So many people are claiming that the murder of two New York police officers this week was because of the words of protesters regarding the killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and others.
Let's be clear: the guy responsible for the murders of these two officers, a man who shot his girlfriend and then murdered those officers, could be tied to those protesting killings by police as much as the wacko in Australia that took people hostage in the candy shop could be tied to the "Islamic State": In both cases, very sick men used a movement with which they had no connection to justify murder. In both cases, these men wanted to tie their desire to murder to some sort of bigger, more lofty cause. In both cases, people are dead that didn't deserve to be. And none of it changes the fact that it's dangerous to be a black man in the USA.
The only difference in them is one used a movement I find abhorrent (the "Islamic State") and one of them used a movement I support (#blacklivesmatter).
As a person put it in a comment to a friend's Facebook status update: "It's terrible what happened to those police officers. It's terrible what happened to the man who died from the chokehold."
I'm disgusted by any excuse for murder - including religious justifications like those promoted by the "Islamic State" movement, or those by Christian groups in the USA regarding health care workers that perform abortions. If someone used the persecution of women, atheists, children, or any other cause I believe in to justify murder, I would be just as disgusted.
The rhetoric I'm reading on social media is not changing any minds, and it's not making things safer for anyone.
Peace. Please.
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