"But..."

Hi,

I think it's fair to say I get pretty worked up when people in a position of weakness are punished, or killed, by the powerful.

It's why Webworm writes about the genocide in Gaza, reports on the Kiwi courtroom turning the concept of punishment on its head, and bases itself outside a Missouri prison as an innocent man is executed.

I think most of you are with me on this. Just reading your comments after my piece Madison reminds me of this: Police kill a black man who is escaping on his bike, and the Webworm comments section fills up with dialogue like this:

"The killing of Corey Ruiz in these circumstances is unconscionable. Why aren’t the police trained to de-escalate situations? What does it even mean that he was 'checking out parked cars'? Is thinking about stealing something a reason to kick, taser and shoot someone?"
-Diane

"As a Brit, people tend to relate our issues with knife crime to the gun crime crisis in the USA. This is undeniable proof that the US has a completely unique issue with guns because it’s so ingrained in their culture. We certainly have issues with stabbings, but you’d never catch a police officer wielding a knife, let alone shoot down someone in the street (most officers don’t carry guns here)."
-Alfie

"There's something so awful in how routine this all has become. In knowing how so many white conservatives are going to explain in great detail why Corey had to die, and if he had just complied and so on and so on. The news media will treat it as a debate, as if it's a totally reasonable position worth hearing, because this is all just content to them. The Democrats will offer statements, maybe even outrage, but won't actually do anything because they're afraid of being seen as 'soft on crime'. There will be an investigation, but in the end none of the officers involved will be held accountable."
-Joe

Those comments all seems super-reasonable to me, and as I stayed in Madison – talking to people and watching the memorial site grow with flowers and candles – the sentiment was repeated around me. As the city continued to keep the surrounding roads closed, it was hard not to notice the cross formed on Google Maps.

But – and we'll get to that word, but – the dialogue online was very different.

The fact that humans went out en masse to immediately justify the death of another human – especially a body that is not covered in white skin and homeless – is on one level totally unsurprising.

On another, I still find it shocking.

For some context, two key things happened around this case that were quickly seized upon to justify what had happened to Corey.