It's An Outrage - Or Is It?

Is a teenager being shot to death by the LAPD after a pursuit as sad as one being shot to death by a liquor-store owner over a bottle of orange juice?

If you ask me, no it isn’t.

The LAPD recently shot and killed a 13-year-old who was joyriding in a stolen car. The kid lead the police in a pursuit and when it ended, they allegedly asked the kid to come out of the car and surrender. What did he do? He reportedly threw the car into reverse and rammed a squad car. That’s ADW and attempted assault an officer, so the police did what they had to do: Take action. In this case, action was shooting the kid dead.

Then it happened. Out of the woodwork, as if they have nothing better to do but complain about police tactics and prevent the potential closure of a hospital being operated by some of the most corrupt people you’ve ever heard of, the community activists come calling for immediate change in the department's policy.

It's an outrage. They should all be fired. Protests in the street calling to save our youth. No justice, no peace and all that bullshit.

These are the same activists and residents who were outraged when former mayor, now California Education Secretary Richard Riordan told a girl that her name Isis meant "stupid dirty girl."

Was that a bad choice of words? Of course it was. And he immediately became the target of racism. Activists arranged a press conference to voice the disgust at Riordan’s comments and how degrading they were to this little girl, and how these kinds of stereotypical comments must end.

Then they found out the girl was white-and everything was off. Even the kid’s mother accepted Riordan’s apology and didn’t understand what the fuss was about.

But let’s get back to the shooting. What if this joyrider was white? Would there still be outrage? Or loud protests in the street and ministers with bullhorns calling out for the Lord to help the LAPD to see the light?

It’s dollars to donuts that your answer is no, because it’s okay for whitey to be shot by the LAPD after stealing a car. The cops would have ridden society of a bad person. He stole a car and rammed an LAPD squad car with it. Just think of all the other damage he could have caused while behind the wheel-think of the children! We didn’t need him anyway; he was only 13.

“Good job, LAPD! We love you!”

Christ.

Some great quotes about this incident came from today’s Daily Record:

“I know he was wrong for stealing a car but what I really don't understand is the police have had so much training.”

Right. It wasn’t right for him to steal a car. And people should know by now that if you do steal a car, you’re taking a risk–especially when the police are notified. I guess my question is, if the police were chasing the kid, why didn’t he just pull over? Granted, a 13-year-old probably doesn’t know all the rules of the road, but c’mon…flashing lights in your rearview are good sign that you did something wrong, and you need to stop. If he was smart enough to figure out how to step on the accelerator, he was probably smart enough to step on the brake. And I don't buy that excuse of minorities being afraid of the police and that's why they run when they're being pulled over. I'm a minority, too (Hispanic)

And while it’s easy to sit in your Barc-o-lounger and be an armchair police officer, riddle me this: When you are trained to uphold the law, and stealing a car is by all means a criminal offense, and that stolen car is coming at you after you told the driver to surrender…would you let them continue to put you, your fellow officers, and the community in danger? Which leads to this.

“What happened to the rubber bullets they have? Why do they have to shoot to kill?”

Here we have an absolute sign of ignorance. It doesn’t matter if they shot beanbags or even water cannons at the kid, these activists, residents, and whoever would still be out there protesting against excessive force. It seems you can’t win no matter how you slice it. What do want them to do? Call Spider-Man and have him spin a web on the guy?

Maybe the cops should have negotiated with him: "Okay, kid. If you surrender, we'll give you a Nintendo DS, some Fubu shirts, and Blockbuster gift card."

This was perhaps my favorite of all, a sign that read:

“LAPD ...Thank you for giving us yet another reason to dislike your services. You are a cancer to the community.”

Because complete and total anarchy would be so much better. Remember that sign when the LAPD tracks down the guy who snatched your mom's purse as she was walking to church in the bad part of town.

Someone better get the ACLU on the horn. We don't have enough trouble yet.