Just because you can watch a video displaying the last minutes of a man's life, should you? New Yorker staff writer Philip Gourevitch isn't sure (but I am).
In the quote below, Gourevitch asks us what our limits are when it comes to violent videos; I'd ask what our limits are regarding the violence itself.
It is easy not to click on a video, easy to choose not to watch Walter Scott’s murder. But making that choice is now inescapable. So the questions that come with it are inescapable, too. For instance: If you’re being shown this video, what wouldn’t you be shown? And also: If you’re being shown this because black lives matter, should you decline to look because black deaths matter, too?
We Watch Because We Have To
Let's be clear; people shouldn't watch Walter Scott's death because viewing a man's final seconds is thrilling stuff. It's not.
The video is simultaneously horrifying and painful and enraging.
And yes, of course you should watch it.
In fact, it should be required viewing for anyone still clinging to the fantasy that police don't lie, or shoot people unnecessarily, or brutalize the poor.
A truly sizable portion of the population believes the police are always honest, that they don't make up charges, innocent people don't find themselves arrested (or in jail), and when things go horribly wrong, it's never the police's fault.
The recent rash of videos showing police brutalizing and shooting people -- capped by the Walter Scott shooting video -- seems to prove otherwise.
Walter Scott was coolly and calmly gunned down by officer Michael Slager, who -- within seconds -- began work on a coverup that probably would have seen him cleared. The police even began circling the wagons in the usual way (smear the victim, repeat the shooter's story, etc.).
But this time, we have proof that officer Slager lied.
And "lie" is not a word you want associated with the people who are supposed to protect you. But while we're using the term, let's see where else it fits.
Tamir Rice is shot and the police tell us a story about an adult-sized kid in a crowd of people who went for a gun, forcing the officer to defend himself.
The video tells us this is a lie.
Tamir Rice was a lone kid shot by a shaky, unqualified officer whose partner stormed the park as if it was awash in bodies courtesy an active shooter. Rice was then left to writhe in pain and ultimately die.
John Crawford was supposedly warned several times to disarm, yet the video makes it clear that too was a lie; Crawford was killed by officer Sean Williams almost as soon as Williams had a clear sight picture.
All this occurred while Crawford was threatening no one and doing nothing illegal.
The problem with lying is that once you've established yourself as a liar, it's not possible to know if you're ever telling the truth.
A few minutes research on YouTube suggests at least some police are willing to lie about traffic crimes, they're willing to lie about the legality of walking down the street, they're willing to lie about civilian rights under the law, and at least a couple are willing to lie about shooting someone in the back.
Where We Find Ourselves
The more people watch the Walter Scott video, the more they realize our police require accountability, because a subset will simply not adopt the truth without prompting.
The more people watch the Walter Scott video, the more they realize police need body cams and dash cams -- the footage from which should be made public (and not just when it clears officers).
The more people watch the Walter Scott video, the more they realize we need to make those cams difficult to tamper with -- and that those who tamper with them should suffer severe legal penalties.
And the more people watch the Walter Scott video, the more they realize that citizen overwatch of police (video recordings, etc.) should be even more clearly protected; any intimidation, harassment or arrests of people exercising this right should be punished (and not with a suspension).
We need to fix things. Yet we can't as long as a disturbing percentage of people don't -- or won't -- recognize the fact these things are broken.
I'm not sure why Gourevitch thinks looking away is an option; this isn't spectacle, it's an all-too-common example of police wrongly killing someone -- an act which will keep occurring until more of us no longer believe the lie.