The reason tragic events are so tragic is because typically, nothing ever comes out of them. Communities come together for a short while, but eventually, people go back to their daily lives, because no one has the time or the know how to actually make something happen.
After Saturday evening, Oct. 12, when an innocent young woman was shot in Five Points in a random act of violence, I cannot stay silent and do nothing.
I do not know Martha Childress any better than I do most of the thousands of students I pass everyday on campus. I have learned through news reports and social media that she is a kind young woman, a good student and a fighter and has countless other respectable attributes. The nature of this horrible tragedy is made so much worse by how promising a future she had and how her life will forever be changed by these events.
However, those things do not resonate with me as much as they should. The thing that really resonates and hits me deeply is the fact that she is just so normal. She is just. Like. Me. This tragedy will never be diminished by its accidental nature, but that is what made me sit back, pause and really think about what has taken place. She is just like me. That could have happened to me. Or to one of my friends. Or to anyone. The normalcy of the situation is what bothers me the most about this whole incident.
Was her presence in Five Points in the early hours of the morning regrettable? Yes. And the argument can be made that nothing good happens after midnight, but according to news reports, she had not been drinking, there was no alcohol in her system at the hospital, and there is an 18 bar in Five Points that she could have very well been at, legally giving her every right to have been there that evening. She was breaking no law, she had not been drinking underage and yet she is the victim of this incredibly unfortunate act of violence.
In the past couple of months, law enforcement has “upped the ante” by increasing police presence and surveillance in Five Points after a series of shootings last semester. As a regular in Five Points, it is no secret that police are on patrol. But on patrol for what? I would bet a lot of money that if you asked any given student what they think the police’s main concern in Five Points is, they would answer: drunk college kids.
Since the police presence was increased due to previous shootings, why on earth do we still feel that the main concern of officers is the money-making venture of arresting underage college students? Why do we not feel that their main concern is keeping us safe? According to bystanders and news reports, there were several officers within close vicinity of the altercation that resulted in Martha’s injury. If the police presence in Five Points is truly there to protect college students from the street violence that unfortunately so often graces that neighborhood, then it really makes me wonder how this random act of violence could be carried out.
I wonder just how much focus is placed on the drunk college student just trying to have a good time, and how much focus is placed on the people who are up to no good and have no place, bringing gun violence to an otherwise peaceful environment.
Accidents happen. But Martha was doing nothing wrong and had every right to be there. I want to know at what point it became OK for police officers to protect or serve. Are law enforcement too busy trying to “serve” their minor in possession quota and failing to protect in the process? What was their main objective for being in Five Points that evening?
I am writing this letter as a call to action for college students and Columbia residents alike to demand more from law enforcement. If you even remotely feel as I do about this issue, I would encourage you to speak up so that we can make something happen. It is high time for us college kids to feel safe and secure on our own campus and community and for the targets to be removed from our backs. We are not the problem. I beg law enforcement on campus and in the greater Columbia area to realize this and reevaluate their priorities when “patrolling” the Five Points neighborhood.