Dajerria Becton was invited to a high school pool party in McKinney, Texas when things turned sour.
Dylann Roof invited himself into a Wednesday night prayer meeting in Charleston, South Carolina when things turned tragic.
Roof reportedly confessed to killing nine people at Mother Emanuel AME Zion Church when he was arrested in Shelby, North Carolina.
Dajerria Becton was never charged with a crime, even though the video of her being forcibly restrained by police corporal Eric Casebolt has been viewed millions of times on multiple Youtube channels.
And now, this:
from Facebook
The juxtaposition of the two makes every sensible person irate. It should.
But hold your horses for just a moment.
This is no apples-to-apples comparison.
On the left, you see what journalists call a “perp walk.” It’s when police stage a photo opportunity for the media to capture and broadcast images of a perpetrator (innocent until proven guilty). The police are always respectful and on their best behavior, because they know their activity is also under public scrutiny.
On the right, you see raw video of a response to a public disturbance call. Police action – arrests and disturbance calls – are messy. Officers use whatever force they deem appropriate to rise above the level of resistance they meet on the scene.
Casebolt’s use of force has been called “indefensible” by his superiors, and he has resigned.
Where is raw video of Roof’s arrest? As of this writing, none can be found. Perhaps the North Carolina authorities have dash cam video. Published reports of his arrest state that Roof was cooperative with officers when he was apprehended.
So that only leaves us with the video of what the Sheriff in Shelby, NC arranged on June 18th…a sterile, controlled photo op.
It’s not the same as unedited arrest video. Don’t confuse the two, and try not to be swayed by images that compare the two. They’re not the same.
