Under the auspices of enforcing the law, they came to the door. Grabbing the unarmed man, they forced him down the hallway. With every step, the man pleaded for his life. Opening the door, they forced him down. After multiple shots, they declared, “We feared for our lives and had to kill him.” The highest form of brutality is to kill a defenseless individual. In the next two days, Texas will do it twice. As our nation burns with anger over police brutality, why is there not similar outrage over executions?
With little fanfare or attention, racial minorities, poor people and the mentally ill are legally killed in disproportionate numbers. In many cases, there are big questions as to guilt or innocence. Each time, we are told these persons should cause us to fear for our lives. The language and consequences of killing unarmed people are similar no matter the location.
When will we stand against all brutality? Over the next two days, Daniel Lopez and Tracy Beatty will be executed in Texas. Will we care? The integrity of our battle against police brutality depends on it.
Amen.
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