I almost didn't go to church that evening. It was a hot August day and I had already worked 9 hours out in the brutal heat, doing construction. It wasn't going to be a traditional service but a work night where they prepared the building for the coming school season. I went anyway.
After several hours of work I asked my cousin if he could give me a ride home because my wife and 11mo old daughter had left earlier. He told me he could. We were both talking and carrying tools to his truck, probably talking about the upcoming deer season. Although the church was only a few miles from Detroit, it was relatively rare to have any violence from the city come up that far. That was the last thing on our minds.
As we loaded into his little Ford Ranger, five squad cars carrying two officers a peice, pulled up and blocked us in. What happened next was a blur. Officers, all yelling with weapons already drawn came rushing towards our vehicle. There was so much shouting and coomotion I couldn't really make out the commands they were shouting. One was telling me to "Roll down your window!!" and the other was saying "Let me see your hands!!" I decided to go with keeping my hands held high so they could at least see I had nothing dangerous in them.
Everyone talks about your life flashing before your eyes in a moment like that but for me all it did was flash to the little life that had just started. I was going to be shot for who knows what and my little girl would have been fatherless at less then one year old.
The officer finally, quickly opened my door and told me to unbuckle my seat belt. If there was ever a time I was intently listening it was then. He kept asking me, "Do you have guns in the car?!" To which I replied, "I don't know!" This seemed to only infuriate him but the truth was I wasn't sure. It wasn't my vehicle and my cousin was a gun collector.
I was yanked from the truck and slammed up against the hood. I remember wanting to fight at that point. I had absolutely no idea what was going on and I had done nothing wrong. All the pistols pointed at me and a inner trust that although the officers were in the wrong here they were good men and would shortly figure out there were no laws being broken here, kept me from reacting. My cousin was getting it a little rougher then I because it was his vehicle. They were not being gentle I can promise you that.
After several minutes I was cuffed and thrown, not gently placed in a squad car where I sat for about 20 minutes.
I was confident at this point I wasn't going to be shot but was still in shock of what had just transpired.By this time my uncle, the Pastor of the church came out with several other men to speak with the police and told them we had been working in the building for the last three hours and we couldn't have been involved in anything.
At this point the officers told us that a neighbor had called and reported two grown men, one white and one black man carrying assault weapons through the alley way. We explained to the officers that we had walked out with long tools that were possibly incorrectly identified as weapons but we had no firearms of any kind, and clearly neither of us were black.
I remember thinking, "when I find out who called they are going to need the police." How could you mistake a tool for a weapon and then throw the token black guy in there to make it more believable? I was still shaking from the adrenaline and fear but now I was getting angry.
In the after math I started to get a little mouthy with the police. How could you pull up like that and come out with weapons drawn? What was the point of roughing us up and holding us for 30 minutes without letting us know what was going on? The officers graciously apologized and told us they were trying to keep everyone, themselves included safe. I wasn't pleased with the answers because I was the one the weapons were pointed at but in fairness I could tell they were genuinely apologetic. They got into their squad cars and left.
Now the rest of the story.
About five minutes after the officers left, my youngest cousin who was about 14-15 and the size of a grown man stepped out of one of the church buildings with is black friend that was as big or bigger. They were holding two BB guns and one looked identical to an M-16 assault weapon. If you were a boy growing up in the late 80s and early 90s you wanted that BB gun. They had went into the building to get a squirrel that had moved in and was doing damage to the building. The neighbors had been right in what they witnessed...
There was no way of knowing the firearms the boys were carrying were not the real deal. The hadn't just thrown the "token black guy" into the mix to make the situation more inflammatory because there in front of me was a very large black young man who just happened to be from a wonderful black home in inner city Detroit. The cops reacted to this information correctly. They rolled up in force ready to possibly exchange fire with two armed suspects carrying "assault weapons." There adrenaline level was at 100 the second they showed up and rightfully so. So how did this not end in two men shot?
The outcome of that evening laid in the hands of two men that literally had no business being involved, myself and my cousin who was giving me a ride home. We were just a couple of young dads looking to get home after a long day.
First is we obeyed the cops. We were innocent and had done nothing wrong. If there was ever a time to be belligerent it was then. Yet we took the false accusation and temporary discomfort in stride. If I had done nothing wrong what did I have to fear. I know this is the point that some blacks would say it was because we were white, that we got off and didn't get shot. Remember the eye witness account. The officers thought one of us was black and there was no way of knowing we weren't until they were right on top of the vehicle.
Second we didn't resist arrest. I can tell you I was as compliant as I could possibly be. I made no threatening movements and even though extremely angry kept it respectful. I got my chance to say my piece but once the inflammatory situation was under control.
If two cops are required to hold you down you are resisting arrest, its really that simple. I have never been an officer but I have detained people over seas. When someone is compliant they will lay down on their stomach, kneel with their hands on their heads or whatever you ask. When they are not compliant they will fight. If two armed men have to hold you down then you are resisting and all bets are off as to what happens next.
Try to put yourself in the position of an officer of the law. You are wrestling with a man that is possibly bigger and stronger then you so back up arrives. You are trying to hold his arm down to get him cuffed but in muggy sweaty Louisiana your hand slips and you lose control of his arm. How do you know he isn't going for the gun he is illegally carrying in his pocket? How do you know if the next thing you will feel is a slug ripping through you? Are you willing to take the chance? The truth is you can't answer that unless you are there so maybe refrain from bombastic, Monday morning quarterbacking on social media. Our peace officers are put in lose, lose situations everyday with attorneys and someone with a camera looking to bring them down, that is of course until they need them. Then at that point watch the critics complain about how long it took for an officer to show up and assist. It amazes me that anyone would want to protect and serve anymore.
I am not implying that following these to points will stop all shootings because the truth is there are bad cops out there and some that could make a legitimate mistake. Remember my story. All the information that was witnessed and passed to the officers was correct. I can guarantee however, these two points will solve most of the "unnecessary shootings." I am genuinely sorry for those that will face racist or corrupt officers in the future. It is unfair and unjust. With that being said we have to stop the extremist mentality that all cops fit that bill.
Stop focusing on the outliers. Yes there are bad cops. There are bad priests. There are bad mechanics. There are bad moms and dads. There are bad politicians. There are bad whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians and mixed races. There are bad...fill in the blank. This world is full of bad people but to automatically assume in any of these situations that any one side is wrong because cops are bad or blacks are thugs is foolishness and ignorant.
I think it is very possible that the situation in Louisiana was a justifiable shooting where the shooting in Minnesota could possibly be racism, although it appears that it was a minority that was the shooter. However, blacks and whites aren't the only ones that can be racist so that is still very much on the table. It appears as of now it was, at a minimum bad policing and tragic. Can we not wait for all the facts before we demonize any one party?
I am ready to march for officer safety and against police brutality alike. I would gladly march with blacks for reform in the judicial system that targets them unfairly as Sen Rand Paul has pointed out many times over the last year and I would march for stricter penalties for those that attack peace officers. It doesn't have to be one or the other it can be both.
Steve
