On July 20, people around the nation were stunned to hear the news of a heavily armed gunman shooting unarmed people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. A few days later people learned of unarmed people being assaulted in Anaheim, California by armed police.
James Holmes, who killed 12 people and injured an additional 58 people, while dressed in military style clothing and still armed with assault weapons, he was allowed to surrender peacefully to Aurora police. In Anaheim, people were peacefully protesting the murders of two young men; one was unarmed and the other may have been armed (or unarmed). The police response has been violent, shooting people with pepper pellets and bean bags and using attack dogs. Many people were horrified at the sight of a police dog attacking a young child in a stroller.
One obvious difference in these two cases is that one killer was a civilian, while the other killers were police officers. The other obvious difference is that the white murderer was given an opportunity to surrender, while the Latino men, Manuel Diaz and Joel Acevedo were shot under suspicious circumstances during the same weekend.
Both incidents occurred within days of each other. The people of this nation saw the news reports of both, but in Aurora, Colorado the victims were rightfully treated sympathetically, while in Anaheim, California the victims were considered thugs, and peaceful protesters (exercising their first amendment rights) were regarded as rioters, and wrongfully treated unsympathetically. I have to clarify here that the protests againsst police brutality began peacefully, but were attacked by the police, which resulted in people fighting back.
I'm not trying to compare the horror of both situations, or deny the brutal character of the Aurora, Colorado assault. Clearly, the gunman's attack was senseless brutal violence, causing deeply disturbing physical and emotional scars on all the survivors and took the lives of innocent people, including a child. I am deeply regretful and saddened by the events of that midnight massacre. I am sorrowful of the tragic loss of lives and the terror that the survivors had to endure.
But as I was in the process of trying to process the inexplicable acts of a gunman, who had legally purchased assault weapons, the types of weapons that are used in wars, and witnessed (via media) the ...