Ma'Khia Bryant

It occurs to me that an alternative headline for this story could be “police save the life of young black girl, killing her assailant” https://t.co/bB6z89TnlU

— Karlyn Borysenko, most dangerous knitter alive 🧶 (@DrKarlynB) April 21, 2021

From the Daily Beast:

A Columbus police officer shot and killed a Black teenage girl on Tuesday afternoon just as a guilty verdict was being handed down in the Derek Chauvin murder case.

Police said the shooting occurred after officers responded to a 911 call about an attempted stabbing. Body camera footage released by police late Tuesday showed officers pulling up to a chaotic scene where three girls appeared to be in the midst of a brawl. Within just a few seconds, as one of the girls involved in the fight can be seen wielding a knife as she lunges toward another girl, an officer yells, “Get down! Get down!” and then fires his weapon several times.

...“This is a tragic incident for all involved but especially for the family of the female,” Woods said. He said he could not answer a question about what efforts to de-escalate the situation were made apart from the officer firing his gun, saying he had not interviewed the officer involved.

While police said officers responded to the scene after a 911 caller “called in and indicated that someone was trying to stab them,” the family of Makiyah Bryant have offered a different version of events, saying the 15-year-old was trying to defend herself after being confronted by a group of women.

“She was a good kid. She was loving,” Hazel Bryant, who said the child was her niece, told reporters on the east side of Columbus. “She was 15 years old. She didn’t deserve to die like a dog in the street.”

Bryant said her niece had been living in a foster home on the east side of Columbus, where the fatal shooting took place. She said several adult women had come to the foster home and started an altercation with the teenager, who called police, and her biological father and grandmother for help. She grabbed a knife to defend herself, Bryant said.

According to Bryant, who said she had been told of the events by Makiyah’s grandmother and father, Makiyah was in front of the house fending off a physical assault when police arrived. Police shot her four times without any warning, she said.

“The police are going to lie. I’m so thankful that someone from the family was actually on the scene,” Bryant said before the release of the body-cam footage. “The police are going to lie. The police are going to cover up for themselves. They don’t care. At this point, I feel like they’re just out to kill Black people. They’re not here to protect and serve. That isn’t happening. That’s been over a long time ago. They’re not here to protect and serve. They’re here to kill Black folks.”

It's wrong to rush to judgment. I don't know it the officer used appropriate force or not. An investigation is necessary to determine what happened here. We do know that it's a tragedy that a 15-year-old is dead.

That said, if people hate and mistrust the police so much and view them as killers, why do they call them for help?

The police were called to the scene. They didn't just show up looking for someone to kill.

The immediate vilification of the police is dangerous for our society. Bad cops must be held accountable for their actions and punished, allowing the justice system to work, not as a result of threats from Democrat politicians and the Marxist mob.

The overwhelming majority of cops serve the public with bravery and honor. We can't demonize the very people we depend on to protect us and come to our aid when we are in danger.