By: Justin Gonzalez

Recently, I have seen way too much of one thing in the news today: Police Brutality. An easy arrest turned into a murder case because of an aggressive person with a badge and a gun. This aggressive person time and time again, has been a white police officer murdering a black man. It’s no coincidence that Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray and others were all African-American males. The race  of these men were in the heads of every single police officer that was involved. Racism is a daily occurrence across the U.S., and when a badge and a gun get involved then bullets start flying. So instead of letting this happen again, why don’t we hold the men accountable for the murders they committed.

People across the country are irate about this dilemma afflicting the country in the past couple of years. Some protest because they are oppressed by the color of their skin. Others riot out of the crazy joy they get from rioting. The reason I’m riled and bitter is because I think many cases have been swept under the rug. Any officer can claim that he was acting in self-defense even if he was never threatened. But is the only threat the fact that the officer really felt threatened because the man he was arresting wasn’t the same race as him?

Discrimination is still around and has not disappeared. It’s scary to think police officers can murder because of race and potentially never see a trial. Without the video of Walter Scott being murdered who knows what would have happened. There wasn’t a video for Michael Brown and Officer Darren Wilson walked away without even being indicted. If there was no spotlight put on by the media and protesters then I know cases like this could possibly never see the light of day. So why is that?

It’s because police departments are worried that if cases like these are made into a larger problem then it could prove to be a serious issue for them. They should not be thinking about that,  those departments should be thinking about making sure a person’s life does not end abruptly because of  the color of his skin. Every officer needs to be kept under constant checks and assurance to make sure they are doing their job lawfully. The job of protecting us, not  killing us us.

And as for the rioters who have taken things too far, they are by all means not doing the right thing. Unfortunately, they may be hurting the cause more than helping because people lose sight of the protesters’ message. Cutting hoses when fireman are trying to save people from a fire isn’t going to make the situation any better. Protesters need to keep protesting but in a peaceful manner without turning to rioting. By doing this, changes will come much quicker and another potential suspect like Freddie Gray could be just an arrest and not a homicide.