Would Ryan Moats have been detained if he was white?

Yes

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by VOLECIA PLAFCAN

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Several years ago, a state trooper was killed when he stopped a car for speeding. The young trooper was twenty-four years old and engaged to be married. I watched the video of his funeral doing some temporary work for the training department at the highway patrol. It shows a long line of patrol cars, in the procession and the song "Knocking on Heaven's Door" is the background music. That video stays in my mind when I hear about the death of a law enforcement officer.

What happened when the car was stopped by the trooper, is a mystery to me but, I'm sure all the details of that terrible crime were exposed in court when they were brought to trial for blowing the trooper away with a sawed-off shotgun. These men were white and from another state, which really has no bearing, but, the young trooper was overpowered from the beginning.

When Ryan Moats was stopped for running a red light, Officer Powell saw there were other people in the car - black or white, he was overpowered.

How was this officer to know, for sure, that Ryan's mother-in-law was dying? Sometimes people will do anything when they are caught red-handed and I mean no disrespect for any of his family members.

In doing temporary work, my company placed me with a psychologist who was responsible for the MMPI and CPI testing that is given to potential law enforcement officers and firemen. These tests determine if a person is qualified to stand the stress and if they can keep their cool during a bad situation.

Surely, Officer Powell had done some of this testing but, if he had a woman screaming at him that her mother was dying, it might have thrown him off balance a bit.

It is a shame that her mother died so young and I offer her my condolences but, this situation has nothing at all to do with racism.

When my mother died, my three sisters and I waited and slept in the lobby night and day to see if they could save her. Had Ryan's wife been there maybe two or three hours earlier, she could have had some last words with her dear mother.

Leave this officer alone. He was doing his job. It is a shame that racism is shouted every time a black person is stopped for a reason. You never hear anything shouted when a white person is stopped.

But, to shout racism when a woman has just died with cancer is the limit.

Thank God, no one was hurt physically.

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