On Sunday, April 11th, a young man was stopped in Oak Ridge for a window tint violation. After initial contact with an Oak Ridge police officer, the young man fled from his vehicle on foot toward the First United Methodist Church building. The police officer chased the suspect and saw him enter the church building, just as worshipers were leaving the 10 a.m. service.
The police discovered the young man was wanted in Ohio for
drug and weapons charges and was to be considered armed and dangerous. The
police evacuated church members and established a perimeter. They called in the
Anderson County Sherriff’s K-9 unit. They waited for the dogs to arrive and
then began a search of the building which lasted nearly 2 hours. The dogs
discovered the young man hiding in a bathroom closet. The door was opened and
the suspect was arrested without incident. No one was injured.
The very next day in Knoxville, another young man hid in a bathroom.
This young man was not wanted on any charges. He had no criminal record. He was
not threatening anyone, nor had he fled from the authorities. He was in trouble
and he was scared. He had gotten into a fight with his girlfriend and his
girlfriend’s mother told him she was calling the police. The young man did what
our culture has taught him to do, he got a gun to protect himself.
The Knoxville Police arrived
at Austin-East Magnet School, where the young man was hiding. Within 20 minutes
they had ascertained that the young man was in a bathroom. They entered the
bathroom. Eleven seconds later the young man was dead.
One scared young man hid in a bathroom and was arrested
without incident. Another scared young man hid in a bathroom and didn’t come
out alive. One was white. One was brown.
In the days since Anthony Thompson, Jr. was shot by police
at Austin-East Magnet School, Knoxvillians have demanded to see the video to
know what happened in that bathroom. The District Attorney, the Mayor, the Police
Chief, and many in the Knoxville Community have been asking one question: Was
the shooting justified? But that is the wrong question.
The question we should be asking is: Why were the officers
in that bathroom in the first place?
They had options. They did not have to go into that bathroom
and confront Mr. Thompson. They could have called the K-9 unit, like the
officers in Oak Ridge. They could have asked a trusted guidance counselor
or teacher to go into the bathroom and speak with Mr. Thompson to help him
understand that there was a way out of the trouble he was in. They could have
called in trained crisis de-escalators or even hostage negotiators. They could
have called in Mr. Thompson’s mother or a member of his family to talk him out
of the bathroom peacefully. They had time. They could have waited.
Mr. Thompson was not threatening anyone. He was not an
immediate danger to anyone. He was just a scared teenager. The police had other
options than to enter that bathroom while tensions were running high. The police
knew one side of the story. Who was there to speak for Mr. Thompson? Who was
there to tell his side of the story? Who had his best interests in mind?
Two young men hid in a bathroom. One was a known felon. One
was a scared teenager. One was white. One was brown.
