Common Sense & Keyboard Warriors

I do miss the times when news was researched before it was shared.  And mass social media did not exist for people to troll and pass on judgments before researching the topic and knowing all the facts.  This is not to say that there are no good qualities about how fast news is spread and the ability of humanity to connect with one another regardless of boundaries, distances and differences, etc.

I do tire of judgment being passed by the masses before the situation has fully presented itself.  Let's use a current event as an example.

An article came up on my FB feed today that stated: 

Video: La. officer fatally shoots suspect outside convenience store

Now, I do keep in mind the source of the article- a law enforcement-based news source.  So there may be some inherent bias toward LEOs in this article.  As a person who exercises some form of common sense (but not all the time), I keep my mind open to the entire scenario that occurred to cause this event.  The article was posted at 0024h this morning, which means it is news breaking and recent.  The same news source later today, at 0945h:  DOJ to investigate fatal Baton Rouge OISMy curiosity at the subject has now increased.  Some questions have been brought up.  And I want to note that I have no preference one way or the other regarding this situation.  Those that were in error, I want it noted and acted upon.  Those that are innocent.  I also want that noted and acted (or not) upon.

See what I did there?  I have not passed judgment of the situation.  Why?  Because I do not know all or enough facts, to pass an educated to decision on the matter.  Now, let us look at a variety of other articles on the same situation.  When I type in "Police shooting Baton Rouge" into google, I got the following results:

Alton Sterling shooting: Video of deadly encounter with officers sparks outrage (CNN article, updated at 1235h today): An article with consistent updates as more is known regarding the situation.  Both sides, LE-state and family members-attorney, are interviewed and quoted.  A fairly comprehensive article...in the beginning.  But tends to side more with the family-attorney near the end.

Department of Justice to lead probe of Baton Rouge police shooting(USA Today article, updated at 1254h today): Also a fairly brief but facts-laid-out type of article.  I did not really notice is being as biased as the CNN article.  It had quotes from both sides.  But mostly had quotes from third parties and in the spirit of working together and not being violent/passing judgment too soon types.  Some quotes that were in this article and not the CNN one to support my statement include:

"Gary Chambers, publisher of The Rouge Collection, which serves the predominantly black community of north Baton Rouge, called for a community meeting Wednesday evening of blacks, whites, other ethnics groups and faith-based leaders to "come together as a city and say that this is not going to stand in this community."

"This is not a place of division," Chambers said. "This is not a community place where we are trying to pit all of our community against all police. We understand that not all police are bad, but this must be answered for.""

'He’s got a gun! Gun': Video shows fatal confrontation between Alton Sterling, Baton Rouge police officer
(The Advocate article, last updated at 1128h today): This article does not hide its bias at all from the get go.  It clearly takes the side of the family.  The opening paragraphs support this conclusion:
"Alton Sterling, a 37-year old man who sold CDs, was shot and killed by a Baton Rouge police officer Tuesday morning outside a convenience store on North Foster Drive after “some type of altercation” with two officers, officials said.

Baton Rouge police did not provide much information about what escalated the incident between the officers and Sterling or what prompted an officer to fire his weapon. A witness, however, described police as “aggressive” and said Sterling was armed but was not holding his gun or touching his pockets during the incident. Police later retrieved a gun from the man’s pocket, said the witness, shop owner Abdullah Muflahi."

And then you read the quotes from NAACP representatives, whom I want to associate akin to Trolls on the internet, but they do it in real time/life (quotes from USA Today article): 

"Michael McClanahan, president of the Baton Rouge NAACP, call on the mayor to fire the chief of police and then resign himself. He also called for the probe into the killing to be handed over the the Louisiana State Police.

"The best way to insure that this is no cover up is to turn it over to a neutral third party," McClanahan said.

He said the community's goal was to "root out the 1% of the bad police who believe they are the judge, jury and executioner of innocent people, period, but most of all black lives."

McClanahan called on the Baton Rouge police to arrest the two officers. "If the system works for anyone, it should work for them, too," he said."

This article did have additional information the CNN and USA Today articles did not have, which was informative and/or interesting.  It went into much more detail about Sterling's criminal history.  Which is interesting since the article seemed to be almost anti-LE at the start.

Now, reminding myself that I do have some inherent bias regarding the matter simply due to my profession and the experiences I have had related to my profession, and the knowledge I have gained from it, too.  I also want to make sure that investigations like this are done by an impartial third party (in this case, the US Attorney's office/DOJ) and all parties involved (LE , witnesses, family) are impartially interviewed and all possible known evidence is collected and reviewed impartially.

Alton Sterling Police Shooting Prompts Justice Dept. Investigation in Baton Rouge
(NY Times article posted today 07/06/16): This article presents information in an easy to follow pattern.  I did get the impression based on word choice, quote selections and syntax structure, that overall, the article was a little biased in favor of the family.

Outrage after video captures white Baton Rouge police officer fatally shooting a black man

(Washington Post article, updated at 1322h EST today):  This article does not hide its bias one bit against the LE community.  The first few paragraphs are enough to make even a relatively unbiased person question the morals and safety associated with the police in America:

"Sterling is one of at least 505 people who have been shot and killed by on-duty police officers so far in 2016, according to a Washington Post database tracking such shootings.

And his killing is the latest in a nationwide string of fatal police-involved arrests captured on video. Like many others, the first versions of what happened are coming more from a video showing a fragment of the incident than from police, who have had relatively little to say so far. Thus no clear picture has yet emerged of the full sequence of events that led to the death.

“I have very serious concerns,” Edwards (D) said. “The video is disturbing, to say the least.”"

Information presented, especially by such a well known and respected news source may be enough to change the minds of those on the fence about the "villany" of the police.  I will not disagree about the disturbing nature of the video.  Most news sources quoted the LA Governor in saying that.  It is a statement most people could agree with, myself included.  Most sane functional people do not find joy in seeing the suffering of others, especially the death of a fellow human being.

I did find this information from The Advocate article to be interesting (as stated above):

"Sterling was convicted of one count of carnal knowledge of a juvenile in Sept. 2000, according to the warrant.

While Sterling had registered at the address in July, a probation officer who checked on him in August was told by the center manager that Sterling hadn’t lived there for two weeks.

The DA’s office filed a failure to register as a sex offender charge against Sterling in April.

Sterling’s court record shows he was accused of several crimes dating back to 1996. He’d pleaded guilty to aggravated battery, simple criminal damage to property and unauthorized entry, as well as domestic abuse battery. His longest sentence appeared to come in 2009, when he was sentenced to five years on possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute and illegally carrying a weapon with a controlled dangerous substance."

Was the point of adding this information to make Sterling appear more human to the general human population?  What it tells me, based on my experience and knowledge in life, is that 1.) Sterling should not be in possession of a firearm if he was convicted of a violent crime (e.g. domestic abuse) *Note, there is conflicting info whether he had a firearm on his person or not at the time of the incident*; 2.) If he was living in a halfway house, how was he able to house and provide for his family? (There may be an answer to this, but that information has not been provided).  Let us note, that even if someone has a criminal history, that does not mean they have not taken the time and effort to turn their life around and correct the error of their ways of their history.  I do not and did not know Sterling.  So I cannot say what kind of man he was immediately prior to his death.

I also do now know the two officers involved in the incident.  I do not know their thought processes and experiences.  So I cannot say whether they fit into my formed opinion of a moral/good person or amoral/bad person.  Or if either one fits into the human American societal collection of positive/good mores or not.

What we do know (and has been supported by every news source I researched via Google):

• 37-year-old Alton Sterling is deceased.
• Baton Rouge police were called to the convenience store (C-store): Triple S Food Mart.
• Two officers responded (Blane Salamoni, a four-year veteran, and Howie Lake, a three-year veteran) to an anonymous complaint regarding a man pointing a gun and threatening someone at the C-store.
• Officers arrived on scene at 0035h EST.
• A taser and at least one gun (from an officer) were used on Sterling.
• The altercation caught on the camera phone occurred outside in front of the C-store.
• Sterling's cause of death, as reported by the ME in Baton Rouge (East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner William “Beau” Clark) was multiple gunshots to his body.

Basically everything else is up in the air.  Murder?  Justified shooting?  Racially motivated?  I do not have these answers.  And neither do you.  Who was the anonymous caller?  What was their motivation for calling?  What happened between the anonymous caller and Sterling (if anything)?  What previous encounters did Sterling have with the BRPD (if any)?  What experiences did either of those officers have with that C-store and/or Sterling himself (if any)?  What experience did either of those officers have with being threatened by a firearm from a suspect/public citizen (if any)?  Therefore, I am not going to pass judgment on the situation at this time.

I realise that people will either disagree with what I say.  Or agree.  Or simply read it.  Collect the information and move on and process it some more and do their own research.  I certainly hope this latter option is what most of you out there take.  Read things.  Process them.  Research them.  Verify sources.  If that is not an option, such as this situation where the information being provided can be either very biased or limited in nature, research the system involved in sharing and investigating the information.  As questions.  Be an active participant in gleaning knowledge from the world around you.  But, for the love of whatever you find holy, do not be a keyboard warrior.  You are not helping any cause, especially not your own.  If you share an article that goes along with your way of thinking, to support you way of thinking, go beyond your comfort level...go read and share an article that is not in line with your way of thinking.  Present as many facts as you can to share with the masses.  Do not be a narrow minded person and pass on the closed-mindedness that seems to be increasingly prevalent in today's social-media-based society.

Edit @2128h on 07/06/16:
Seeing as new video/information has come forward regarding this particular incident, I felt it necessary to add a link to it to add to the knowledge of the event.  Here is the link from PoliceOne:

Video: New footage shows fatal Baton Rouge OIS from different angle

Here is the originally posting news source's link to the new video posted online (from The Daily Beast posted @1710h EST):

New Video Emerges of Alton Sterling Being Killed by Baton Rouge Police

I will attempt to add more articles and update this post as new and more information emerges so that people can try to reach their own conclusions about the situation.