reality is more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As wisely said by Ned Pettus, the Columbus Public Safety Director \u2014 who is also black \u2014 shortly after the incident:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA teenage girl is dead and she\u2019s dead at the hands of a police officer. Under any circumstances, that is a horrendous tragedy. But the video shows that there is more to this. It requires us to pause, take a close look at the sequence of events, and though it\u2019s not easy, wait for the facts as determined by an independent investigation. We have to ask ourselves, what information did the officer have? What did he see? How much time did he have to assess the situation, and what would have happened if he had taken no action at all?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a closer look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wait for the facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t minimize the tragedy, but don\u2019t let emotion interfere with discernment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t squeeze the situation into a narrative you\u2019ve predefined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story matters. The entire<\/em> story. Even when it\u2019s hard.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yep, hard week, my friends. I continue to affirm we are in this together \u2014 on the same team \u2014 black, white, Asian, Latino, you-name-it. Always and still. May we realize such and honor one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This was a hard week\u2026 Many eyes first followed the long-awaited verdict of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. First and foremost, how hard it was to watch a man die; it doesn\u2019t matter who the man is. God be with the Floyd family. Let us also say, it was hard to watch the many … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Chauvin, Ma’Khia Bryant & a hard reality”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11584"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11592,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11584\/revisions\/11592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}