I didn’t offer my thoughts on this decision. I think this decision is absolutely absurd. By that, I mean that it even went to a grand jury. Despite all the news reports that makhia was “holding a knife” and that Reardon did not try to de-escalate (he yelled stop and get down multiple times before she tried to murder the woman in pink) or use less lethal options-again, this is mid attempted murder.
This case pissed me off because it is one of the most clear shoots I have seen in the last two years. The shooting happened 30 mins before chauvin was convicted of killing floyd, and people kept saying it was such a shame that she never found that out. Seriously? Outside the crime scene (crime being attempted murder, not the officer shooting her) people were in bullhorns yelling “eye for an eye.” lebron james tweeted a picture of Reardon that said “you’re next” which some people took as a threat, I took it as saying he would be the next convicted like chauvin was. james took down the tweet and relaxed it with a “wait for the facts but I am still angry” tweet. Fuck that ugly clown. Then the city of Columbus erupted into prolonged protests with some violence sprinkled in. Ambulance chasing race baiter ben crump claimed that police took the life of an unarmed child after the shooting and he started a hashtag justiceformakhia that had millions of retweets.
Here is an article with some great insight into the mind of retards like james and crump, kendi x, and others where they, among other things, claim that bryant was within her rights to stab the girl in pink because Ohio is a stand your ground state and they came to fight her. I guess waiting in the safety of her home was not an option. Of course the “what if they were white” topic is brought up by kendi because you know, police would not shoot a whites person attempting to legally (according to the article) murder someone.
Columbus police officer Nicholas Reardon’s fatal shooting of 16-year-old
Ma’Khia Bryant was unjust because he failed to
properly deescalate the situation, instead choosing to immediately use deadly force, Black Liberation Movement Central Ohio founder Kiara Yakita told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Reardon’s body cam footage showed that Bryant wielded a knife and was attacking another girl at the time of the shooting.
“When I saw the body cam, I noticed the difference in how they police. When it comes to black people, they do not like to deescalate,” Yakita said in an interview. “The reaction seems to be to fear black people who are in conflict and to just try to violently stop them.”
“There’s not many questions asked, there is hardly any time spent trying to identify who’s the victim, who’s the aggressor, who’s the person who even called us here for help in the first place,” she continued.
The
shooting occurred outside Bryant’s foster home.
Initial media reports
suggested that Bryant had been unarmed when she was killed, but body cam footage released by the Columbus Police Department (CPD)
revealed that she was swinging a knife at the time of the shooting. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and interim CPD Police Chief Michael Woods have both
defended Reardon’s actions.
But Yakita noted that Reardon drew his firearm almost immediately when he arrived to the scene. She said he should’ve attempted to break up the fight rather than immediately arm himself.
She added that the moment when Bryant shoved a third individual to the ground in front of Reardon would’ve been the best time for him to physically intervene.
I understand that they’re in a fight. I understand that this happened within seconds,” Yakita said. “But you can look and tell when you’re dealing with children versus when you’re dealing with adults.”
“Why was there no attempt when the fight was right in his face? He didn’t want to try to subdue her or take the knife from her or do anything like that,” Yakita told the DCNF. “His automatic response was to wait for her to get far enough away, for him to feel safe, and then shoot her from behind.”
Ibram X. Kendi, an activist and author of the book “How to Be an Antiracist,” questioned what would happen if Columbus police responded to a similar incident that involved white people
during an interview on CNN Thursday. Kendi said officers should’ve “talked her down” instead of using deadly force.
“Teenagers have been having fights including fights involving knives for eons,” activist Bree Newsome
tweetedWednesday. “We do not need police to address these situations by showing up to the scene & using a weapon against one of the teenagers.”
Because Ohio is a “stand your ground” state, Bryant was justified in using a knife to protect herself and her property, Yakita told the DCNF. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed “stand your ground” legislation in March, removing citizens’ duty to retreat when being attacked, NBC affiliate WLWT-TV
reported.
“Since those girls were at Ma’Khia’s foster home to fight her, legally, in Ohio, she’s allowed to take the knife and she’s technically allowed to stab any of them and get away with self defense,” she said.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Yakita said she quickly drove to the scene of the shooting. Since then, she has led various protests and marches against the Columbus Police Department and police brutality.
Yakita founded the Black Liberation Movement Central Ohio in the aftermath of
George Floyd’s death last year.
(RELATED: Media Ran With Early Reports On The Columbus Shooting Only To Be Wrong)
Other prominent figures joined Yakita, Kendi and Newsome in slamming the Columbus police’s response to the incident. Valerie Jarret, an adviser to former President Barack Obama,
tweeted Reardon shouldn’t have used a firearm to break up a knife fight, and Ben Crump, the lawyer who represented the Floyd family,
started the hashtag #JusticeForMakiyahBryant.
“I believe that using a taser would be effective in a situation like that,” Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor, told the DCNF in an email.
Painter, who condemned Reardon’s actions on social media, added that firing four shots was “excessive.”
Bryant’s death must be a turning point and shows that government action is needed to prevent future police violence, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said during an unrelated
hearing Thursday. The White House called Bryant’s death “tragic” in a
statement Wednesday that didn’t mention the knife.
Moving forward, Yakita said most reforms aren’t helpful. She said police unions need to be stripped of power and qualified immunity for police officers must be taken away.
“At this point, reforms are just turning into decoration,” Yakita told the DCNF. “The system is broken.”
https://dailycaller.com/2021/04/22/columbus-ohio-police-department-makhia-bryant-fatal-shooting/
