I was going to write a column about the dangers of conspiracies after watching the police video released by the City Council on Monday. But something kept bothering me, so I took another look.
And when I did, it was easy to brush aside claims of a conspiracy and racial narratives.
The grief shown by Carlos Towns and his younger brother, who lost their father in January, is tragic and heartbreaking.
Charles Robert Towns, 47, was fatally shot by deputies in Altadena after he allegedly attacked and injured two residents with a sharp metal object.
His sons, Carlos Towns and a juvenile identified as CT3, were involved in a family altercation about a month later at Marengo Avenue and Walnut Street, just down the street from the police station.
They need help.
As the video clearly shows, the brothers are now struggling with anger issues.
Again and again, the brothers tell police their father had just been killed by deputies in Altadena.
They curse, shout and fight.
At one point, Carlos Towns even talks about his younger brother’s anger issues.
“My father was just killed by the sheriff of Altadena. So it’s not on any police issues. He doesn’t like them all now.”
All they see is the badge. And the men who killed his father wore a badge.
And without help, that anger could last a lifetime and ruin them.
I recognize this anger.
I lost my father when I was only 10 years old in a horrible incident.
No, he wasn’t killed by the police, but I was still a boy without his hero.
He was there that morning and that night he was gone forever.
Four days after he died, I turned 11 and was mad at the world.
It wasn’t just about this loss, it was about life being unfair.
I was lucky, I had a good support group, a mom who wasn’t afraid to raise a black man, she raised four, it doesn’t get any harder.
Older brothers, younger sister, cousins, teachers, comic books, books, television, and childhood naivety—all of these helped some.
Now, this was 1975, black people didn’t seek therapy back then.
Still I escaped the darkness. I was lucky.
We need to do more than examine the actions of the police in this incident.
We need to consider what young people need.
With all the mental health awareness talk from the LA County Board of Supervisors and City Council, we have the resources.
But who will appear for these young people?
someone better
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