Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 16, 2010

Any human predicament can be turned into a fatal tragedy through police intervention.

On April 9, New Orleans resident Tyralyn Harris called 911 to report that her emotionally troubled husband Brian had taken too many sleeping pills. Rather than sending medical personnel, the dispatcher sent two police officers; when they arrived, one was carrying an assault rifle.

The police barged into the bedroom in which Harris had barricaded himself. Shortly thereafter they tasered Harris. When that failed to subdue the suicidal man to their satisfaction, the police opened fire, killing him. The entire confrontation lasted less than ten minutes.

Harris supposedly threatened the officers with a knife. The attorney representing the slain man?s family points out that he had a pocket knife, which is hardly a formidable weapon. The original police report says that Harris was found lying face-down, which meant that he couldn?t have posed a lethal threat to two armed policemen ? that is, if they had actually intended to help.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.