Last night’s shooting in Columbus (OH) of a 13 year old black male will surely bring out the screams of the uninformed, hateful few that use tragedies such as this to further their cause.
They will say that another young, black male was needlessly gunned down by the cops or we will hear more cries that police need to “de-esclalate” and place the “sanctity” of life above everything else.
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The same old tired lines will be blasted across the news for days and some may even take to the streets in civil unrest and all of the while, they will be screaming for the wrong cause.
Tyree King had a choice and the Columbus Police did not.
The officers involved did not go to work last night “wanting” to kill a 13 year old kid. They didn’t “choose” to be placed on administrative leave and be the subject of every talking head in America that thinks they know more about law enforcement than those that do the job. They did not “choose” to be the subject of threats as has happened to our police officers in these events.
The Columbus Police Department was doing their job. They responded to the report of a robbery with a firearm. They encountered the suspects, who took off running and at one point, Tyree King took a gun out of his waistband, with a laser, and law enforcement did what they take an oath to do. They protected themselves and the public from a fleeing felon.
In this tragedy, there is an opportunity for the activists, Black Lives Matter and the mainstream media. They should ask why an 8th grade kid was roaming the streets of Columbus on a school night with a replica handgun demanding money from others. Where was his mother, his father and those entrusted to raise him and look out for him?
We don’t know those answers in regards to King but we, unfortunately, know them all too well around America.
Today, 72% of black males are born without a father present and this is a major contributor to many ills within the black community including criminal behavior. In 1960, it was just 22%.
In fact, 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes, 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes and 85 % of all youths in prison come from fatherless home.
In King’s case, maybe he had a loving home, with parents that were doing their best and he and he alone made the deadly decision that he made last night.
But all too often, kids that make these decisions were victims of a larger and broader problem. A problem that you won’t hear about as long as the police can be blamed on it all.
