Jeffrey did not deserve to be killed

Jeffrey did not deserve to be killed

By Filmarie Olayta

IF there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s individuals who keep their minds closed and still have the audacity to pass judgment on other people’s emotions. I’m in utter astonishment to know that your kind of mentality still exists. It infuriates me to witness fellow humans be apathetic. These reasons are why my view cannot be articulated in a placid manner.

I agree that we should know both sides of a story before retorting and I agree that not all cops are bad. That’s why I find your post almost hypocritical. You only know Side A, don’t you want to learn Side B? The fact is that the young man was shot three times in the back by a cop. There are at least three things immoral with that story. I tried so hard to justify the cop’s action but to no avail.

Do you think we can move on just like that? Why do you hold the parents and Jeff responsible for all of this? The boy died! He died because a cop shot him three times, not because he was a ‘bad kid.’ Yes I will reiterate the fact it was a cop that shot him. I will reiterate the fact that the cop shot him three times. I will reiterate the fact that the cop fired three shots at Jeff, did you know he wasn’t facing the cop? Does that not describe murder? Does that not define unlawful killing?

When I first heard of the news I admit, I was skeptical. I thought to myself “As usual, kids and their gangs.” But as things started to unravel, I realized I was wrong to think it’s ok. So what? A gang member died. One, whether Jeff ran around with vicious guys should not even matter. He did not deserve to die, he did not deserve to be killed. No one deserves to get killed by another. Second, according to the people who knew him, he wasn’t a gang member.

You express your careless opinion because you never knew Jeff, you don’t know his family. I didn’t know them either but you will never ever see me denounce victims of injustice.

What makes me think I’m right? I don’t, I know I’m right. I am right because I believe Jeff was unjustly killed. They haven’t proven that he had a knife, and even if he did, a knife is no competition to a gun. There’s your validation for Jeff’s demise. For you to believe that there’s any reason why it was OK for Jeff to be shot three times in the back, then I gave you more credit than you deserve.
Blaming the parents is not the solution. Telling us to shrug this off is not the solution. If we did play the “Blame the Parents” game, then I blame your parents for having you brought up like that. Such a narrow mind. They raised you with that old fashioned way of thinking, if something bad happens to you, it’s your own fault. Sad. Feel free to correct me.

Whether you see it or not, we’re up against two big things here, power trip and racism. It’s not over reacting, it’s not overanalyzing, it’s reality. If you think this tragedy doesn’t affect you, then you’re in deep denial. We’re all affected by this one way or another, directly or indirectly.

Everyone knows we can’t do anything to bring him back. That doesn’t mean we should just sit back and let this happen again. It will happen again, you know. And don’t you dare use the other occurrence (Late Officer Chris Garrett’s death) as an analogy to Jeff’s death. Jeff did not join his friends having any intent to kill anybody.

You said nothing’s going to change? Not with that kind of attitude. Have you ever thought about the future? If this happened to you or your relatives, would you blame yourself? And blaming yourself will accomplish what again? Nothing! That’s right. Stop putting guilt on our people and get off your butt to do something supportive and meaningful!

This should be a wake up call for everyone, not just for you. Remember, I don’t abhor you; I abhor your way of thinking.

As acrimonious as my expression may sound, my response is not to promote hatred but to encourage awareness. Thank you.

(Disclaimer: This was originally written as a reply to a post on an online Filipino forum.)