Seattle’s “Summer of Love” ends early.
This reached a breaking point about a week ago with two shootings in 48 hours. In one of them, a 19-year-old kid who was trying to get other protesters to stop setting off dangerous fireworks was shot and killed. The protesters prevented police and ambulances from arriving at the scene. The victim died after being taken to the hospital by CHOP “medics,” and no suspects have yet been identified in his death.
On Monday there was another shooting, which left a 16-year-old dead and a 14-year-old in intensive care. In this case, there is some indication that the shooting may have been done by CHOP “security” after they had been alerted that the Jeep the victims were driving was stolen. So much for addressing the problems of police brutality and excessive use of force.
As with the previous shooting, there are no suspects and no one in the CHOP was cooperating with police.
Both of the young men killed were black.
No utopia can exist without law, because laws are the rules we agree to live by. The same is true for law enforcement. It may need to be reinvented or reimagined or remade, but we can’t live peaceably without it.