In early June, off duty police office Omar Edwards was shot and killed by a fellow member of the NYPD. The media is referring to this as a "friendly fire" shooting. I beg to differ.
I am a big believer that the words we use, even for ourselves help frame narratives, and put a spin on things, positively or negatively in our minds and the minds of others. I think it's important to not use inflammatory language or hyperbole when it will not be received in a satirical way if that's how it's meant. When someone doesn't think some else is particularly smart, it doesn't mean they should use the word "dumb," it doesn't even mean they think the person is dumb, and that's an even better reason NOT to use that type of word.
So that's just an example. Back to the cop. Officer Edwards was chasing a guy who was breaking into his car, and had his gun out. When the on duty cops showed up he turned to them, gun in hand and they shot him. A tragic accident, a terrible tragedy, a sad story about the death of a good man, but friendly fire?
I am not talking about the racial component, but in my mind friendly fire is a gun fight in which two sides are shooting it out, and in the hail of bullets and chaos of the moment someone shoots one of his own while indiscriminately shooting at the enemy.
That's not what happened here. A cop shot an off duty cop, on purpose, because the off duty cop did not identify himself, and turned to the guys on duty with a gun in his hand. I just can't think of this as friendly fire.
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