|
|
|
Jewish World Review July 21, 2005 / 14 Tammuz, 5765 Toddler shooting showdown By Ruben Navarrette Jr.
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Part of being respected politically — and being considered a force to be reckoned with — is deciding which battles to fight. The other part is deciding which ones not to fight.
That lesson is lost on the activists who have been raising Cain over the death of 19-month-old Suzie Marie Pena following a July 10 shootout between her father and a Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team. The father, Jose Raul Pena, also died at the scene.
An autopsy has confirmed that the bullet that killed Suzie, who was shot in the head, came from a police rifle. Authorities still don't know who the shooter was. The incident involved more than two dozen officers; 11 of them fired off a total of more than 60 rounds.
That much is clear. Everything else is a total mess. After all, this is Los Angeles we're talking about. In any city in America, the senseless and likely preventable death of an innocent toddler would be just as tragic. But when it all unfolds in the powder keg of America's second-largest city, tragedy can quickly morph into a combustible blend of racial unrest, immigrant bashing, anti-police hysteria and other explosive ingredients.
An internal-affairs investigation by the LAPD is under way, and others may well follow if people aren't satisfied with the official findings. Given the level of public scrutiny in this case, a whitewash isn't likely. Still, you would think that people would wait until all the evidence is in before rushing to soundly convict the police — or totally exonerate them.
Not in L.A. Not in a city where image is everything, and where everyone — from warring street gangs to high-priced lawyers and talent agents — spends a lot of time playing to the cameras and trying to out-macho one another.
Since the shooting, Police Chief William Bratton has been conducting a damage-control offensive. Labeling the dead girl's dead father a "cold-blooded killer," the tough former New York City police commissioner is trying to paint the guy in the worst light possible — as quickly as possible.
Heck, that's not hard to do. An illegal immigrant from El Salvador who sneaked back into the country after being deported, Pena had — on the day of the shootout — reportedly threatened various family members, including his teenage stepdaughter, the person who called police to the scene in the first place.
According to police, when the SWAT team arrived, they found Pena intoxicated and under the influence of drugs, brandishing a pistol in one hand with the other arm wrapped around his daughter. They even produced still photographs of him holding the child while shooting at officers.
At first, police said Pena had taken his daughter as a hostage. A few days later, they polished their story and insisted the girl was more like a human shield. Either way, they said, the responsibility for this tragic chain of events belongs to Pena.
Then there are the sideshows. Black community activists, many of whom have had their own run-ins with the LAPD, have rallied to Lopez's side. Some of the more vocal elements of the Latino immigrant community are hysterical with anger. That includes the fool who, according to the Associated Press, irresponsibly yelled out in Spanish at the girl's funeral: "The police are assassins!"
No, they're not. They're just ordinary people who found themselves in a terrible situation whose outcome will probably haunt them forever. Assistant Police Chief George Gascon has acknowledged that some of the officers involved are now having "tremendous emotional problems" and may not come back to work.
The whole thing went bad. But what choice did the police have? The bullets being fired at them were real. Just ask SWAT officer Daniel Sanchez, who was wounded in the shoulder and had to be pulled to safety by fellow officers. These people have families and children of their own, and the most important part of their thankless job is to make it home to them when the shift is over.
The activists should be willing to accept that. They should also understand that this is one battle that may not be worth fighting.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
To comment, please click here.
|
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
