"There is no question about what happened because it's in the videotape. It's not an accident. It's not a mistake. There was no altercation. Aiyana Jones was shot from outside on the porch. The videotape shows clearly the officer throwing through the window a stun grenade-type explosive and then within milliseconds of throwing that, firing a shot from outside the home." Geoffrey Feiger
Aiyana Jones was a seven year old girl living in Detroit, who was killed by the police while sleeping in her own home. The police were searching for a murder suspect thought to be in the Jones home.
The story smelled to high heaven from the beginning. The cops used a flash grenade as they entered the home, a practice meant to disorient armed and dangerous suspects. Neighbors told cops that children were in the house, why use a flash grenade? There was a weird story about the gun “discharging” and a cop’s collision with a grand mother. It made no sense.
Today it all made terrible sense. The cops were filming an episode of The First 48, a reality show produced by the A&E network. I remember when A&E meant Arts and Entertainment. Now it is reruns and reality.
The First 48 follows a police investigation in the two days following a murder. I have to admit that I was addicted, no pun intended, to another A&E program, Intervention, which shows an addict and family in the days leading up to an intervention and a stint in rehab. I realized it was not healthy to be entertained by other people’s pain and I pulled the plug on Intervention.
It was followed by Obsession which showed obsessive compulsives under treatment and now Hoarders, where you can watch people living with their own garbage. Bad television was bad enough, but now it has resulted in the death of a child. The cops were obviously trying to make an ordinary scene seem to be a lot more exciting, so they fired into a window and threw in a flash grenade. Aiyana is dead because of bad television.
