Sixteen year old Ma’Khia Bryant, waving a knife and screaming, “I’m Going to Stab F**k Out of You, Bitch!”, was shot by a police officer as she charged past him and attacked another black teenager. She had previously thrust the knife at a third teen right in front of the officer, knocking the other teen to the ground. The officer was present because Bryant’s housemates had called 911, reporting they feared being stabbed.
Byrant, loudly threatening murder, in clear possession of a deadly weapon, either did not feel threatened by a white police officer pointing a gun at her while he shouted “Get down, get down!,” or she was so enraged she didn’t care.
Bryant made many dangerous decisions in 9 seconds. She survived all of them until the last: She thrust a knife at another human being half her size she had pinned against a car. Again, in front of a cop shouting, “Get down!” Whose gun she knew was drawn. In the moment, she wasn’t buying the BLM theory that white cops are just itching for an excuse to shoot black people.
In stopping Bryant, the officer had far less than 9 seconds to make his decision, and he had every reason to expect he was thwarting an attempted murder: Saving a black life. Otherwise, today’s BLM agitprop might have been, “The cop was right there, and HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING to protect that black girl!” Or, maybe not. Black on black crime isn’t so important to BLM. See: Chicago.
That does not mean Ma’Khia Bryant’s death is not tragic. It is. It does mean a reasonable person might conclude that she was murderously enraged. A condition the cop had mere seconds to evaluate.
Ma’Khia Bryant’s death is a tragedy. Proclaiming this incident evidence of systemic police violence against black people is also a tragedy; for police, for Columbus, for blacks, for our polity. The decision on that could have proceeded at a more leisurely pace, but mostly it didn’t. Because demand for ‘this sort’ of tragedy exceeds supply.
To maintain purity in the BLM narrative, sacrifices are demanded. One of those is to posthumously strip Ma’Khia Bryant of agency; because of her skin color. Which is the ultimate racist insult.
Here we need a brief diversion to define “knife fight:” Two or more people. With knives. In a fight.
This was not a knife fight. It was a knife attack. You don’t bring empty hands to a knife fight. That’s what Ma’Khia Bryant’s opponent had. And the opponent was not fighting, she was covering up. In fear.
We need this definition because people like Valerie Jarrett don’t know it:
A Black teenage girl named Ma’Khia Bryant was killed because a police officer immediately decided to shoot her multiple times in order to break up a knife fight. Demand accountability. Fight for justice. #BlackLivesMatter.
— Valerie Jarrett (@ValerieJarrett) April 21, 2021
BTW, shooting multiple times is what you do until a deadly threat is definitively over. And when the threat is immediate, you do it immediately. And “break up a knife fight” is more plausibly rendered as “prevent a murder.” In a knife fight, there is no obvious aggressor. Here, there was.
Right, Valerie. Accountability. I demand it.
Then, we get Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther weighing in on the side of Ma’Khia’s incidentality.
“Bottom line: Did Ma’Khia Bryant need to die yesterday?” he added. “How did we get here? This is a failure on the part of our community. Some are guilty but all of us are responsible.”
Two answers and a comment:
1- No, she did not. 2- Specifically? Ma’Khia was imprudent. 3- Blaming everybody in the general vicinity rather than making a point of individual responsibility is your failure. Which is disrespectful to everyone.
I did not want to, but I watched the video. I’m pretty sure I hear Ma’Khia asking the cops trying to help her; “Why did you shoot me?” That, Mayor Githner, is a question you might have tried to answer honestly. She didn’t know? Maybe other 16 year olds of all races would have benefitted from an answer.
The ultimate lack of agency theme is infanthood, of course. So, a hands off approach to imminent homicide by knife wielding, murder threatening, 200 pound teenagers is “for the children.” Bryant was a baby.
Kiara Yakita, founder of the Black Liberation Movement Central Ohio, said she was not surprised by another police shooting. “Why did they kill this baby?”
Mayor Githner, meet Kiara Yakita. You guys should talk.
MSNBC’s resident homophobe, Joy Reid, wondered on air what could have caused Ma’Khia Bryant’s murderous rage:
‘We don’t know the details of what happened beforehand but I’m bothered that no one is asking what could’ve scared a 16-year-old girl enough that she felt that she had to grab a kitchen knife facing two adult women,’ Reid said.
‘No one’s asking what would’ve scared a kid who’s in a foster situation so much that she felt that she needed to defend herself or pick up a knife,’ she added.
Well, Joy, it wasn’t Ma’Khia who called 911. Though she likely was told it would happen. It wasn’t the two women she attacked who grabbed a knife and charged down the driveway. It was Ma’Khia who assaulted those “two adult women.” It was MaKhia who showed no fear of a cop with a drawn gun. She wasn’t cowering in fear somewhere safe. If anyone was afraid, it was the girl in pink pinned against a car by someone twice her size and trying to avoid the knife.
Maybe no one’s asking that question because it’s a stupid question. And I note, Joy, that you ignore the same question whenever it applies to guns.
There’s a lot more straight-up, attempted agency theft out there, but let’s move to a more subtle form of it: The BLM take that childhood knife fights (again, this wasn’t) are so common an occurrence that even in the instant someone is screaming, “I’m Going to Stab F**k Out of You, Bitch,” and thrusting a knife at an unarmed, cringing victim – police on the scene should stay out of it. Or maybe forward the problem to the Community Instant Mental Wellness Counseling Authority BLM wants to replace them with.
Here’s a Tweet from Black Lives Matter activist, Bree Newsome:
Teenagers have been having fights including fights involving knives for eons. We do not need police to address these situations by showing up to the scene & using a weapon against one of the teenagers. Y’all need help. I mean that sincerely.
— DEFUND & ABOLISH POLICE, REFUND OUR COMMUNITIES (@BreeNewsome) April 21, 2021
What could be more racist than implying blacks have poorer impulse control, are naturally more violent, too stupid to stand down in front of a peace officer, and care little for black lives?
BTW, some teenage knife fighters in those eons died. From being stabbed. Which is what the 911 call was about. By your definition of ‘knife fight,’ I’ll bet the majority of those had no knives. Oh, and you’re right, if police stop responding to 911 reports of imminent stabbing they’ll be shooting fewer homicidal knife wielding people of all skin colors.
Let us conclude with relevant comments from Clarence Thomas on how “Progressives” play the agency card:
Clarence Thomas Rips SCOTUS Double Standard On Teen Maturity: ‘Child’ For Murderer vs. ‘Young Woman’ For Abortion-Seeker
Thomas’s comments follow recent deadly acts involving teen females. Sixteen-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was fatally shot by police this week when she lunged with a knife at another young female. In March, a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl were arrested and charged with felony murder in the death of Pakistani immigrant Mohammad Anwar.
*Update 12:10, April 29:
Ms. Newsome has been silent about this teenage knife-‘fight’ of April 19th, the day before Ma’Khia’s death. Ohio girl, 13, stabbed to death, and another 13-year-old girl is charged with her murder I wonder if the police officer who shot Ma’Khia had heard about this murder in Cleveland.
And, while we’re at it, here are a few more teen stabbings awaiting Newsome comment. US only. Last 2 years. Not at all comprehensive (only 2 pages deep in the search results). Excludes adults stabbed by teens.
Teen stabbed to death in Stonewall
Teen mother stabbed to death by another teenage mother who will be tried as an adult, police say
Arrest made in stabbing death of Falls teen
15-year-old girl stabbed to death in grocery store during fight with 4 younger girls
A teenage killer’s eerie tweets she sent after stabbing friend to death: ‘We really did go on three’
Teen held in fatal Long Island stabbing that police say was recorded by dozens pleads not guilty
Body of Ala. Teen, 17, Was Found Stabbed and Beaten in Creek, and 3 Girls Are Charged with Murder
14-year-old charged with murder after another teen was stabbed, Columbia police say