You don’t have to look any further than the comments made in and about the final courtroom chapter of the Elijah McClain killing to understand the depth of the problem, and how little progress Aurora has made.
Late last Friday, after weeks of testimony in the third trial for the 2019 death of McClain at the hands of police and rescuers, two paramedics were convicted of criminally negligent homicide for giving the 26-year-old Black man a needless and fatal dose of ketamine.
The case of McClain — accosted and killed walking home while being Black — has waxed polarizing virtually from the day he died.
Comments accompanying last week’s Sentinel story about the courtroom finale paint a distressing picture of reality.
Few things say “white privilege” more than this frequent comment, registered again in the story this week:
“How sad that McClain did not simply comply, as I and everyone I know would,” one Sentinel reader said. “McClain intentionally escalated the situation. Comply now, complain later. Take it to court for an injustice.”
Dead people don’t sue. Their mothers do. Not the same.
I cannot begin to count how many times white readers have lobbed the “comply” chestnut in the Sentinel and in media all across the country.
Lots of white people blame McClain’s death on his own behavior, rather than that of the cops who accosted him.
McClain, who had no previous recorded police encounters, had walked from his north Aurora apartment to a nearby gas station for cans of iced tea. A passerby in a car called police to say a Black guy appeared sketchy. He was wearing a runner’s mask. When officer Nathan Woodyard rolled up just seconds later, he aggressively got out of the car, in the dark, yelling at McClain in a tone of voice that could mean death to Black people.
And it did.
“Comply now. Complain later.”
That’s something only the white and lucky get to say. If you believe that Black people bring on their injury and deaths from police by not complying with orders, you probably don’t know any Black people.
Let me remind you about a family of black women and little girls who “complied” with Aurora police and were forced to lie face down on hot asphalt two years ago. The cops mistakenly pulled them over in a botched stolen car exploit. They were in a car. The stolen vehicle was a motorcycle. They were literally burned when they complied.
Let me offer, for example, a man I know who is nearly annoying by how close he plays everything to the vest. Rico Munn is a rule player among rule players. He’s a lawyer. He was a key bureaucrat in the Colorado state government. He ran Aurora Public Schools and exuded “play by the rules.” The edgiest thing I know about Munn is that he had a Batman emblem on his rear tire cover.
“I am a Black man in America who holds a position of relative authority and privilege,” Munn wrote in an essay for the Sentinel in 2020. “I love this country. America has afforded me the opportunity to worship as I please; to get a college degree and a law degree. In America, I have been able to earn a living, marry the girl of my dreams, raise two beautiful children and participate in the civic and cultural life of my community. But also in America, I have been spit on, called a nigger, harassed by the police, denied opportunities and watched Black friends and loved ones systematically jailed, impoverished and dehumanized. My relationship with America is complicated; I am outraged by injustice but never surprised by it.”
So when a petrified 26-year-old Black adolescent was unexpectedly accosted by an aggressive white cop in the dark on the way home, terror and then begging for life was a learned and common response.
Now, paramedic experts say last week’s conviction will have a “chilling effect” on how other paramedics treat Black people in similar situations.
“The outcome could set a precedent for how emergency personnel respond to situations with people in police custody,” University of Miami criminologist Alex Piquero told the Associated Press. “They could be hesitant. They could say, ‘I’m not going to do anything’ or ‘I’m going to do less. I don’t want to be found guilty.’”
Yes, please. That’s the point. Aurora paramedics Peter Cichuniec and Jeremy Cooper rolled up on the scene well underway. Rather than make independent assessments of what had happened before they came upon a nearly unconscious, incoherent Black man who had been in a struggle with police who, without cause, confronted him, they adopted a story provided by an adversary to McClain.
Had the Aurora paramedics approached the Aurora police with the same skepticism they disregarded when they diagnosed McClain, he’d be alive today.
The nation wants paramedics to back off from rushing onto a scene and acting on the propaganda or disinformation provided by police without making their own sober assessment and plan of action based on science, reality and best medical practices.
Another Sentinel reader said Friday’s conviction was “dangerous state level political intervention” in a case of what was at worst just “medical malpractice.”
Medical malpractice is when a patient sues because someone left a sponge in his abdomen after removing his appendix.
McClain was innocently, literally, walking home when he was assailed by cops, pummeled by them, choked by them to the point of collapse, essentially forced to drown in his own vomit. Then, he was accosted by two medics, who complicitly not only poisoned him with a needless and ill-advised dose of ketamine, but they lethally injected him with an overdose.
The prevailing attitude among critics of the trial and its outcome is that McClain somehow caused his own death. He had it coming.
I am confident that if McClain had been a 26-year-old white massage therapist, instead of a Black one, a white teacher or a white accountant, he would have survived the encounter.
The passerby probably would never have called dispatchers. And if he did, the police would have approached and handled the confrontation completely differently. And even if they didn’t, a white car salesman might have been aggravated by the nonsense but not afraid for his life. Cops don’t kill white men for walking home at night with cans of iced tea, even if they get upset during a confrontation.
Even if the white guy panicked and police believed they needed to subdue him, rather than just let him go or call in de-escalation experts, paramedics would have acted differently.
They almost certainly would have assessed the situation themselves, asking him questions, taking his pulse and determining that a nearly comatose man doesn’t warrant tranquilizing.
White people can deceive themselves over what this is about, but the numbers don’t lie. Despite being a vast minority, Black people either die or are injured at the hands of police at more than twice the rate than white people who encounter police, in Aurora and across the nation.
That’s true even if they’re carrying home the same cans of iced tea from the same store.
People may have differing views of the McClain death, but there’s only one reality.
Follow @EditorDavePerry on BlueSky, Threads, Mastodon, Twitter and Facebook or reach him at 303-750-7555 or dperry@SentinelColorado.com
Having fought with many people, of all races, I can say that the author’s simplistic racism theme is emotional trash. The determinant factor in these struggles is the resistance offered by the suspect. The suspect determines the amount of force used by his/her resistance. Unlike what the legislature has said about using “minimal force”, more force must be used than what the suspect uses. Using “minimal force” allows the suspect a chance to get free and access either his weapon or the officer’s weapon. Minimal force means that more officers and more suspects will be killed. It is already happening. The police see it because they review all of the videos from around the country. They also experience it. They have to learn lessons that the public never does. That creates a huge gap in what the public understands and what the police have as a reality. When I was lawfully carrying out my duties, and a suspect resisted being stopped or arrested, I really didn’t care what race they were. I certainly didn’t consider that I should use less force based upon race. I was always focused on getting control. Did I have to suppress anger during the fight? Certainly. Did I want to hurt some of them? Certainly. Did I? No. Did I when I had to? Yes.
The author keeps going back to the case where the black kids were made to lie on the pavement. I worked for APD a long time. Did I have to work with a few racists during my career? Definitely. But only a few. The stop on the family was a mistake. It showed a lack of training and poor leadership at the top. If you watch the video of the stop, you can see that the situation is corrected after a few minutes. I can tell you that you could not gather enough racist cops at APD to decide that it would be fun to put black children down on the ground at gunpoint. Training dictates that officer safety should be used on stops of stolen vehicles. Common sense would tell an officer that better judgment should step in and you should use slightly different tactics when you see a bunch of children. Those tactics were not taught. That stop was a simple mistake that warranted profuse apologies and explanations to the people who were stopped. Police work involves force and the threat of force in order for it to work. If we cannot accept that, then we must accept that none of our laws will be enforced.
Elijah McClain was partly responsible for his own death. He did violate the law. When an officer tried to stop him, he resisted physically. That is “Obstruction” under state law. There is a reason for that law. The legislature, in the past, understood that you cannot enforce any laws if suspects can simply walk away or resist when an officer tries to stop them. You don’t get killed over a traffic stop. You get killed because you disregarded the officer’s commands and presented some kind of threat, either perceived or real. That idea that black parents have to tell their children how to act when stopped by the police seems to have been lost.
Has there been police abuse in the past against black people? Certainly. Will there be more in the future? Certainly. Why? Well, depending upon where you are, there are attitudes that have existed for a long time. Without strong, ethical leadership, those attitudes continue. There also is an acknowledgment that black people are disproportionately involved in crime. It doesn’t matter how much you decide to ignore the black looting and the shootings and beatings that black youths are administering. Those things are realities that exist. Most of the mass shootings around the country are black youths shooting at each other while other people are in the way. The media won’t touch that fact. The leading cause of death for young black males is other young black males. The police must try to deal with those things. You can’t make the statistics proportionate like the Attorney General seems to believe.
I had to stop many black youths during my career. We usually did not have a good description that would allow us to zero in on only one person. I always felt bad for the innocent black youths that we stopped. I always apologized and explained exactly what information we had that caused us to stop them. Do all officers do that? No. Why not? Poor leadership that allows that to continue. I also felt anger toward the black thugs who were a crime wave that caused innocent black youths to be stopped.
Elijah McClain’s death was a tragedy. It wasn’t a crime. Suspects have been dying suddenly after struggles with the police for a long time. In a great many of those struggles, there was no excessive force of any kind. It caused the term “Sudden In Custody Death” to be coined. At the same time, the term “Excited Delirium” was coined by the medical people to describe the symptoms exhibited by some suspects who ended up fighting the police. It was important for officers to recognize that people who exhibited those symptoms were at risk of suddenly dying after a struggle. Many of those people also were on drugs or had abused their bodies for a long time. Additionally, they often react with extreme emotion during the struggle. Now, because too many black suspects demonstrate excited delirium, the term can no longer be used. The police didn’t come up with that term. The medical people came upon with it to describe something they really could not explain. Will suspects continue to die mysteriously after struggles with the police? Yes. The police still have to deal with people who react irrationally and exhibit unusual strength. But, now the police know that the media, the prosecutors, and much of the public want a scapegoat. It doesn’t matter that you followed your training and the law. Politics demand a scapegoat who fits the narrative. If the suspect was black, obviously racism was involved.
The police also have learned that the same political types who never were strong enough to address what racist attitudes did exist, now were not strong enough to stand up to the new popular narrative. The police reform bill in Colorado has created extreme problems for law enforcement due to its vague language and totally unrealistic guidelines. The police chiefs, police unions, and city leaders have not stood up to explain the problems with the law. They have kept a weak, low profile just as they have done leading police organizations in the past. So, the cops know they are being led by unethical weak politicians who will not stand up. The public then suffers because officers will not risk enforcing the law because they have no support and no clear guidelines.
It is human nature to be fooled by sociopaths. We pick people who we like and who tell us what we want to be leaders. Unfortunately. many of those people are not fit to lead. They talk a great game. But, they are often not professionally competent nor ethically motivated. During my time in law enforcement, the worst people I worked with were at the top. They talked a good game but they never showed any leadership and often showed dishonesty or outright disregard for the public.
Leadership means that you show those below you by your words and deeds that you believe in ethical and professional service to the public. It means that you actively enforce those attitudes daily with all of the supervisors. I always knew, that as a sergeant, I had no real backing from those above me. Whatever standards I decided to enforce with my team were up to me. It was up to me to train them and demand professional behavior. No chief was coming down and making sure we all trained and supervised the way we should.
Aurora wasted millions of dollars by buying into the flawed narrative put out by the Attorney General. Paying a consultant millions of dollars to make sure that you have volumes of written policies that are worded perfectly doesn’t professionalize a police department. Having repeated sensitivity training doesn’t professionalize a police department. Being a police chief who will stand up for what is right and take the time to make sure that supervisors are training and truly expressing ethical values is what makes the difference. Unfortunately, that type of police administrator is as rare as hen’s teeth. The system weeds out those who speak out and try to improve the department. They are looking for those who kept quiet and went along with anything the chief says, right or wrong. It is a broken system designed to pick the worst leaders for us.
If you have any doubt as to the professional knowledge and capabilities of today’s police leaders, look at crowd control. I taught crowd control. Who would think that it was a good idea to not make announcements prior to using force? Who would think that it was a good idea to tear gas crowds randomly? Who would think that it was a good idea to put groups of officers, some untrained, in the middle of the street shooting less lethal munitions with no clear goal? Who could not understand that force needs to be directed toward those who were using force? Who could see any real strategy in the approaches the police were making? Now, did they learn anything from being sued for millions? No. They still haven’t learned anything about the crowd psychology and how to approach civil disorder. Now, they are so afraid to use force that they have forced officers to just push and fist fight without batons or other tools.
Back to racism and the police. The chiefs were always the ones who allowed racism
within the department. The officers knew that different rules applied for those the chief liked. If things didn’t hit the news, the chiefs simply ignored much misconduct.
In our present environment, weak leadership is everywhere. There are ways to address it. It won’t happen. It would take someone with courage and knowledge. The City of Aurora hasn’t exhibited either.
It is refreshing to see someone systematically dismantle the leftist garbage that regularly emanates from Perry’s pen.
Hi Don,
Your firsthand experiences provide valuable insight into the real-world challenges faced by officers on the ground. However, I would like to offer an alternative viewpoint, particularly addressing some of the broader sociological and statistical aspects of this issue.
Firstly, it’s crucial to recognize that while the resistance of a suspect can indeed dictate the response of law enforcement, this dynamic is not always clear-cut or objectively measured. Perceptions of threat or resistance can be influenced by unconscious biases, potentially leading to disproportionate responses in situations involving minority suspects. This is not to discount the challenges and dangers faced by police officers but to acknowledge that human perception and decision-making are complex and often influenced by societal attitudes and stereotypes.
Regarding the use of force, the principle of “minimal force” is a challenging concept in high-stress situations. However, it’s imperative to balance this with the need for de-escalation techniques and community-based policing strategies. These approaches can reduce the need for force, build community trust, and improve overall safety for both officers and the public.
Your point about Elijah McClain’s death raises significant concerns. While legal responsibility and compliance are important, it’s equally important to ensure that law enforcement actions are proportionate and humane. The tragic outcome of this case, and others like it, underscores the need for a thorough review of policing tactics, especially in interactions with marginalized communities.
The issue of crime statistics and race is complex. While it is true that there are disparities in crime rates among different demographic groups, but it’s important to look at these statistics with an understanding of the underlying socio-economic factors. Poverty, lack of access to education, and systemic discrimination contribute significantly to these disparities. It’s a sociological fallacy to attribute higher crime rates in any community solely to inherent characteristics of that community.
Regarding leadership and police reform, I agree that strong, ethical leadership is paramount in guiding police departments towards more effective and just practices. The challenges of modern policing require leaders who are not only tactically proficient but also deeply aware of the social and community contexts in which they operate.
While your experiences and views are certainly valid, we must consider the broader sociological context in which policing occurs. This includes recognizing and addressing systemic biases, understanding the socio-economic roots of crime, and striving for leadership and policies that foster trust, equity, and justice in our communities.
I think we should address those broader concerns. However, people have been addressing those broader concerns for many years with no real effect. It doesn’t matter to you what the sociological issues are when you are being mugged or shot. I can be aware of all of those issues. It doesn’t mean that I can ignore the very real today issue of protecting the public. If you are a danger to the community, I need to address that and not make excuses for you. The courts and the media are doing a fine job of that. My job is to enforce the law, not to punish. If I saw the chance to make a difference in the life of a young black youth who was simply disadvantaged, I would certainly do it. I met a number of poor single black mothers who were raising their children in a cleaner environment and with more class than most of us. Many of those women thanked us for trying to make the area safe for their children to play, instead of dodging gang gunfire. Many discussions with young black gang members made it clear that they were not involved in crimes like murder and drug dealing just because they were poor. They made to clear that when they are shooting at each other and you or your child get in the way, it is your fault.
As far as cultural issues go, I have encountered negative attitudes expressed by black youths over and over in such a way as to make it very difficult for other black youths to seek education or a better life. There are serious cultural issues in the black community that make it difficult for the many black youths who could become productive and fine citizens. The black ministers I have known have tried to deal with those issues. They have been unsuccessful for the most part. The next step is to blame everything on racism.
As far as use of force goes, I have taught use of force to officers for many years. I didn’t do that just for the protection of the officers. I did it because I did not like bullies and I could not stomach brutality toward people who were not a threat. I taught to try to professionalize the use of force. Deescalation and use of only necessary force are a great part of that. Treating everyone with respect is also a part of that. But, I recognize when I must put my hands on someone to keep from getting shot, whereas it would appear to the average citizen that I was escalating the situation. The officer wants to go home at night to his/her family. That means that sometimes he will misjudge the suspects movements. With many years and thousands of contacts, it can’t help but happen. The public need to understand that.
And I keep wondering why Aurora has a conservative City Council and Mayor.
The diversity in this city doesn’t have a chance.
It is refreshing to see someone systematically dismantle the left-wing trash that regularly emanates from Perry’s pen.
It is refreshing to see someone systematically dismantle the leftist bias that regularly emanates from Perry’s pen.
It is refreshing to see someone systematically dismantle the mistaken reasoning that regularly emanates from Perry’s pen.
I would be fascinated to know how Mr. Perry has ascertained the race of folks who have written in. He states that whites made certain comments. How does he know those comments were not made by blacks, asians, native americans, or pacific islanders? He has made presumptions, and racist ones at that.
Oh, he may well be correct.
Generally in agreement with Perry, but the formulation “walking home *while* being Black” just doesn’t make sense. It’s as if Black people can change like chameleons and walk home while being Black, or walk home while being Brown, or walk home while being White. No, the only thing they can do is “walk home *as* a Black person”. Of course the same applies to people of all other racial/ethnic classifications, unless they are disguising themselves. But interestingly you never read of someone doing something “while Brown”, etc. Unfortunately the grammatically incorrect and misleading phrase “doing x-y-z while Black” seems to be firmly entrenched now in “woke” discourse.
“So when a petrified 26-year-old Black adolescent”
At what point are people classed as adults these days? Thirty?
Excellent comments by Don Black. The author has a political objective. This political objective causes hatred for law enforcement with resistance from suspects.
Don’s comments are amazing. You need to have a meeting with the City Council.
Through the years, we, in the police department tried to bring issues of dishonesty and poor leadership to the attention of the City Manager. He never took up any of our complaints nor dealt with dishonest leadership. There are better ways to do police work. I have sent many messages to Council and the City Manager. I warned them ahead of time that Chief Wilson had no plan to protect the city’s buildings or to handle crowds. That was before all of the overreaction and under reaction that was exhibited during the George Floyd and Elijah McClain demonstrations.
I went before Council and suggested that they gather everyone who wanted to be chief and retired officers to discuss better ways to do policing. I wanted the public to actually hear ideas and not the standard lines that are presented by prospective chiefs. All those generalized comments about community policing and community relationships are just that. Most chiefs can only mouth glowing terms with no real ideas on working with the public and reducing crime. They are protected by the fact that they never have to actually defend their comments against questions by those who do the job. Police officers are not allowed to comment or question.
I realize that a real public forum will not be allowed. It would expose the incompetence and wrong thinking of all of those who are making decisions. When I supervised, I always understood that I had many bright people working for me who had better ideas than I. I always tried to use good ideas and recognize those who gave them. Our systems are not built that way. Egos and political careers are far more important than the welfare of the public.
The people in charge control the narrative and the platforms for people to speak. You will only hear comments like mine in small venues like this. I have written many times to other papers but seldom get published. Police publications have been decrying the lack of ethical and competent police leadership for years. No one but the police see those comments. People are leading their lives. I understand that.
My students in the police academy would always ask why certain dumb things were done the way they were. They could all see that things were not quite right. I could only quote a Scythian proverb from millennia ago. It goes, “Wise men argue causes….fools decide them.” It is doubtful that it will change. We are, more and more, at the mercy of politicians and less exposed to arguments from those who really care.
Mr. Black, who was not out there that night, protests too much.
The undeniable, simple fact is that McClain was doing nothing illegal when he was walking home. Let me repeat for those who are so eager to ascribe blame to McClain: He was doing nothing illegal.
There was no probable cause to believe he had committed a crime, was committing a crime, or was about to commit a crime.
There was no reasonable suspicion, a lesser standard than probable cause, and one police are trained to look for. There wasn’t even that lowly standard met in the encounter.
I certainly defer to Mr. Black’s extensive experience, but I can’t help but notice his use of the word “suspect”.
How in the name of all that’s holy was McClain a “suspect” in anything? What suspicious behavior did the police observe? The answer is none.
Our Fourth Amendment jurisprudence teaches that the police must have probable cause to charge a crime. At the least they must have reasonable suspicion that something is afoot.
Neither probable cause nor reasonable suspicion justified McClain’s detention, however temporary. McClain was not making threats, he was not waving a weapon around. His “crime” was walking home. If a cop comes up to me and tries to talk to me, I will likely do so. But I am under no obligation to. I have the absolute right to ignore him and walk away, so long as the police have no constitutionally recognized right to detain me.
But we live in a society where blacks and other minorities are stopped all the time, for no good reason. That’s why Mr. McClain is dead today. And Mr. Black’s protestations to the contrary, we all know this to be true.
It’s time we started admitting it.
Citizens call in all the time to report things they believe are suspicious. They are the eyes and ears for the police. It is the basis for neighborhood watch. That is a large part of community policing. Although police chiefs think of community policing simply as a “grin and wave” program, it should be far more. Police chiefs only believe that you have meetings and talk in such a way that you make people feel good. Unless the citizens feel that the police will actually do something when they are given information, it serves no purpose for them to call at all. It is supposed to be a partnership. I created the Police Area Representative Program (with the help of Council) over the objections of the Chief. The Division Chief told me that they were going to teach me a lesson by making the areas too big to work. The areas stayed too big and the Chiefs never took the time to understand how the program could reduce crime. They continued to look at it as simply a PR program.
So, for the public to believe that it is worthwhile to call the police when they see something suspicious, they must believe that the police will actually act upon the information. We have all heard that the police do nothing. Today, that is mostly true. Why is that? Well in the past, when someone called about a suspicious person, it was expected that the police might contact that person. It was also required by law that a person who was stopped by the police cooperate. It was actually a violation of law called “Obstruction” if you used any force to resist being stopped. Our lawmakers (throughout normal history) understood that if we did not have any teeth to a law, then no one would stop for the police and the police could not enforce any laws. So, after George Floyd and Elijah McClain, and many prosecutions of the police, it is apparent to the police that it is too dangerous (legally) for them to stop people. It is also more dangerous physically. The legislature expects you to use minimum force. That is often sufficient and only I can feel his resistance. So while I am being overly gentle, he can pull away and access a weapon. All you have to do is to resist and fight and the popular narrative will condemn the police (especially if you are black). The police, who during a career should make many stops, now know that they only have to have one stop go bad and they will go to prison. The Chiefs, political animals that they are, are looking for chances to publicly condemn officers to enhance their own images
I am certainly not condoning the way Officer Chauvin treated George Floyd. I am defending the way officers treated Elijah McClain. Reasonable suspicion is often subjective and open to wide interpretation. Should the officers have taken time to get far more information before they stopped Elijah McClain based upon a citizen’s call? Possibly. Why is that often not done? The reason is that there often is not enough time or manpower to do so. First, I have to know where to get more information. The citizen did not know that Elijah had simply been at a store buying tea. If he had known, was there time to send a car to the store to get more information before Elijah disappeared? Often the police must simply act upon the information they have. Could they have watched Elijah longer before stopping him? Probably. Then again, how long will it be before he turns a corner and is gone? There will be many times when you could second guess the decision to stop someone. The officer does not have to know a specific crime under reasonable suspicion. Mr. Ryan pointed out the fact that the officer only has to suspect that the person is committing, has committed or is about to commit a crime. That is pretty broad, out of necessity. The expectation is that a person will stop when challenged by the police. Poor Elijah was an exception. There was no time for the police to realize that Elijah had personal challenges and fears that meant that he would not react reasonably. A tragedy, certainly.
As for the stopping of many young blacks. I have explained that young black males are disproportionately involved in crime. That means, that if the police are doing their job, they will stop a disproportionate number of young black males (and often females). It cannot be avoided. What Elijah’s case did was to make it clear to the police that they should be more careful in justifying reasonable suspicion before making a stop. But, if we are going to condemn the police because people resist lawful stops, then we must forget enforcing laws. Suspects don’t get killed because of the minor offense. They get killed because of their resistance. Sad for Elijah McClain. He was, from all accounts, a sweet person. When I go to stop you, I don’t know your history. If you don’t give me a chance to talk to you before you decide to walk away, I have no chance to evaluate your situation. If I must use force immediately, there is little time to deescalate. If I try to use less force, it may result in a more dangerous situation.
I don’t believe in stopping anyone, for no good reason. Did I work with a few racist officers who stopped people because they were black? Yes. Did I like working around them? No. I hated it. I hated them. The bosses, however, refused to deal with their behavior. I learned quickly who had moral and ethical values within the department. Now, those same people will smile at you, talk a good game, and act morally superior. The police are not allowed to tell you the truth about their bosses. There are ways to overcome that. The politicians who run things will never allow those fixes. It is a power system.
How is someone a 26-yr old adolescent?
It’s amazing how some people can not see – really see – the photo of Elijah’s McClain’s mom at the top of the story, with a tear rolling down her cheek. Not see it and instead focus on trivialities: how does the author know the race of people who are writing in, how was Elijah an adolescent, why didn’t his parents teach him how to behave, the phrase “walking home while Black” is bad grammar, etc. There is so little humanity in these comments and Don Black is probably glad to have such a visible platform. I am not sure it’s worth it to have comments.
Because Sheneen McClain cried means that no one can critique Dave Perry – his assumptions regarding commenters, his definition of adolescence, and his grammar choices?