Andy Lopez

Armed thugs brutally and callously gunned down a 13-year-old child carrying a pellet rifle. 

Some Americans offer justification for the killing in light of the fact that the thugs were wearing police uniforms and carrying badges. 

I'm not sure the Yahoo story is a good factual source.  The Daily Mail suggests that it may have been simply a plastic toy gun not even capable of firing pellets.  The individuals who shot the child, in the open, in broad daylight, appear to allege that, when they shouted at the boy to drop the "weapon", he turned toward them and raised the "replica" to his shoulder.  What do we think they are going to say?  Maybe he did.  Maybe he thought they were playing.  Maybe he was suicidal.  Maybe, though, he just turned so the BB-gun or whatever it was pointed in their general direction. 

Cops have a right to defend themselves, as does every other human on the planet.  Police officers deliberately and willingly take risks and go into dangerous situations to benefit the rest of us. I appreciate that.  I know that our police officers are challenged by the escalating violence in certain areas of this country.  We don't want make their jobs more perilous by placing unreasonable restrictions on use of force. 

For all I know, with the way things are these days, the kid could have been on his way to rob a convenience store with his little plastic gun.  But he wasn't robbing a store or threatening anyone when he was walking along the road.  If he threatened the officers they still had no justification to immediately open fatal fire.  No shots were fired at them.  No shots could have been fired at them -- albeit, they had no way to know that. 

Give the kid a chance to put down his toy.  If you are going to be a cop, if you are going to demand that we respect your position and authority, then you ought to expect to be held to a higher standard.  You ought to demand that we hold you accountable for your judgment and your observational skills.  

Accidents happen.  People make mistakes.  I called the cops who killed this boy 'thugs'.  That may be too much.  I want to call them cowards, but it is hardly fair for me sitting here to judge the courage of someone looking down the barrel of what he or she thinks is a firearm.  Nevertheless, the State of California and many police officers seem to think it is perfectly acceptable to deny ordinary citizens -- civilians, as they call us -- the basic right to self-defense against legitimate and genuine threats.

They would judge the store owner who, after repeatedly facing armed robbers, fights back with a firearm.  They would judge the "untrained" mother who shoots an intruder threatening her and her children.  They would judge the frightened husband carrying a weapon to make sure he gets home to his wife and family. 

As shown by this shooting and many others in California and other places, they would not only be the judge but jury and executioner as well. 

The police cannot prevent every crime.  They can't be everywhere.  They cannot watch over us like guardian angels.  But they can avoid being criminals themselves.

Remember Andy Lopez.