What do you think?

I am sad for the family or friends of him.

The only overreaction I see is on the part of the young man. Why run and why jump into that stinking creek if you can't swim? High? Stupid?

"Why were they chasing him so hard that that had to happen?" asked Brian King, Brewton's cousin.

Uh, because he ran. Duh.

Why is it always racial whenever it's white cops and black suspect? That card has been played so many times that it's going to start having the opposite effect.

Why were they chasing him so hard that that had to happen?" asked Brian King, Brewton's cousin.

Just out of curiosity, what's the difference between just chasing someone and 'chasing them hard'?

What's the opposite of chasing someone hard? Chasing them easy?

Cousin Brian says he thought the police were here to protect people - isn't getting criminals with outstanding warrants off the streets what protecting people is all about?

It's a shame the kid drowned himself, but it's not the cops fault. Lesson - if you've got a warrant on yourself, the most intelligent thing you can do is to just turn yourself in. then they wont chase you hard.

The gene pool needs chlorine now and then.

Hope he hadn't already reproduced.

Typical, "but he was a good boy"! BS.
Lets see, in the last 11 years he, killed his cousin in a fit of rage, got convicted of selling cocaine, and got popped for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Yup, model citizen.

The complaints from his friends and family are on a par with those that say it is unjust because a large percentage of prison inmates are black.
Maybe, they are the ones breaking the law?

I thought the same things, but I was just checking my moral compass.

(Kinda 'hooks up' with an earlier post Here We Go Again - Again)

First, I feel for the Officers involved. To watch someone dying before your eyes is hard to deal with for anyone. That's a scenario that will play out in their minds for years to come.

To his family and friends - the opportunists that will use this this loss of life to 'further their cause' to prove that 'whitey' is out to get them', you deserve neither my sympathy nor respect - LEAST OF ALL MY RESPECT! Everything is NOT racially motivated, except in your mind. YOU are the racists for seeing something that is not. YOU and YOUR KIND are the reason for any racial division here or anywhere.

You scream because the police don't patrol enough or do enough to prevent crime in your 'hood, but when Officer Friendly attempts to uphold the law, there you go screaming racism and grabbing the telephone to call Jesse Jackass or Fat Al! What in the hell are you thinking when you blame the cops for the kid drowning? They didn't throw him in, he CHOSE to jump in the water knowing he couldn't swim! He's the one that chose to run; he's the one that stilled the life of his cousin; he's the one that chose to do the drugs!

Or are you going to blame those on the Toledo Police and 'whitey' ?

Since the kid had a sheet on him since he was 10 years old, I'm going to have to say there was little if any discipline at home, so the folks to be pointing the finger at are (1)the parents and (2) friends and family. But to place the blame where it belongs doesn't further 'the cause' does it?

Yes, it's a shame that this 19 year old man lost his life running from the police. Perhaps, with the background the kid had, if the Justice System had been a little harder on the kid, he'd at least be safe in prison and not lying on a metal tray downtown.

But then, this same group would have screamed 'racism' had they have kept him locked up like he should have been.

And so it goes: Neither the Police nor 'whitey' can win!

I'd betcha anything that a sign saying "CHASE HARD" will appear on a bulletin board in one of the police stations.

Come on now. The guy was a pillar of his community. Signs are going up expressing their love for the guy, baloons are being blown up. Hell he may run for Mayor in absentia.

Why were they chasing him so hard?

Um...because he was running so hard?

He made the choice to run. He made the choice to jump in. Unfortunately, he's responsible for the consequences.

Cripes...if a guy takes off on foot just for being asked his name, I'd damn well expect the police to run after him. Obviously he has something to be running from.

Imagine living in a culture without a future orientation, where education and success is held in high regard but seems unattainable. Imagine a culture where one is taught to view the system as dishonest and unfair and to distrust and disrespect authority so much so that you’d grant your density to fate and jump in a swollen creek knowing dammed well you can’t swim!
For some it is hard to accept that the culture of poverty knows no racial distinction. Others keep the faith.

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080602/COLUMNIST12/806020318

Opps:
Destiny not density

So some other dude decides to swim across the Maumee River to flee the police after causing a car accident. Well, at least this guy could swim. But if he had drowned, would that be the cops fault too?

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080602/NEWS03/491072663