Unless the Americans take decisive action to curb their gun laws and the police, there to enforce the law, not shoot to kill, are curbed in their shooting of young Afro-American young men, the US is going to be in for a torrid time as unrest rises in communities across the country. The latest episode only highlights the issue....
"You hear someone say that at the scene of the death of yet another black teenager, Antonio Martin, shot by a cop at a Missouri gas station just two miles down from Ferguson; in newly released surveillance video, Martin appears to point a handgun at the cop before being gunned down, but many questions remain. Because we have been here before, the rest plays out, grim and stale: Martin lay on the ground for two hours without medical attention; his mother wasn't allowed to see him; the cop had a body camera and dash-cam, both turned off, and a taser he chose not to use; the police chief said "bad choices were made" but the cop “responded with what he thought was commensurate force at the time" and these endless killings are "nothing but tragedies"; Martin's father said his son was "like any other kid with hopes and dreams"; police let it be known Martin was "known to them"; protesters appeared, threw rocks, blocked roads, got arrested; Twitter raged, often wryly connecting the dots to Ferguson and New York: "We're calling on all police officers to hold off on killing black people until Antonio Martin is laid to rest"; an investigation is underway. Updates forthcoming. What's left to say? Oh God, another body."
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