Rayshard Brooks Did Not Deserve To Die

Something has to change! This young man who fell asleep in his car and had been drinking should have never ended up dead. While not denying that there are so many potential dangers for the driver and to others, there is no way sleeping in your car or driving while possibly intoxicated should be a death sentence. It appears to me that he was in an alcoholic blackout. He needed help more so than he needed law enforcement, or he at least deserved the chance to have interacted with officers capable of recognizing that fact. Even if he ran away with a taser… So what!! They had his address so he would eventually be located. While talking to the police in the video, he kept telling the officers that he was about 15 or so miles away in another town. He was convinced of that. Being a recovering alcoholic for close to 37 years (One day at a time), I know the scenario. It is entirely possible that Rayshard Brooks, had his life been spared, would wake up not remembering any of what happened. He could have then been presented with some available life choices moving forward. Whether or not he would be willing to listen or to choose any of those recommendations wouldn’t be up to any of us, but at least he would be alive to decide for himself, and would also be around for his little girl’s birthday this weekend. I, along with millions of others, would have been willing to sit and tell this young man our stories of how we found a way out, as many did for me back in 1983, as well as a New York City Wall Street executive did for an Akron medical doctor back in 1935… 85 years ago this week. That is another story (Google it if you don’t know), so there’s that. This is a systemic problem that needs immediate attention. Immediate means NOW!

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