Show me a bad kid, and I’ll show you rotten parents

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I hadn’t heard of this story until I saw this tweet:

Yeah, that sounds kind of bad!

13-Year-Old Boy Who ‘Wanted to Become a Cop’ Is Killed by Chicago Police

Pilar Melendez | Friday, April 2, 2021 | 12:10 PM

The death of a 13-year-old boy, who dreamed of joining the police but was gunned down by a cop in an “armed confrontation” this week, has horrified the crime-weary city of Chicago, prompting demands for answers from the mayor on down.

The Cook County Medical Examiner confirmed to The Daily Beast that Adam Toledo died of a gunshot wound to the chest on Monday. His death, which occurred after a confrontation with Chicago police in Little Village, has been classified as a homicide.

The boy’s family, community leaders, and even Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot are demanding police release the body-camera videos of the incident. The officer involved in the shooting has been put on desk duty for at least 30 days pending an investigation.

“Adam was a seventh-grade student at [Gary Elementary] School, enjoyed sports, and was a good kid. He did not deserve to die the way he did,” the Toledo family said in a Friday statement.

Uh huh.

The family said Adam was killed “due to the unreasonable conduct of a Chicago Police Officer” and they would “seek justice for this reprehensible crime.” They added that they were only notified of Adam’s death two days after he was killed.

“We are confident that the Chicago Police Department and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability will conduct a thorough investigation, that there will be transparency, and that Toledo Family will find out the truth of what happened to Adam.”

Police said the incident began at around 2:35 a.m. on Monday when officers responded to a call of “multiple shots fired in the 200 block of S. Sawyer.” When they arrived, they found two males—later identified as Toledo and 21-year-old Ruben Roman Jr.—“in a nearby alley” and at least one was armed. Police said the armed person ran from the scene, prompting officers to start a foot pursuit that ended in an “armed confrontation.”

What, exactly, was a 13-year-old boy doing out on the streets at 2:35 AM on Monday morning?

There’s more at the original, and the Usual Suspects are trying to make this about politics, but two perps, running from the police at 2:35 in the morning isn’t exactly the type of situation in which the officers would have suspected that one was a 13-year-old kid. If the text of the story is accurate, Mr Roman did not flee the police, while young Adam Toledo fled while carrying a firearm. The story states that Mr Toledo was struck “in the chest” by the officer’s bullet; if he was not struck in the back, then it seems likely that he turned after fleeing and confronted the officer. If he confronted the officer with a weapon in his hand, then the officer was justified in taking the shot.

Eventually body camera footage will show the confrontation, but it would seem pretty clear to me: if young Mr Toledo was out at that hour of the night, and was carrying a pistol, then Mr Toledo is responsible for his own demise.

But Mr Toledo isn’t the only one responsible for his death. Where were his parents? Which adult was responsible for the supervision of a 13-year-old boy at 2:35 AM on Monday? Some adult, somewhere, failed in his responsibility, failed not only to have young Mr Toledo inside his home at that hour, and, to be very blunt about it, failed in his duty to rear the child properly.

Mr Toledo is dead, but his parents, or whomever was supposed to be caring for him, are just as responsible for his behavior, and his death, as was the young boy.

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3 thoughts on “Show me a bad kid, and I’ll show you rotten parents”

  1. I’m suspecting the kid “who wanted to be a police officer or at least so he told his parents” was doing shady stuff with a gang.. Apparently, that area is rife with Latin Kings members, and cops are worried about being shot at after this.

    • Well, who knows? At 13, we can’t expect him to have a really good idea what he wants to be . . . unless, of course, we’re talking about his gender identity.

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