Spreading rumors is an example of “terrorism, of how you can kill a person with your tongue. This is even more true for Journalism because their voice can reach everyone and this is a very powerful weapon,” says Pope Francis.

Regarding an article in Volume 24 of November’s’ issue of The Flash that was highly inaccurate and highly controversial, it’s time we heard a second side to this story. Everyone has the right to share their opinion, but let us make sure that the opinion we share to a vast majority of young readers has truth to it, and is able to be fact checked.

In America today, one of the most controversial and heated subjects regards “Police Brutality.” Now every story I’ve seen and heard has been one from the side of the Black Lives Matter movement. I was shocked to see the same thing in our school magazine. I believe there are three sides to every story; yours, mine and the truth, and the article in the The Flash, along with many others have shown only the one side.

In the article located on page eight, there were many cases brought up where police officers were accused of murder, the author of the article fails to show the details of each that prove otherwise, how the cops in some of those cases were proved to be innocent, and the countless number of other failed prosecutions that have been thrown at police officers. But no one seems to bring up those facts.

As the author mentioned in the second paragraph, “. . .in these cases there were no court proceedings, and our country’s legal policies regarding the death penalty were not followed.” Exactly, they were not court cases because according to the Supreme Court Decision in Tennessee v. Garner, “. . .deadly force may be used to prevent the escape or the officer must have probable cause to believe the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious bodily harm to the officer or others.”

Also included in this article, was the claim that “. . .an overwhelming number of citizens find themselves distrusting or fearing police. . .” The claim is saying that the “majority” of Americans feel this way towards the officers, which is, again, untrue. A recent poll by the Huffington Post, indicates that 76% of people both trust, and support the police officers of our nation. While on the other hand, only 24% of the people polled said that police officers were “less honest.”

Well then why are we always hearing about this problem nowadays? This is because the news and media outlets are using the epidemic to increase their personal revenue, because headlines that involve police “brutality” are more likely to be read. Most major-media sources use this, and it is unjust because they use the ideas of a small minority to tilt the minds of majority in their favor, basically to create unnecessary conflict.

The police force was founded in 1781, with the sole purpose of protecting people. That still stands today. It is hypocritical to imply that the majority of police officers are faulty because if you wish to terminate the stereotyping of races, then the blatant stereotyping of all police officer is not the answer.

My goal for this column is to bridge the relationships between minorities and law enforcement. We are incapable of moving forward if our reality is based on distorted facts.

As readers, we are responsible to ensure that the articles on which we base our opinions are reliable. This means fact check before you solidify your beliefs.  

Just like everyone else, police officers have a family they want to come home to. These families are worried about if their loved ones would be coming home at all because of the heat law enforcement officers are facing today. They are already risking their lives to protect their community, the least we can do is appreciate the sacrifices they have made to further our safety and well-being.