Having a criminal record does not justify being murdered by the police or anyone. Committing a crime does not justify the unlawful, gruesome taking of a black life. No matter what that black life has done previously.
Every time a black or brown life is harmed, and they have also committed a crime, so many try to use that as some sort of justification and/or reasoning for why their death was acceptable.
For example, 23-year-old Korryn Gaines was shot and killed on August 1st by Baltimore police, while holding her 5-year-old son who was also shot and wounded by the police. Her death was unjustified. Period.
Despite the fact that this egregious act occurred, I've seen and heard many people read about her story and then say well she had a record. Well, she had a shotgun. Well... And attempt to justify her murder.
Korryn Gaines was harassed for months by the police prior to their coming to her house in response to her failure to appear in court for a traffic violation. She rightfully felt her life threatened by the police and thus, rightfully felt the necessity to protect herself and her children when they came to her home and knocked on her door.
If Korryn Gaines were a white father or mother, we would be calling her a hero, we would be asking, “What else would they have done?” but because she is a black mother, many are trying to call her a criminal. They are calling her violent, “armed,” and unreasonable.
Some people are trying to justify her death by citing her previous crimes, but there is no way to justify her death and the wounding of her son. All I can really ask of those who are attempting to justify Korryn Gaines’ death is to please tell me more about why this woman's life deserved to be taken by police without a fair trial for the crimes they were pursuing her for.
Also, please tell me why the harassment by police that she experienced for months and documented hasn’t been taken into consideration upon attempting such a justification. Also, please tell me how three police officers felt that they couldn’t peacefully subdue one mother holding her child or why they believed it was acceptable to fire multiple shots at her while she was holding him.
You can’t. No one can tell me, or more importantly, Korryn Gaines’ family along with all the black and brown lives that are being threatened and abused and devalued, why her death was justified.
Another question, why are some people so quick to cite the fact that she had a shotgun and was threatening the officer’s lives, but are staying completely silent about the fact that police were harassing her for months and threatening her life and the lives of her children.
Also, where are those people who believe in their right to bear arms, defending her 2nd amendment right? Please tell me why this black women's life was discarded. Please tell me why her son and daughter no longer have a mother, but her son now has a gun shot wound to remind him every day that she was taken by the same policemen that shot him.
Tell me why Alton Sterling was pinned to the ground and shot point blank and all white people can talk about are his previous crimes and we can't even call the acts committed by the police, murder? We won't even call his death or Korryn’s or Philando Castile’s or Mike Brown’s (today, marks the two year anniversary of his murder by police officer Darren Wilson) or the countless other black and brown lives that have been wrongfully taken, a crime, but we’re quick to pull up their record and call them criminals.
A boy watched his mother be murdered. A mother was murdered. A black woman was murdered. A kindergarten-age black boy was shot. By our law enforcement. A crime was committed, but not by Korryn Gaines. A crime was committed by law enforcement and a life was taken and there is no justification for that act. None. Period.
