More Violence, More Outrage

Less than 24 hours after Alton Sterling was shot in Louisiana, Philando Castile was shot by police during a routine traffic stop in Minnesota. Castile was in the car with his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year old daughter, and Reynolds captured the graphic event on video to share on Facebook Live. 

Then, a protest in Dallas last night turned deadly when two gunmen sniped at police officers, killing four and injuring eight more. At the time of writing no suspects had been apprehended.  

Permit Us, If You May, An Editorial Aside:

Philando Castile is the 136th black person killed by police in 2016 alone. In fact, black Americans are more than twice as likely as white Americans to be killed by police. Increased national attention has spawned community policing models, like those employed by Boston, that have improved trust and made citizens feel safer. Unfortunately, as events in Dallas show, this isn’t true for the entire the country. Deep biases, lack of trust, growing polarization and a sense of helplessness threaten to stoke a cycle of violence and retribution. The reality is, though, that this can’t really be the “land of the free” if ~10% of the population risk harassment and death while doing quotidian tasks or if the police have to fear for their lives while trying to do their jobs. 

Good Read: President Obama’s Statement On The Shootings