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Matt Walsh: 4 crucial details the anti-cop Left is ignoring about the Georgia Tech police shooting
Image credit Maxim Mints/Vimeo

Matt Walsh: 4 crucial details the anti-cop Left is ignoring about the Georgia Tech police shooting

You've probably heard the latest yarn being spun by the anti-police Left. It goes like this: a gay LGBT activist at Georgia Tech was shot dead by police while in the middle of a "mental health crisis." That sentence is basically true, but I call it a yarn because it leaves so much out, and is covered in so many euphemisms, that it brings to mind a wholly and purposefully inaccurate image of what transpired. And it's this image that the anti-police Left has once again used, successfully, to slander law enforcement and foment violence and anarchy.

Violent protests broke out in response to the shooting, as they always do, while the hordes on social media smeared the police as "murderers" who cut down an innocent member of the LGBT community, as if the fact that he is a member of the LGBT community is somehow relevant to the story. It's no coincidence that the media has chosen to use a picture of the student, Scott Schultz, standing in front of a rainbow flag. Without saying it directly, the manipulative, despicable liars are trying to imply that the shooting was inspired by homophobia.

Speaking of manipulative, despicable liars, BuzzFeed tells us in their headline and subheading that "the student president of Georgia Tech's pride alliance was shot by campus police" while "slowly walking towards the officers." It isn't until the last sentence of the fourth paragraph that they allude to why he was walking towards them, and what he was holding while he did so. Other media reports have offered a few more details, mentioning that police had "received a call" about Schultz. It's true that they received a call, but the person who made the call, and why they made it, is a rather relevant detail that seems to have been lost in the shuffle.

Of course, the gay lobby has seized on the story. I mean, not the story, but their story. The version of the story that they've cooked up for political and ideological gain. GLAAD tweeted its lamentations that a "LGBTQ campus organizer lost their life at the hands of campus police" and called for "comprehensive training for police." Just by GLAAD's tweets, you'd think the young man was executed by bigoted cops on an anti-gay crusade. That is exactly what you're supposed to think. That's why they've allowed in certain details and left out certain others.

Let's take a look at what was left out.

-Missing detail number one: Scott Schultz was suicidal. We know he was suicidal because he wrote three suicide notes and called the cops on himself.

-Missing detail number two: He told the police that "somebody" is "skulking" outside with a knife and probably a gun. He indicated to police that he thinks the person "has a gun on his hip."

-Missing detail number three: When the cops arrived on the scene, expecting to meet a potentially dangerous person holding a weapon and possibly carrying a gun, they did not shoot right away. In fact, they pleaded desperately with Scott to drop the weapon and surrender. By my count, they ordered him about 20 times to comply. They can be heard on video saying over and over again, "We don't want to hurt you." But Scott wanted them to hurt him. He forced their hand intentionally. His plan was to use these poor officers as mechanisms for suicide. Finally, to the chagrin of the officers involved, he was given his wish.

-Missing detail number four: Schultz was finally shot when he came after one of the officers, weapon in hand, gun reportedly on hip (he had no gun but the officers wouldn't have known that), and didn't stop in response to their orders. He wasn't just standing harmlessly still. He was trying to give off the impression that he wanted to do them harm. He succeeded. And that's why he's dead.

Now, ask yourself a few questions: whose fault is it that Scott Schultz decided that he wanted to be shot by police officers? Whose fault is it that Scott Schultz told the police he had a gun? Whose fault is it that Scott Schultz didn't listen to any of the 20 commands shouted by the police? Whose fault is it that Scott Schultz came after a police officer while brandishing a weapon? Whose fault is it that Scott Schultz concocted an elaborate suicide-by-cop scenario and then carried it out? If you answer "the police" for any of these questions, I must question either your sanity or your honesty. But it's probably just your honesty.

Two other quick points:

1. Let's be clear about the real victim in this story. Schultz is dead and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry especially for his family. But he is not the victim. Every aspect of this incident was orchestrated and prompted by Schultz himself. He cannot be the victim of something he did to himself. The victims are the police officers who were used by Schultz for his own dark purposes. Suicide-by-cop is a profoundly selfish act because it foists guilt on the cop who must now carry on his life with this on his conscience. He didn't do anything wrong, but he will still suffer from trauma. These officers didn't want to kill anyone. But they had to, and now they must live with that memory.

There's an extra layer in this case, though. Schultz was a left wing activist on campus. He would have been extremely familiar with the anti-police sentiments of his peers. He certainly knew that the police would become targets of hatred and harassment if he carried out his sick plan. It's hard for me to believe that making police targets for hatred and harassment wasn't part of the point here.

2. I confess that I'm a little confused by the Left's philosophy of suicide. Usually they tell us that a person has a "right to die" and that we shouldn't interfere or treat suicide like an objectively bad thing. If a man wants to get a poison pill or lethal injection from a doctor, it would be horrendously evil to prevent him. Yet, in this case, we're told that the police should have put themselves in harm's way in order to keep a suicidal person alive. So, if Schultz had gone to a doctor and asked to be euthanized, the doctor would be compassionate for complying, but if he grabs a knife and lunges at a police officer in an effort to get himself killed, the police officer is a despicable murderer. I'm confused.

My approach to suicide is consistent. I find it deeply sad and terrible, and I believe every effort should be made to preserve human life, even (and especially) when a person is self-destructive. I believe that nobody should ever be directly euthanized by doctors or the State, because human beings aren't dogs. But I also believe that police officers have a right and responsibility to protect themselves and the community when enforcing the law. Schultz was killed not because the police wanted to help him commit suicide, but because he posed a threat.

I simply cannot understand how anyone could deny a police officer the right to defend himself against a suicidal man with a weapon, while in the next breath touting the wonders of doctor facilitated suicide. It would appear that such a person has no problem with assisted suicide, unless it's a cop doing it indirectly and against his own wishes. Why? Well, because the Left just hates cops. It's as simple as that.

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