Which side of the case of Officer Kenny Free are you on? Angry at him because he was drunk when he died in a motorcycle crash, or angry at all the people who used his death as an excuse to criticize police? Signed, Wondering
Dear Wondering,
Swami knows all and sees all, except for one thing. There is no way to look into the hearts of people, and know for certain what makes them cruel or insensitive. Or why they take risks that will claim their lives.
Humanity can be a foolhardy lot.
The human soul is an inscrutable, mysterious dark cave from which hints of goodness occasionally spring. But mostly the human heart can be a disappointment if you are looking for predictability.
Swami is not always a big fan of humankind, especially on Sunday. And this is a Sunday.
Swami knows this much, and this much only. A person’s life is a complex recipe of pain and exhilaration, achievement and failure and when it all ends, who is smart enough to pass judgment on the worth of a life and be sure that judgment is true? Who besides the Great Judge?
Free committed the kind of error that often ends a person’s life. He erred, as do we all eventually in some way. His failure was profound, but so was the penalty he had to pay for it. He died for his imperfection.
Swami mourns for his wife and children and all the people who cared for him. For those who find his death a good reason for more derision than insightful self-reflection, it says a lot about you.
Free did much good in his life. There is no question of that. He did bad. As do we all.
He was human.
In the end, he was guilty mostly of being more human in his flaws than we had wished. Did we learn anything from the pain his passing caused?
Swami doubts it.
It’s not Swami’s job to unravel the human soul. We are not that smart.
And this for one of his colleagues:
“I never thought I would be responding to a newspaper article, but here it goes. I've been a police officer for almost 10 years; served in the Marines 10 years.
“Love to help people. In the worst neighborhoods in Lake County I have always found good people that live honest lives and are compassionate to their fellow citizens in times of need and comfort. There are those that exist that get pleasure at pointing a critical finger at people when the opportunity exits, that’s OK. We are human and are prone to doing weird things. The Bible even says that before there was light, there was darkness. To the people writing negative comments about Ofc. (Kenny Free - speak your mind, it’s OK. It’s one of the reasons I fought for this great country. Want a break for driving drunk, possessing marijuana, burglary, rape, murder, child abuse, selling drugs, street gang crimes, etc....? You won’t find one here. I do my job to protect all the people that want to live a good, safe life.”
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