13 Seconds in Columbus

The national collective sigh of relief, the sense that good had triumphed over evil, and the news that inner cities across America would not burn tonight, was over before it could begin. It was just a short time before the jury verdict, a trifecta of guilt for the killing of George Floyd, in the Derek Chauvin case was delivered, that another Black person was killed by police in another city. The two incidents were radically different, but both were tragic.

George Floyd was unarmed. He was no choir boy but he did not deserve the death penalty for his alleged crime of passing a bogus $20 bill to buy a pack of smokes. He was in trouble physically, with a heart condition that was worsening because he ingested a cocktail of drugs that experts described as lethal. He died gasping for breath and calling for his Mother as Derek Chauvin, a cop at the time, used his knee as a weapon. He placed it on George’s neck for more than 9 seconds, while 3 other cops inexplicably watched and allowed it to happen.

It was a far different story in Columbus. The story is told in about 13 seconds of video from a police officer’s body cam. It is chaotic and sad and a bit shocking to watch.

Police were called to a Columbus neighborhood as a chaotic scene was unfolding. Several teens were involved in an altercation. One is thrown to the ground by a young woman, later identified as Ma’Khia Bryant. In her hands she held a knife pointed in the direction of another young woman. Police yelled “get on the ground” and then shots were fired. Lethal shots were fired that prevent a young woman from being stabbed while ending the life of her would be assailant.

As I tell this story it has been just 24 hours. It is not enough time for a full investigation. It is not enough time to determine right or wrong. Not enough to determine if it was justified police work or criminal behavior. It just enough time to see that it is a tragedy and a horrible chain of events.

What we need to do is to calmly ask a lot of questions. What compelled this sixteen-year-old girl to grab a knife and to try to use it? This happened in a Foster home, under the control of Franklin county protective services. In this case little was offered in the way of protective services. We know from listening to the interim police chief and from other tragedies, that police use force to stop deadly force. They are trained not to aim at the arms or legs or the hands. The odds of bullets missing those targets are high. The odds of bullets missing a small target and hitting an innocent person are a consideration. Could the girl have been tased instead of shot?

Would a firm strike of a police night stick, inflicting injury but not death, have accomplished the mission? Why did we not hear police yell drop the knife, or drop the knife or I will shoot, or I have a gun in my hand? Was there anything that might have registered with Ma’Khia Bryant, who had adrenalin coursing through her veins, and emotions or fear or maybe anger, not to mention the roller coaster of feelings that come with being a teen, a Black teen, abandoned by parents into the rough and tumble world of foster care?

It is too early to play Monday morning quarterback. It is not too early to mourn the loss of a young life or withhold judgement on a public servant who made a difficult decision. It wa s a no-win decision to save a life by taking another, made more difficult because the officer was white and the victim was black. Some will file this one as another example of a racist cop killing a black perp. The view here is it is a multilayered tragedy and why being a police officer can be of one of the most draining and difficult jobs in the world.