It’s doubtful Thurman Blevins knew when he woke up on his last day that it was going to be his last day. Perhaps he was troubled by life and drank to assuage his sadness. Maybe he had a beef with somebody and thought carrying a gun prudent for his safety. Impossible to know. He won’t be clearing things up. He’s dead, another black man shot by a police officer, who deemed it necessary to unload an entire clip into a fleeing suspect.
Jerry Jones owns one of sport’s most valuable franchises. The Dallas Cowboys start every season with more than the eyes of Texas upon them. Over time, and several Super Bowl championships, the Cowboy brand has spread throughout the country, enveloping fans thousands of miles away, with no significant ties to the Lone Star State. Many are African American.
The call from dispatch said a black male appeared drunk and had reportedly fired a gunshot in the air. Nobody could blame a police officer for coming into that scenario on edge and expecting a confrontation. Fortunately, in what has become the norm, we are privy to the entire unvarnished episode caught on body cam. The officers came upon a man walking his dog and speaking calmly with a woman and young child. There is clearly a gun tucked in his hip. One can assume Thurman Blevins saw the squad car approaching, yet he did nothing until the officer, seeing the gun, jumped out of the car screaming profanity and ordering Blevins to the ground. At that point the suspect turns and frantically begins to run away.
The NFL comes into the 2018 season with a gargantuan problem, largely of its own making. The POTUS, as he always does, has incited his followers and fellow travelers, to villianize black NFL players intent on kneeling during the national anthem to protest countless police shootings of unarmed black men, many caught on camera in egregious detail. What Colin Kaepernick started, many players appear willing to continue, despite warnings – the most direct and penal announced by Jones and his son last week – from team owners of possible fines and suspensions for engaging in behavior the NFL has been loath to clearly define. White Trump supporters swear they will find other things to do Sunday afternoon and Monday night if the unpatriotic protesters continue unabated.
Throughout the chase the officer repeatedly screams he will shoot Thurman Blevins if he does not stop. Blevins is heard responding he wants to be left alone, and imploring to know what he did, even though there is little doubt he is in possession of a gun. Blevins is in pretty good shape and appears to be able to control the pace of the chase as the two continue yelling back and forth. Clearly, the officer is getting more winded the further they run. At no time does it appear Blevins plans to shoot at the officer.
Last week Jones defined his reading of NFL anthem policy. “You stand for the anthem, toes on the line,” asserted the man who last year actually knelt with his players before feeling the backlash of Trump, and those his tweets and MAGA rally declarations incited. Since then Jones’ son Stephen, a Cowboys executive, said players would stand “if they want to remain Cowboys”… fairly unambiguous. Meanwhile, starting QB Zach Prescott, uninterested in challenging ownership on the issue, stated NFL games are “not the proper venue” to protest. How his teammates feel on the issue is unclear, but there has certainly been no stampede of support from black Cowboys for Prescott’s take on the matter.
Watching Truman Blevins go down it is unclear how many times he was shot; it was later confirmed fourteen shots were fired, hitting him four times. Apparently, the officer never pondered lesser measures, perhaps one round to debilitate Blevins, as he chased him. At no time is it clear that Blevins aimed a gun at the officer, although in announcing the decision not to prosecute the DA declared it a certainty.
In the end the pursuing officer made good on his repeated promises to shoot Blevins, who is now dead. He was no angel, with a host of priors, and he had a gun and was reported to be intoxicated. He was also shot multiple times in the back as he fled a police officer, who never presented himself in any way other than a profanity-screaming aggressor, threatening from the beginning to shoot Blevins dead.
As happens in more than 95% of police shootings of black men, armed or unarmed, the officer(s) will not be prosecuted and will likely keep their jobs and be patrolling the streets of Minneapolis again soon. The police union let fly ridiculous rhetoric, sadly common in these situations, that the officers deserved “the highest” medals for their actions. Commendations are the last thing that jumps to mind reviewing the footage. If Blevin’s shooting is complicated, it comes on the heels of Philando Castile’s killing, also caught on camera, an execution by any measure. In fact ten unarmed men have been killed by Minneapolis’ finest since 2000. When a well is poisoned, all of the watered becomes toxic.
That Jerry Jones may be losing sleep is his own doing. He has cornered himself with a position, that while earning props from the divider in chief, robs him of options and leaves him at the mercy of his players. If Zeke Elliot, Allen Hurns, Tavon Austin, etc. decide to show solidarity with Kaepernick, so obviously blacklisted for taking a stand, and take a knee opening day, Jones will have a decision to make, a prospect it’s a sure bet he dreads. One thing is certain, at the end of the day he is powerless in the matter. That’s a feeling many fans of the team he owns can empathize with.