Talking about an incident that saw an eight-year-old black girl shot to death inside a car during a protest for Black Lives Matter, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said: "You can’t blame it on police officers. You can’t say it’s about criminal justice reform. This is about some people carrying weapons, who shot up a car with an eight-year-old baby. For what?"
She went on to point out that in the civil rights movement, they were fighting a well-defined common enemy, but now, they are “fighting the enemy within.”
She said: “We are shooting each other on our streets. You’ve shot and killed a baby!”
But her important message was somehow lost on Black Lives Matter supporters, some of whom blamed her for shifting the focus away from police brutality. Apparently, it doesn’t matter to them how many little girls are shot in their cars, as long as the killers are black people. How would they have reacted if it had been a white police officer who had shot her?
Bottoms said she’d like for people to show the same passion toward ending community violence as they are showing toward police reform. She said there have been more than 75 shootings in Atlanta over the past few weeks, and that simply can’t be blamed on the city’s police.
The shooting took place on July 4 near a Wendy’s that was torched by Black Lives Matters protesters following the police killing of Rayshard Brooks. When their car tried to enter the area to park and get past a crowd of protesters, activists blocked the vehicle. Two people in the crowd then opened fire at the car, killing Secoriea Turner. Her killers have not been apprehended, and police are offering a reward of $10,000 for any information that may lead to an arrest.
Her mother described Secoriea as a loving and happy girl who loved unicorns and dancing and wanted to be a nurse when she grew up. A former teacher said she was strong and powerful and was destined to grow up to do something “amazing and great.”
Her father said: “They say Black Lives Matter. You killed your own.”
Georgia governor calls for an end to "lawlessness"
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has now called for troops to provide support at certain locations with the aim of leaving more state law enforcement resources available for patrolling dangerous areas.
He said: “This lawlessness must be stopped, and order restored in our capital city.” On social media, he said that the “recent trend of lawlessness is outrageous and unacceptable.” He added that while they are ready to help local leaders to restore peace, “we won’t hesitate to take action without them.”
It’s far from the only incident of black-on-black violence taking place recently. In Atlanta, 14 people were shot and two died during a street party where nearly all the attendees were black.
In Chicago, meanwhile, 67 people were shot, 13 of them fatally, over the holiday weekend; nine of the victims were minors and two died. One victim was a seven-year-old girl who was fatally shot in the head while she was standing on the sidewalk outside of her grandmother’s home.
Why do black lives only seem to matter when it’s a white person who is behind their death? While hate crimes should not be dismissed, it's clear they would rather go after white people instead of addressing the very real issue of black people killing each other. Will we see Black Lives Matter marches to honor the black children who were shot by black men in these incidents?
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