There Will Be No George Floyd 2.0
The Left might pine for a 2020 redux. But they shouldn’t hold their breath.
On March 21, a 26-year-old black man named Dexter Reed was pulled over for a seatbelt violation by four plainclothes Chicago police officers. When Reed
refused to comply with orders to roll down his window, the officers surrounded the vehicle and instructed Reed to unlock the doors; in response, Reed pulled out a gun and began shooting, hitting one officer in the forearm. The police returned fire, and Reed was killed. The entire interaction was captured on police body cameras, the footage from which was released to the public last week. The Chicago Office of Police Accountability, a law-enforcement civilian oversight board, confirmed after a review of the footage that Reed “fired first,” and that a handgun was recovered from the front passenger seat of his car.
Reed’s killing set into motion a familiar ritual. Community activists
called for the scalps of the officers involved in the shooting. Left-wing activist groups and local legislators — including Chicago Mayor
Brandon Johnson —
rushed to express their shock and outrage at the scourge of police brutality and systemic racism. Protests
mobilized on the streets of Chicago, clashing with law enforcement and blocking an intersection outside a police station. (Reed’s brother was
arrested at the protest.) Tearful family members
recounted stories of Reed’s angelic innocence to a swarm of sympathetic journalists, and they appeared alongside local activists at a press conference, brandishing
Justice for Dexter Reed! signs:
Continues...
On March 21, a 26-year-old black man named Dexter Reed was pulled over for a seatbelt violation by four plainclothes Chicago police officers.
spectator.org
