Let Them Run
It is often said, often by callous crackers, that people who are killed by police were killed because of their own bad behavior. Not that the murdered human being, or “suspect,” was necessarily doing anything wrong, something to justify being detained let alone killed, but that they should have acted differently when the police were trying to detain or arrest them.
They shouldn’t have resisted arrest, They should have cooperated, or They shouldn’t have run away.
Cops will charge almost anything as “resisting arrest,” and plenty of cooperative people have been murdered by cops. George Floyd and Philando Castile were unresistant and cooperative as hell and their reward was being murdered by police. Given the way police habitually abuse people, particularly Black men and boys, it’s a feat for anyone to cooperate with them. By rights, aggressive resistance and noncooperation would be the fair and expected response against police aggression and harassment. More pertinently, anyone would be justified in running away from the police. It’s completely understandable that people would run away from the police considering how frequently the police assault and murder the people in their custody.
When people make the argument that because someone ran away from the police it is their fault that the police killed them, they are displaying an ignorance of, and/or hostility to, logic, law, and morality.
First, running away from a person who is shouting and threatening you with a gun is completely understandable. Doesn’t matter what outfit they’re wearing. For marginalized communities in particular, communities in which the police patrol in force and regularly harass or harm residents from the time they’re children, a police uniform is a symbol of oppression and violence which promotes fear. People are afraid of police. When fearful, the “fight or flight” instinct is triggered. People in this state of distress can behave irrationally. As if submitting to the police is all that rational. They can fight, which will almost definitely get them killed, or they can run, and maybe not be killed.
In some jurisdictions it is a felony to “evade” the police. One could therefore make the legal argument that running from cops is a crime. It is, however, not the most serious crime. It could be a charge of six months to two years. It is not a crime punishable by death in any state. If a person is running away, maybe chase them if there’s an actual reason to. But most of the time, just let them go. Most cops aren’t dealing with El Chapo or Keyser Soze. It’s not like if they’re not captured or killed they’ll be on a private plane out of the country the same day. Find them later. Or don’t.
Our culture promotes the idea that killing is always wrong unless it’s done by police or soldiers, or for a very good reason, like self defense or revenge. Reported police killings are often not justified. It’s never justified when the person killed was running away. It’s standard practice for cops to excuse their shootings and killings with the “I feared for my life” defense. This is very often bullshit, proof that the cop in question is either a liar or a coward. In cases where cops make this defense after chasing and shooting at suspects, it is indefensibly stupid.
Police and bootlickers will say, So what, the cops should just let people run away?
Yes. If you can’t catch them, then let them go. If they’re not a mass murderer moments away from murdering more people, let them go. If they haven’t committed any crime worthy of being shot to death, then don’t shoot them to death. Let them run.
Cops aren’t superheroes. They’re not going to save the world by shooting a fleeing suspect in the back. They’re probably not going to save anyone or anything. They’re not Spider-Man, and every person running away from them is not Uncle Ben’s murderer. Who gives a shit if someone runs away after shoplifting or selling drugs or just for the very understandable reason that they don’t want to be hassled by cops. Let them run.