- Monday, June 8, 2020

The murder of George Floyd was horrific. It’s fortunate his killer(s) were charged in record time, considering it usually takes months to indict police. But even if charges had come an hour later, nothing stops that tsunami of outrage.

Peaceful, civil protests are America to its core. Who objects to lawful displays of civic criticism against perceived injustice? Yet with justice now imminent and relatively swift, other questions bite back.

Will justice ever come for 77-year-old David Dorn, the ex-police chief killed trying to stop looters during a Floyd protest? Will it come for the 24-year-old woman savagely beaten with a two-by-four by men rioting in Floyd’s name? Will it come for hundreds of small-business owners who had shops vandalized, looted, burned or otherwise destroyed? And how long will it take before the thousands living in neighborhoods ravaged by rioters recover?

We avoid damning truths as undeniable as the killing. Without proof or admission, there’s equal chance that Floyd’s murder wasn’t racist. There is equal chance that the officer inquestion would have crushed the life out of any person of any race passing that bill that day.

We avoid, too, the collective cowardice of no videographer screaming, “I’m filming you killing this man! Let him up!”

And finally, we avoid acknowledging that our rightful protests often decay into despicable riots as grotesque as the original misdeed.

Pass an unarmed-suspect act. Include same-day officer suspension, immediate FBI engagement, a hyper-fast-tracked case, and charges within days if video is irrefutable. Let law achieve what violence never will.

ROBERT SZYPULSKI

Irwin, Pa.

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