So the result of the trial for the officer who shot Philando Castille came out recently…As did the video of his murder.
Don’t agree it was murder? Because the jury acquitted him?
Watch the video for yourself. Watch the facebook stream of his dying breath. Understand the fact that the man was a legal gun owner. Recognize he had his family with him in the car. Note he identified he had a gun to the officer.
Then, after all of that, try and say he was not murdered. Because at that point, you have two options. Recognize he was murdered by a police officer who was doing far more than just defending himself, or else fall back into the oblivion that is systemic racism in the US.
Let’s review. As Trevor Noah points out, groups such as the NRA are often times up in arms about the threat of guns being taken away. Here is a man legally owning a gun and following his duty as a responsible fire arms owner. Yet, for some strange reason, the NRA has been silent. We all know my opinion of gun control, but there is a certain amount of irony in this which were it not so depressing, could almost be amusing.
The sad thing is the situation continues. This is always argued as a one time event. The blame is always placed by the media and society on the victim. It is how we treat victims of rape and sexual assault as well. But until you are a victim of it yourself, or are personally connected to someone who suffers, most of us look the other way at best or spew forth our own acerbic vitriol at worst.
See, we live in a society where a police officer can publicly be recorded murdering someone and be let off scot-free. I’m sure you will argue about how he had his duties changed or had to suffer administrative leave. Then he got off not based on lack of guilt, but because of the wording of the law.
I’m at a loss. I want to rant. I want to scream. I want to cry. Sadly, I can do none of that.
All I can do is look at the situation. For the land of the Free where we are apparently trying to “Make America Great Again” (again, don’t get me started on that rather confusing and disappointing notion), for all of that, we tend to treat our own citizens like shit.
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