It's been a very emotional 48 hours in America and the Monday morning quarterbacking, present company included, about the events that took place in Dallas; costing five civil servants their lives, adds to the stress.
Let me state, my commentary is not intended to discount anyone's opinion. I just so happen to have experience and perspective where most people don't. For literally a third of my life, I have served the public as a first responder. My entire life, I have been a Black man in America, whose experiences are the same as another man of color.
With that said, many question why police used a "bomb robot" to kill the assailant, after negotiations broke down and this person continued to shoot from a sniper's perch. Some argue the killer had a constitutional right to a jury and trial, while others feel, if you shoot and kill cops, without surrender, all bets are off.
The former are mostly of the opinion that police officers knew what they signed up for and the danger that comes with the job. I find that interesting because even first responders are trained to take calculated risk; a risk is very high, yet still, we take it
I wonder if those same people who say the cops knew what they signed up for, would feel the same way, if it was their husband, son, father that was killed
Would they go on camera and say they knew what they signed up for? Would they say they shouldn't have blown up the killer because he had a constitutional right? Not likely...
I'm sure they would grieve the loss of their loved one and be glad the killer was neutralized.
If we just put ourselves in the shoes of others every now and then, we probably can avoid a lot of the misunderstanding.