On March 29, Adam Toledo, an unarmed Latino 13-year-old with his hands up, was shot and killed by police officers in Chicago.
As bodycam footage of the shooting is being made public, the public has once again begun to call for dramatic police reform that would bring an end to needless violence against minorities.
Many conservatives are predictably unhappy with this and are looking for ways to justify the killing of a 13-year-old so change will seem unnecessary.
Sean Hannity of Fox News, for instance, recently described Toledo as a "13-year-old man" on his radio program.
During the episode of The Sean Hannity Show, the Fox host said:
"We are awaiting the release this hour of Chicago Police bodycam footage that captured the fatal police shooting of a young 13 year old man by the name of Adam Toledo. And if social media is any indication, there's a lot of chatter today about possible unrest."
"I hope it doesn't happen but with Chicago's track record, every weekend -- you know, I guess, you'd have to go with the odds, considering there are dozens and dozens of shootings and killings every weekend in Chicago -- that this might not be particularly good."
Hannity's comments reminded many of how he and other conservative pundits still describe now 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who brought a gun over state lines and killed two people and injured a third.
The differences in how Fox News media personalities describe White individuals and people of color can seem subtle but make a world of difference.
By describing Toledo as a "man," Hannity was suggesting to viewers that this 13-year-old was fully grown and perhaps should have known better.
It also makes the firing officer's actions seem more acceptable.
Many White shooters who—unlike Toledo—were armed and guilty of murder were safely apprehended by the police who would later describe them in unabashedly sympathetic terms.
Including White mass shooters.
It seems the police believe White young men deserve sympathy and respect even after firing their weapons in public and killing people, while children of color should be considered a deadly threat even when unarmed with their hands raised.
Or playing with a toy gun or wearing a hoodie.
This is not a unique situation, it is only the latest in a long string of violent incidents captured on film.
Many other innocent people of color are likely being harmed by police every day, though not all of those encounters will be recorded and less still will gain viral media attention.
It is time for a change.
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