Blame Game

A few days ago, another unfortunate incident happened where a 12 year old boy lost his life because he did something stupid. Tamir Rice was shot and killed by police who were responding to a 911 call about a male who appeared to be pulling a gun out of his pants. Police told the boy to raise his hands and was shot when he tried to pull the "gun" from his pants. It turned out to be an airsoft gun without the orange warning tip. Details are limited as the investigation is ongoing.

The investigation is not the point of this post. The point is about the public hysteria that is happening. People are crying racism, that police officers need to show restraint, the he WAS 12 YEARS OLD how much threat could he be, cops are nothing but power-drunk bullies. Many people are blaming everyone but the boy. Now, I don't mean to make light of the fact that he was killed and loss of life is a terrible thing. Is getting killed the appropriate punishment for a mistake like this? No. So, something is to blame. But what or who do we blame? The officers who fired the shots are the easy answer but not the right one. That's like blaming the train that smashes into a car trying to run the crossing. You cannot blame things down the line of cause and effect. Yes, the train was the one that smashed the driver into little pieces and yes, it was the responding officer who fired the fatal shots. But what happened before this incident to set things in motion? With the train, it would be someone making a foolish decision to try it in the first place, perhaps it is because of his parents who didn't properly warn about the dangers of playing chicken with a train. Did Tamir know better than to play with a realistic looking toy that way? Did he know better than to do exactly what officers tell you? If he did then it was his fault and he paid the ultimate price. If he didn't, who's to blame then? I say parents. Plain and simple, the parents are responsible and they are paying a high price as well for their lack of proper parenting.

The public must stop falling for sensationalism! Put responsibility where it is due and not on the easy scapegoat. If we do not, we are heading down a very dark road.