LETTER: Officer in the Ohio shooting did the right thing

Mike Hansen Las Vegas

3 years ago

Protesters march in downtown Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Police shot and killed a ... — Protesters march in downtown Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, April 20, 2021. Police shot and killed a teenage girl Tuesday afternoon in Columbus just as the verdict was being announced in the trial for the killing of George Floyd. Police showed bodycam footage Tuesday night at a news conference of the officer shooting the girl, who was Black, as she appeared to attempt to stab two people with a knife. (Adam Cairns/The Columbus Dispatch via AP)

The April 24 Review-Journal included a wire service brief that read, “Students at Ohio State University this week have held demonstrations as well as a vigil for Ma’Khia Bryant, a Black 16-year-old who was shot by a white police officer in Columbus on Wednesday. Body camera footage show Bryant holding a knife while lunging toward another girl just before she was shot.”

So the students at Ohio State are demonstrating because a police officer shot a person with a knife who was “lunging toward another girl”? I bloody well hope a police officer would shoot someone who was attempting to kill another person.

Not all police-involved deaths are “good.” George Floyd’s death most certainly wasn’t. But some are, like this one. The officer should be commended for doing his job in an environment where it’s nigh unto impossible to do so.