I've thought a lot about this. I'm glad to see there are some on the right who would like to think that something could have been done other than her being shot. I am also glad that there are some I've talked to on the left who are like "Yeah...there's nothing else the officer could have done." Seeing this picture I'm in the "There's nothing else the officer could have done" camp. (I was already there actually).
Mikiah was about to stab that girl, but her father was about to curb stomp the other girl. From the body cam video I think the cop was initially going to shoot Mikiah's father, but then saw the more immediate threat from Mikiah and the knife. The cop didn't shoot Mikiah to save his own life, but to save a life of another. A couple of days later a Metro Nashville cop shot a man with two knives to save his own life. It didn't become a national story because the Nashville police got out in front of it and prevented any false narratives from being spun.
(By the way...I was a few miles away from that asleep when it happened).
The Nashville cop was protecting himself. White officer. Black assailant. No national outrage. The cop did try to de-escalate and back away. Police Chief John Drake (no relation to me) explained in the press conference that a taser wasn't an option. (I saw people ask "Why wasn't Mikiah Bryant tased").
Anyway, I have heard counter arguments that Mikiah was being bullied and "Everyone in the foster home including the woman over it were against her" etc. Okay. Let's say that's all true. (Of course that means throwing the girl in pink under the bus as well as the girl her dad was about to stomp.) There's no way the officer could have known that ahead of time. All he knew from the 911 call is that someone called saying girls were trying to "stab" her and "put their hands" on her. Maybe some other girl (the girl in pink?) tried to stab Mikiah and she took the knife from her and was now chasing her down. A) That's not self defense at that point and B) all the officer can tell is "I've got two people, a man and an woman, looking like that might stab and/or stomp two women." In fact he probably didn't even have time to verbalize that thought.
But what about before the officer got there? People who (possibly) failed Mikiah.
1) Mikiah herself. Even if you are bullied you still have to maintain control.
2) Mikiah's mother and father. Why was Mikiah in a foster home with two parents? And if your child is in a dangerous situation in a foster home, can you not extricate her without making the situation worse?
3) The foster mom. Obviously something was going wrong in that house. Was Mikiah mentally ill? If so was she getting treated? And if the foster mom was really in on the bullying, that's unacceptable.
4) Child protective services. If someone (the parents?) found out Mikiah was being mistreated and told CPS then why wasn't Mikiah removed from the home?
Yes there are bad shootings. There are also questionable shootings. But sometimes there are other angles that should be looked at.
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