YOU SAW WHAT?

SPECIAL POST

In the aftermath of the Baltimore riots and charges against six cops, FOX NEWS was at the main scene of events yesterday to provide a followup report on Shepard Smith's program.  While gathering information and setting up for the live report, a shot rang out; a back man fell to the ground and was transported to a local hospital.  The gun involved in the shooting laid in the street underneath the feet of a guarding officer as cops formed shielded lines at opposite ends of the block to preserve the scene of the crime.  

News quickly spread that the black man had been fleeing from the cops when he was shot.  Dozens of angry area residents poured onto the streets.  Conflicting stories rose, one saying the "young" black man had been sitting on a stoop when cops drove up and saw him reaching for something from the front of his pants, which turned out to be a gun; that story has the man instantly taking off and running from the cops when he was shot by one and fell to the ground.  Another story had the "unarmed" man simply running from the cops when he was shot in the back.  

And just like that, the tempers in the city of Baltimore were inflamed again.  

When the dust started to settle, it turned out that the black man on the stoop did have a gun and that he had taken off running when the police car originally showed up.  In the process, the gun dropped to the ground and one shot rang out as it hit the pavement, during which or after which the man fell to the ground.  The bullet had not hit him, but in the interest of caution he was transported to a hospital anyway.   

The lesson of the story is one that needs to be repeated over and over again: witnesses to a sudden situation see several different versions of the same thing.  And so it is that until you get all of the facts, and often until you get into a courtroom where all of the facts can come out, you simply cannot take sides or even try to make a judgment as to what actually happened.  

Barack Obama, Al Sharpton and the rest of America would be wise to understand this lesson and to act accordingly in the future.  

That's MY AMERICAN OPINION, respectfully submitted.