R.I.P. Scout26
A crowd gathered as Knoxville Police Department Lt. Gordon Gwathney struggled with the screaming black woman in the public housing development.Gwathney already had shot his stun gun at the 5-foot-2-inch tall woman, but her crack cocaine high made her impervious to the electric jolt designed to freeze the muscles of large men. She ripped the metal wires from her body and continued to fight.As he tussled with the 110-pound woman, the crowd of onlookers in Walter P. Taylor Homes swelled. Gwathney’s radio was ripped from his uniform as he forced the woman to the ground, so calling for help as the crowd closed in around him was not an option.As he fought to get handcuffs on the squirming woman, two people from the crowd jumped into the fray. ....
My hope for humanity has ticked up a couple of notches. Still not out of negative territory but upward motion is good.
To residents of East Knoxville, Gwathney is “Officer G.”“He treats us like people; he knows our names,” said Linda Conner, a resident of Walter P. Taylor Homes whose two adult children benefited from Gwathney’s influence.
It might start ticking down again:http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/28/us/st-louis-metrolink-beating/index.htmlYeah, I'm just a ray of sunshine.