I've never written an obituary for someone I've known. I've never written an obituary for someone I've liked. I've investigated friend's murders as a journalist. I've never framed that work as an obituary. I normally write obituaries for public figures I hate. I've written to celebrate their deaths, to name their crimes, to wish them ill in the afterlife.
Many people here the word Ku Klux Klan and think of the deep South and unreconstructed neo-confederates riding at night with support from the city fathers and some obese caricature of a sheriff. That image is a convenient alibi of denial for those living in the deep North as Ohio, Indiana and Michigan have always been hotbeds of Klan activity and Dayton has always been a center of white supremacist activity. This is why the so-called Honorable and self-described Sacred Knights of the KKK have chosen to come to Dayton to recruit at a rally at the old courthouse on May 25th 2019.
As the nation begins to build it's network of private camps, military detention camps, and non-profit child kidnapping facilities, the third week in June also brought three high-profile shootings of black men. Tony Green age 33 of Kingsland Georgia, Antwon Rose 17 of East Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Thurman Blevins Jr age 31 of Minneapolis were all killed in the last week. Neither Green nor Rose are even alleged to have been armed. In more heavily populated Minneapolis and Pittsburgh, there have multiple days of street protests.
On May 11th, the USA Today published a multiple by-line story on their analysis of every single one of the 3517 Facebook Ads bought by shadowy sneaky Russians to influence the 2016 general election. This report, based on an indictment issued by Special Prosecutor Robert Muller, claims to show a focus on race and policing rather than guns and Benghazi. The story was given amplification by former Washington Post editor Anne Applebaum turned columnist and professor, with a stamp of academic authority that it does not deserve.
It is not easy being number one. Columbus is the best in the nation at only one thing. When it comes to the killing of black people, the Columbus Police Department is the New York Yankees, a dynasty team of history. Although they end more black lives per capita than any other metropolis in the nation, this time they did not extend their Babe Ruth like record as well as they clearly intended.
Led by the People's Justice Partnership and relatives of Henry Green and Tyre King nearly 200 people took over City Council Chambers during their weekly meeting to demand justice. City Authorities had prepared new roadblocks to public participation for the event including requiring photo identification to enter the building and extra police on hand. New rules were in place limiting the total number of people permitted to attend the meeting to fewer than the total number of seats in Council Chambers.
While the rebellious streets in Charlotte seem to have quieted by a curfew and threats of National Guard deployment, and extra security at today's Panther's game against the Vikings hindered a planned protest, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is no closer to telling the truth.
It happened, then it didn't happen. This reporter should have covered it sooner. It went down the memory hole before a proper story could get written, so this is what the public is left with. A young black woman walked into the Aldi's on West Mound to by groceries. She was wearing a t-shirt that read "demilitarize the police" . She shopped. She paid. While she was leaving she was confronted by a security guard.
Calling something a war is often an exercise in hyperbole. The Greek philosopher Aeschylus once said “In war, truth is the first casualty.” This has extended to the naming of wars “police actions” or calling them “operations” with names like “Restore Freedom” and “Inherent Resolve.” To cut through the Public Relations fog, one could define war as the late Jesse Helms defined pornography, “I know it when I see it.” One sees war in terms of casualties, and when using casualties for a lens to describe what American policing is doing the American public, one clearly sees a war.
Rodney King was the first break in the dam. The beating that sparked the rebellion in 1992 was not new. What was new was video cameras. Now everybody could see the unrestrained violence against the defenseless that America calls “law enforcement.” Consumer electronics have advanced. There are cameras in every phone. Video has now recorded the recent deaths Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. It did not record the less nationally known case of Henry Green V here in Columbus.