Jake’s Life

This case makes me pretty angry. Not in the fact that it happened, because things like this happen all the time. No, it makes me angry because this person has essentially turned around and literally slapped those who protect her.

Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney was on her way into a building when she walked around a metal detector and entered the restricted portion of a building. By my understanding of all of the articles lately, this happens frequently, and those who are permitted to bypass these security measures are given a lapel pin to identify themselves. McKinney was not wearing her pin, and rarely does. When a Capitol Police Officer attempted to stop her, she slapped/punched (assaulted) him. She claims it was to fend off an “inappropriate” grab of some sort.

News flash, if a police officer tells you to stop, and you don’t, they can use force to make you comply. They also usually don’t give you a pat on the butt as you’re trying to get away from them.

We all have jobs where we have had to deal with this sort of person. When I worked at a gym, people rarely handed us their membership cards to check them in…we just knew who they were. We had to. When I was a barista, half the time you knew what drink to start making when you saw them walking in. And of course, there were those you could never make happy (the “Do you know who I am” and “You must be new here” crowd). But this takes it to a whole other level in my opinion.

The way I see it, this is pretty clear cut.

She knows she has to wear her lapel pin, which she verbally opposes. She chose not to wear her pin, and chose to assault a police officer who was doing his job. How dare him! First he was “inappropriately” grabbing her, which then turned into a personal issue the CPD has with her specifically. Then, of course, this isn’t an issue of a lapel pin, it’s racism. I’m not saying racism doesn’t exist in this world, but what angers me about this is when people cry wolf. Do it enough times and it devalues the true event. Somewhere in the nation, a black woman will report a form of racism, and she will be compared to McKinney and her story dismissed.

She seems like a person that just won’t be happy, no matter what they do. Imagine if she observed them letting people around the metal detectors who also wore no lapel pin that she didn’t recognize. What kind of situation would that escalate into? No, she believes this courtesy to be extended to only her, and nobody else.

Read a great editorial on this issue at Officer.com.