racial killing in Louisianna

Bernard Monroe, a retired 73 year old cancer survivor hosted a barbecue at his Homer, LA home on February 20th.

Amid the commotion of family and friends enjoying their day, two police officers pulled up looking for Monroe's son, Shawn, who had previous run in's with the law, however nothing current, and no outstanding warrants. Shawn, it appears, panicked and ran into the house. One of the officers followed, but reappeared exiting the home via the front door.

Bernard, it being his home and all, began walking up to the officer who was still standing at the front door. The officer then opened fire on the 73 year old, hitting him several times, killing him. While witnesses pleaded with the officers to call an ambulance, the officer radioed "officer in distress" and never summoned help the Mr. Monroe.

Then, in front of friends and family attending the cook out, the officers proceeded to take a gun that belonged to Bernard off the front porch where he kept it in plain site for protection, and place it in the dead man's hand. When questioned, the officer told the witness to "shut the hell up".

Homer police chief, Russell Mills, had this to say:

"If I see three or four young black men walking down the street, I have to stop them and check their names," said Mills, who is white. "I want them to be afraid every time they see the police that they might get arrested."We're not out there trying to abuse and harass people -- we're trying to protect the law-abiding citizens locked behind their doors in fear."

This has prompted both a state and federal investigation according to the LA Times.

Is it me, or are these stories becoming more common? Even though I watch the news without fail everyday and visit several major news sites as well, I never discover these stories until a while after they occur. This incident occurred on February 20th, and the LA Times reported on March 17th.

Now for my big question. Why don't we ever read about these issues, only racially reversed? I can't remember the last time I read about Hispanic or African American cops rolling up in a white neighborhood and shooting an unarmed caucasian person.

So off I go, looking for such a story. If you all don't hear from me for a while, you know what I'll be doing. If anyone else runs across a racially reversed story, please let me know. Otherwise I might be MIA for quite some time.