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Not A Willy-Neely Death

05/05/2023

Jordan Neely wasn't killed on purpose.

To those who picked that up someplace (I'm looking at you mayonnaise media), if they honestly believe that, I guess I get their angst.

But, if they're ignoring the fact that an honest effort was made to quell an ambiguous threat that went horribly wrong with an ill-advised chokehold, then I can't have sympathy for the intellectual void that would settle someone on anger toward the marine. Such an intellect just wants to be angry and any headline will do.

What I am is sad for the man who died, for there not being a culture and a system that would have intercepted him through help or containment, and for the marine who at this point I more reasonably believe was just looking to help in a situation that was contextually threatening and chaotic. Enough to compel him.

I don't think that the marine reached out to stop a man from insinuating threats alone, as that would make no sense. He probably had reason to believe that some actual physical attack was imminent. He may have miscalculated that probability (though based on the dead man's police record, probably not) but that's not on him -- a mix of people would interpret the situation differently given the dead man's behavior.

A tragedy for both parties and any collective anger needs to be directed at every reason that guy was walking around freely, particularly given his past. Those reasons, whatever they are, are the deficit -- not the marine who unwisely got involved the way that he did.

As an aside, have you noticed that every single media house that publishes on about this story fails to land on this most direct and innocuous angle? That's because $$$. The rationale coverage appealing to reasonable people is not profitable.

It would make so much more sense for Elon Musk to label for-profit media entity Twitter accounts than non-profit ones for this very reason.

By Dave for Personal Blog.