Post Mortem

I see from BBC News that a DoJ investigation is forthcoming. I also noticed a heap of criticism on social media: worried parents assaulted outside the school as they urged action, one politician offering a caution against jumping to judgment on cowardice: 

The second guessing and finger pointing among state and local law enforcement is destructive, distracting, and unfair. Complex scenarios require split second decisions. Easy to criticize with 20-20 hindsight.

Close to five-thousand split seconds actually.

Barring some near-future act of heroism, I see nothing but decay in continuing relations between citizens and police, and not only in Uvalde. The intersection with Memorial Day yesterday makes for a striking contrast.

One of my social media friends has been critical of appending “Happy” to the holiday. There’s nothing really happy about people who sacrificed their lives on behalf of their sister and brother soldiers as well as civilians at home. Something to honor, remember, and yes, celebrate.

If domestic police are feeling hard done by movements, civilians, politicians, and such, this tragic episode might inspire the honest folks to look in the mirror. And more, try to be a more heroic example to others. I was watching a French soccer commentator the other day offering opinions on police brutality at the European championship game this past weekend. Of course Parisian police are bullies, he said. Every French person knows and expects that.

Meanwhile I’ve seen comments that, while I might harbor my own suspicions, seem fairly extreme and non-productive (BlueLivesScatter and such like that). More of those kind of heat-inducing thoughts, and I’d say citizen/police relations in the US have far less of a prayer today than they did a week ago.

About catholicsensibility

Todd lives in Minnesota, serving a Catholic parish as a lay minister.
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