Saratoga Springs: Another Attempt to Create a Race Riot

Darrien Hunt was shot and killed by police on 10 September, 2014 in Saratoga Springs, Utah. As evidence of the circumstances has emerged, the officers who shot 22 year old Hunt are being vindicated. The Hunt family, however, is trying hard to turn this into a race riot.

 

When Cpl. Schauerhamer and Officer Judson approached Hunt outside a Saratoga Springs convenience store, both noticed Hunt was carrying a sword in a sheath. Schauerhamer asked him to put it down.

“I can’t do that,” Hunt said, according to testimony. “It’s my sword.” He did not mention, and officers did not know, that the sword was plastic.

Hunt lunged at both of them. Abruptly and without any apparent provocation, he reportedly withdrew the sword from its sheath and stabbed it toward at least one of the officers. Schauerhamer started shooting and Hunt ran. Both officers chased him and three more shots were fired.

The family says it’s a whitewash. A family spokesperson says “I think it’s an exaggeration…I think they ignored good hard evidence to be contrary.” The family is conducting its own investigation and plans a lawsuit.

The problem? Hunt was part black, son of a black father and a white mother. With his afro haircut, he appeared black and his mother, Susan, says that’s why he was shot. “They killed my son because he’s black. No white boy with a little sword would they shoot while he’s running away”. The officers are white, as is 93 percent of Saratoga Springs.

The family has tried to attract media attention and drum this into racial conflict. Noone points out that any person who charges cops with a sword takes his life in his hands. The blame is being placed on his skin color. While we feel deep sympathy for the family and sorrow at Darrien’s death, the racial issue doesn’t play.

The entire event lasted 37 seconds. Police Chief Andrew Burton says his men followed Utah law. “They followed their training,” Burton said. “At some point, they have to make a very difficult decision in just a matter of seconds, and then the rest of us get to Monday-morning quarterback the thing for years.”

Chief Burton stands behind his men. As the facts unfold, it appears that it is proper for him to do so. Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman ruled this week that the shooting was justified. Filmed footage and several eyewitness accounts have aided the county in its investigation. There is no reason to disbelieve Buhman.

Racial prejudice is not a common issue in Utah. Perhaps that’s easy to say for one who isn’t black, but decades in Utah have left me with no incidents of racial prejudice. We just elected two blacks to government: Mia Love to the US Congress and Al Jackson to the State Senate. If prejudice was an issue, it’s hard to believe either would have won against their white opponents. Nor were there any observable racial overtones in the campaign. All I ever heard was that we are proud to have blacks in our community that succeed in office—hardly prejudicial statements!

The liberal media outlets, of course, claim injustice and discrimination. We aren’t surprised. The left-leaning press always tries to whip up negative public opinion. This is an attempt to engineer racial tensions from those who want to tear America apart. If the attention of the race-riot pushers wasn’t focused on Ferguson, Mo, we might see national attention in Saratoga Springs. How fortunate that we don’t.

Pamela's new Ebook, "Promises of the Constitution:"    Go to:

http://smile.amazon.com/Promises-Constitution-Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow-ebook/dp/B00LEWCS4E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1410824095&sr=1-1&keywords=promises+of+the+constitution