On September 20th, Keith Lammot Scott was fatally shot by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CPMD) officer, causing rioting that had turned from peaceful protesting to looting, quickly. Resulting in the Governor of North Carolina issuing a state of emergency and having the National Guard called in. A week before, on September 16th, Terence Crutcher was shot and killed by a female officer from the Tulsa police department. Regardless of what your opinion is on who did what or what the police officer did, we all know that it's tragic. But incidents like this suddenly turn from a peaceful protest to breaking windows, stomping on squad cars, and setting things on fire.
One thing that I believe should be said and taken into account is that we aren't all police officers. We don't know all that goes on leading into those moments where they have to pull their guns. Law enforcement goes through six months of training on top of always evolving with the never ending change of new policies. But what needs to be said is we aren’t the justice department, the police department, the police officer, or the men that were killed. Situations such as these incidents are left for the Justice department and the Police department's investigations, not the court of opinions.
It seems like every time something like this happens there is a generalization and dark cloud that hangs over every police officer's head. Someone who should be listened to is Activist Ken Nwadike who is the founder of the Free Hugs Project. Nwadike went to Charlotte not to protest but to help mend the tensions between police and communities. Ken Nwadike went right up to a police officer dressed in all riot gear and hugged him. All of the officers in line looked surprised at first. But white officers that he had hugged instantly broke into a huge smile.
The law enforcement officer had said to the activist "Thank you for being out here and being peaceful," the officer said as he embraced Nwadike. Most of the other protesters instantly got offended and started yelling. Asking Nwadike why he was on “their side” meaning the police officer. One protester even went to the extent of calling the activist a "p***y n****r." When Nwadike was speaking to a protester regarding the name calling he said, “The thing is I see them as human beings, just like I see everybody on this side as human beings. His uniform doesn’t make him a robot,” pointing at the collection of police officers behind him. “Just like your uniform — your skin color — doesn’t make you a criminal, and that’s what I need people to understand.” All of this was caught on a video. 17 million views and 250,000 shares later I see this man's idea.
My point of this article is just for everyone to realize regardless of all the hatred and tension going on - we need to open our eyes and see we are all Americans. We have a terrorist group that will use this hate that dividing us to strike. We need to come together, Law Enforcement and communities and become the America we were before the tension became the downfall of our country.
Full Video below :
