Some 200 protesters angered by a Chicago police officer's fatal shooting of a 22-year-old woman last week rallied Tuesday outside the officer's home, calling for justice for a woman police admit was an innocent bystander.
Okay, just quickly cause I'm watching BookTV on C-SPAN2 as I write this - being from Jesse Helms's hometown or just his home state is nothing to be proud of. You can be proud Tarheel born and bred. That's a very different matter from being a proud "Jesse Helms's home-stater." My condolences to his family notwithstanding. It's a matter of emphasis.
Now, to my point, Rekia Boyd, the aforementioned 22-year-old. A police officer fired at Antonio Cross who was allegedly approaching him with a gun, striking Cross in the hand and Boyd in the head. The police ruled the shooting justified. See what's wrong with this picture? . . . No? Let me help you. Setting aside the question of whether or not Cross was armed with anything aside from his cell phone; setting aside whatever the officer may have said the day before; isn't there some sort of protocol against shooting into a crowd?
What to do about this in the bigger picture, I don't know. Just a few days after the Boyd killing, and in the same Lawndale neighborhood, another man was shot and killed by police. Police say he pulled a gun from his waistband, subsequently there was a struggle over the gun during which the man was shot. Cut and dry, right? Wrong. No weapon has been recovered from the scene.
