I haven’t blogged in a while, but I think it’s time to get back into it.
I don’t often get scared by my job. But I’m going to be tomorrow.
Back in April, East Moline cops were attempting to serve a warrant on a kid. He was named Kelton Trice and he was 21. He was younger than me.
Kelton Trice, instead of going peacefully, ran. And then he turned and most likely pulled a gun and fire at the cops. He hit a cop named Tom Peterson. Tom Peterson, with two bullets in his kevlar vest, returned fire. He hit Kelton Trice four times. Kelton Trice died.
The shooting was investigated. The report was given to the state’s attorney. And soon, we will all know what the state’s attorney concluded.
But I’m not scared of the results. It’s the fallout that scares me. Kelton Trice’s death made a lot of people unhappy, even if officer Peterson acted properly. And soon, I will get to hear all about how Kelton Trice died and why. And after finding out why, I get to ask people about it and find out how it made them feel.
Like I said, his death upset a lot of people. People who think the cops did it on purpose. People who think Kelton Trice was targeted unfairly. People who think they aren’t being heard and will stop at nothing to get their point across.
And I’m going to be in the middle of it. I will be in their heads as they have to relive the pain of the death of someone they cared about. I will be there to document their anger and their pain.
And they may want to take that anger out on me. They may want to make their pain mine. Or they might just try to relieve their pain around me. Either way, I’ll be there for it all.
And that’s why I’m scared. I am going to enter a world of desperate people who want to be noticed. And they will stop at nothing to make sure of it.
I don’t want to be a hero. And I won’t do anything too stupid. But I have to do my job. And tomorrow, that could be a dangerous thing.
