Let’s ignore just for one moment, race. I’m not saying it doesn’t matter. But remove it from your thoughts for a moment.

Let’s ignore that a man didn’t have a gun. A Black man, but we’ve already let that go.

A man called the police, said he needed help. They responded. Here’s a bit of the dialogue.

“Put the gun down, put the gun down”. If you had no gun, were talking on the phone to, actually, a police dispatcher, would you be confused?

“He’s got a gun to his head”.

Bang, bang, bang. I think the reports say ten shots hit a body.

“He’s got a gun to his head”.

It was a phone. A fucking phone. A call to the police. Let that go. What if it was a gun?

A gun to the head? Why would I, why would you, why would anyone do that, put a gun to their head? A call for help? A threat of suicide? A wish to die? I was a phone.

I’ve called police because my child was in crisis. They didn’t respond like this. They helped.

Something is wrong in this thing. Ask, ask why.

A threat. A gun to one’s own head is not a threat.

It’s not a threat. Especially when it’s a phone.

A gun to your own head is a threat to yourself. And instead of help? Shots rang out.

Police are here to protect? It’s hard to believe that.

I don’t. Not this time.

I’ve seen it be different. Yet it’s hard to believe.

Do you?