by B. R. GOWANI
Scout Schultz was murdered at Georgia Institute of Technology campus in Atlanta by Georgia Tech police PHOTO/Newsweek
neither male nor female
neither she nor he
a human being who wanted to be addressed as “they”
identified as “I’m bisexual, nonbinary, and intersex”
and used gender neutral pronouns
was leader of the equality group: Pride Alliance
alas, is no more among us
a student at Georgia Tech
was murdered by Georgia Tech police
yes, university police carry guns too
like town/city police murder people too
(1093 people were killed by police in 2016
that is 3 people everyday!)
Scout Schultz was struggling with mental health issues
was also tormented by police shootings of people
and was under studies-stress too
they* called police to inform
a “white male with long blonde hair,
white T-shirt, and blue jeans
possibly intoxicated,
was holding a knife; possibly armed with a gun on his hip”
according to Georgia Bureau of Investigation
that person was Schultz themselves
had only a knife – a multipurpose tool
but no gun or any other weapon
they walked towards police slowly
and shouted “shoot me”
and one of the four policemen shot him
just one bullet straight into his heart
30 minutes later
Scout Schultz was no more
they was not yet 20
taser could have been used to incapacitate they
but officers carry guns not tasers
not much will happen to the police person
as is usual in the United States
the grieving father has one question:
“Why did you have to shoot?
That’s the question.
I mean, that’s the only question that matters right now.
Why did you kill my son?”
no answer will be coming
people in power rarely reply
domestically,
police hate any challenge
internationally,
military wants “unconditional surrender”
United States has too many guns
and far too many bullets
but not enough humanism
nor an upright conscience
the police murder within the US
the military murder without the US
authoritarian mentality needs to be changed
power needs to be curtailed drastically
for the sake of respect for human lives
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com
*(“They,” “themselves” in this piece refers to Scout Schultz.)