Police and Black Lives Matter hold a cookout

[JosephDredd]

Members of the Wichita, Kan., police department spent Sunday afternoon eating and talking with people from the community, at a cookout that was planned with the local Black Lives Matter group.

The event was called the First Steps Community Cookout — a reference to its goal of bridging the gap between police and the community they serve. Taking place instead of a protest that had been planned for Sunday, the cookout came about after Wichita Police Chief Gordon Ramsay had a lengthy meeting with activist A.J. Bohannon and other members of the local Black Lives Matter movement.

A woman who says her kids are in the photo echoed that idea, calling the event historic and saying, "It was a bonding moment where the police saw them as children and my [sons] got to see them as people! It was a great first step Chief Gordon Ramsey and Wichita PD!"

The Wichita Eagle reports on another scene from the cookout:

"At one table, three men — a black man, a Hispanic man and a white man — sat down with burgers next to police Lt. Travis Rakestraw to share their ideas.


"It was the first time since 1992 that Jarvis Scott, the black man, said he'd sat down with a police officer, and the other two said it was their first time ever sitting down with an officer."

After the event, Ramsay thanked those who came — and issued a challenge to other police departments to hold similar barbecues.


"It takes two parties to make a healthy relationship," the police chief said.

In response to one of the department's many tweets about the barbecue, one Twitter user wrote, "This makes me happy! First time in a while that anything in the news made me smile. There is hope."

The cookout also echoes a theme that we here at NPR have been covering lately: noncomplementary behavior, the act of departing from an established script when that script is likely to lead to conflict. In this case, both sides departed from what could have been a now-familiar story of clashes between protesters and police.

I don't know how anyone could hate on this, but I'm sure someone will find a way.

 

[Oiler]

A disgusting display


Lol, just kidding what a nice example.

 

[nhbbear]

Cops....No, it's a trap! You are pigs going to a black person cookout!

 

[Deleted member 457759]

Imagine if a shooting happened and a cop shot one of the black guys for having a spatula.

 

[chardog]

Fake protest.....

Who is funding this?

 

[punky brewster]

Definitely cool, and a good example. I can't tell from the picture, but I'm just curious as to how many males between the ages of 13 - 35 were there.. Little kids and senior citizens showing up are great, but let's be real about the situation, and who needs to be there

 

[M3t4tr0n]

But but but Obama!

 

[JosephDredd]

Definitely cool, and a good example. I can't tell from the picture, but I'm just curious as to how many males between the ages of 13 - 35 were there.. Little kids and senior citizens showing up are great, but let's be real about the situation, and who needs to be there

I doubt there are many cops under the age of 21.

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

Chief Gordon Ramsey? wat? Lol

Saw this on FB earlier. It's a nice gesture by the local PD. It's sad it's come to this, but that's what happen when you have race-baiting leftist politicians pushing a false agenda and riling people up to the point of sparking violence just so they can score sympathy points and hopefully get a few more votes. Good on the cops for stepping up and trying to clean up the shitty politicians' mess.

 

[tdluxon]

If I was black I wouldn't want to be holding a knife to cut meat with a bunch of cops around

 

[punky brewster]

I doubt there are many cops under the age of 21.

 

[lts5025]

Chief Gordon Ramsey? wat? Lol

Saw this on FB earlier. It's a nice gesture by the local PD. It's sad it's come to this, but that's what happen when you have race-baiting leftist politicians pushing a false agenda and riling people up to the point of sparking violence just so they can score sympathy points and hopefully get a few more votes. Good on the cops for stepping up and trying to clean up the shitty politicians' mess.

I bet the food was good if Gordon Ramsey was manning the grill.

 

[JosephDredd]

Chief Gordon Ramsey? wat? Lol

Saw this on FB earlier. It's a nice gesture by the local PD. It's sad it's come to this, but that's what happen when you have race-baiting leftist politicians pushing a false agenda and riling people up to the point of sparking violence just so they can score sympathy points and hopefully get a few more votes. Good on the cops for stepping up and trying to clean up the shitty politicians' mess.

What about people pushing buttons by heroically imagining the most insane possible justifications for cops shooting innocent therapists? They seem like they could be part of the problem as well.

 

[Rex Kwon Do]

What about people pushing buttons by heroically imagining the most insane possible justifications for cops shooting innocent therapists? They seem like they could be part of the problem as well.

They sound handsome and highly intelligent with a great sense of humor. I'd buy that guy a nice bottle of water because he definitely wouldn't be a drinker.

Lol @ someone reaching towards their waist as being an insane piece of conjecture. Will I get the most epic of all apologies if it turns out that's what happened?

 

[Universal Champion]

Was crushed glass available as a condiment ?!

 

[JosephDredd]

They sound handsome and highly intelligent with a great sense of humor. I'd buy that guy a nice bottle of water because he definitely wouldn't be a drinker.

Lol @ someone reaching towards their waist as being an insane piece of conjecture.

It is absolutely insane for any cop to be talking to a middle-aged, professionally-dressed man explaining that he's a therapist while lying on the ground with his hands in the air and think, "This could be a trick. He may try to shoot me. I better be on the lookout for anything that would spook me if a drug-addled gangbanger did it and forget the considerable lengths this man has gone to in order to ensure nothing terrible happens here."

Will I get the most epic of all apologies if it turns out that's what happened?

This may be difficult for you to understand, but there are situations where a shooting is not justified by someone lowering their hands. Since we know this man was a doctor, was calmly explaining the situation to the police, was making every reasonable effort to appear non-threatening and was unarmed... well, this situation should not have happened. Period. It was a fuck-up of unbelievable proportions. Unless the guy jumped to his feet and charged the cops, there is no possible mysterious event that could have made this justifiable.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Warms the (undersized) heart.

 

[M3t4tr0n]

They sound handsome and highly intelligent with a great sense of humor. I'd buy that guy a nice bottle of water because he definitely wouldn't be a drinker.

My guess is he would prefer to drink the kool aide unless he's already had his fill

 

[M3t4tr0n]

Was crushed glass available as a condiment ?!

It's a great low fat substitute for any cook out

 

[JaneJanes]

Good to hear they can take some time off killing each other for some good old cooking!