The Feline Warrior

Two homicides happened back-to-back over the past week.

Both in Ohio. Both teenage Black girls. One is 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant; the other, 13-year-old Nyaira Givens. Yet still, only one of the two Black lives mattered — or so it seems.

Ma’Khia Bryant

In Columbus, OH on April 20, 2021, officers from the Columbus Police Division responded to a 911 call of a fight in progress possibly involving knives.

When the first officer arrived on scene, he witnessed an extremely chaotic mêlée with multiple people screaming.

As he approached the crowd, one person — later identified as Bryant — charged at another while screaming:

“I’m gonna stab the fuck out of you, bitch!”

Having knocked the first victim (a young Black lady) onto the ground, Bryant then turned her attention to another young Black lady who was holding a dog. Her back up against a parked car, she was left with no way to escape.

The policeman yelled “Get down! Get down!” repeatedly at Bryant, but to no avail.

Bryant then rapidly closed the distance between her and the second victim.

Now there was less than an arm’s length between them at this point — in fact, Bryant’s left hand was already on the victim.

And in her right hand, Bryant was indeed holding a knife — most plausibly in order to “stab the fuck out of” the victim.

Continuing to defy the policeman’s repeated loud orders — “Get down! Get down! Get down! Get down!” — Bryant raised the knife, swinging forcefully in the direction of the victim’s neck.

This is when the officer realized the gravity of the situation:

Within seconds of his arrival, he’s found himself in a situation where a victim is about to be stabbed (or, in legalese, “at substantial risk of suffering death or great bodily harm”) in front of his eyes.

With no other viable alternatives, he opened fire, striking Bryant.

Despite the officers’ first-aid efforts immediately after the shooting, she was ultimately pronounced deceased.

Nyaira Givens

In Cincinnati, OH, just the night before Bryant’s death, officers from the Cincinnati Police Department responded to a scene of a person with stabbing wounds.

That person — later identified as Givens — was promptly transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.

Officers later arrested another 13-year-old girl, who reportedly was involved in a fight with Givens before producing a pocket knife and stabbing Givens in the neck (presumably in a similar manner as Bryant did).

No further details about either incident are available at the time this article is written.

What we know for sure, though, is that when Givens was stabbed to death, there were no police officers there to protect her.

Accordingly, unlike Bryant’s would-be victims, Givens did not have the luxury to be able to walk away unharmed.

The life that mattered

Protests erupted on the streets of Columbus within hours of Bryant’s death, before any information became available, while students at the Ohio State University also organized a sit-in protest. A protester and local activist commented:

“We are in a literal genocide. We are fighting for our lives.”

Bryant’s family wasted no time rushing to local and national media outlets, describing how “peaceful” and “loving” she was.

Lawyer and notorious ambulance chaser Ben Crump went as far as to describe her as “unarmed.”

ACLU immediately condemned the shooting, calling it a “murder.” (They are, of course, not referring to the attempted murders of Bryant’s would-be victims.)

The mayor had to comment on the incident. And so did the governor. And so did the White House.

But perhaps nothing is as dramatic as the actions of celebrity athlete LeBron James, tweeting a still image of the policeman who shot Bryant alongside an eerie, ominous caption:

“YOU’RE NEXT”

(James has since deleted the tweet, but not without doubling down and pretending that “this isn’t about one officer.”)

The lives that didn’t matter

Many on the internet rushed to Bryant’s defense, including an activist by the name Bree Newsome:

“Teenagers have been having […] fights involving knives for eons. We do not need police to address these situations […]”

(To suggest it was a “knife fight,” indeed, implies that there were two willing participants, both armed and ready to combat one another — which is not the case with Bryant, the only person on scene with a knife. In other words, this incident was a “knife fight” as much as Sandy Hook was a “gun fight.”)

I don’t know how many other teenagers managed to grow up without getting involved in a “knife fight,” but if they are indeed so commonplace, I suppose I myself must be one of the lucky few.

Bryant’s would-be victims, on the other hand, are evidently less lucky than me. And Givens was even much less so.

But I wonder, would they have agreed with Newsome that the police should not be in these situations? Rather, I should say, would they have preferred to be stabbed to death?

I guess the answer is it doesn’t matter.

Bryant’s would-be victims’ Black lives don’t matter. And Givens’ Black life didn’t matter, either — no protests, no vigils, no riots, no marches, nothing at all. She didn’t matter to the mayor, the governor, the White House, or LeBron James.

While they’re busy downplaying Bryant’s actions by saying “she was just a kid” (as the White House spokeswoman insinuated) or “it was just a knife” (as Newsome insinuated), Givens’ loved ones are mourning — all by their lonesome — a girl who was indeed killed by “just a kid” with “just a knife.”

Quite obviously, Black lives matter, just not all Black lives.

And quite obviously, 16-year-olds’ lives matter, just not all 16-year-olds’. I mean, did the White House comment on Peyton Ham — also a 16-year-old shot and killed by police, exactly one week before Bryant died?

Of course not.

He was White, after all.

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

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Updates

Shai-onta Craig

The first would-be victim of Ma’Khia Bryant, later identified as Shai-onta Craig, was interviewed by investigators from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), a branch of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. The following is excerpted from BCI’s report:

“Craig said almost immediately, Ma’Khia charged toward her with the knife pointing toward her. Craig estimated that Ma’Khia was about ten feet away from her when she began to run toward her. Craig said as Ma’Khia got close to her, she went to the ground and tried to protect herself because she is pregnant. Craig said she thought she felt a body on top of her when she was on the ground.”

Tionna Bonner

The second would-be victim of Bryant, later identified as Tionna Bonner, was also interviewed by BCI. The following is excerpted from BCI’s report:

“Bonner said after the police arrived she observed Ma’Khia walk towards Craig, Ma’Khia was holding a knife, and then she started stabbing Craig. Bonner said Craig ends up falling down and while Craig is on the ground she could hear Ma’Khia’s father yelling repeatedly, ‘get her!’ Bonner explained she was surprised to hear the father telling Ma’Khia to ‘get’ Craig. Bonner said right afterwards, she [saw] Ma’Khia turn and come after her. Bonner stated Ma’Khia was still holding the knife and started to stab her. At this point in time, Bonner said she heard the CPD Officer shoot his gun. […] Bonner went on to say if the officer was not there somebody would have been hurt severely.”

“[The investigator] asked Bonner if she received any injury or cut to her skin. Bonner stated her skin was not broken, but she did feel the knife edge two times. […] Bonner also advised [the investigator] she is very thankful for not being hurt or killed.”

Nicholas Reardon

Following a lengthy investigative and judicial process, a grand jury declined to criminally prosecute Officer Nicholas Reardon, the policeman who shot Bryant.

Janiah Page

Janiah Page, also 13 years old at the time of the incident, was later arrested, tried, and found guilty of murdering Nyaira Givens after unsuccessfully arguing for “self-defense.” However, to the disappointment of Givens’ family, Page was sentenced to probation instead of juvenile detention.

Joseph Azzari

Trooper Joseph Azzari, the policeman who shot Peyton Ham, was not criminally prosecuted, following an investigation which revealed that Ham — likely suicidal at the time — was threatening the officer with a handgun (later determined to be a replica) and a knife, ultimately provoking the officer into shooting him in self-defense. (This is commonly referred to as “suicide-by-cop.”)

A civil lawsuit filed against Azzari by Ham’s family was also dismissed by the judge.