Outside the Beltway

MICHIGAN RIOTS

James Joyner · Wednesday, June 18, 2003 · 1 comment

CNN reports a second night of rioting in southwestern Michigan following a police incident:

The unrest was sparked by a high-speed police chase, which ended early Monday.

Terrance Shurn, 28, of Benton Harbor died when he crashed into an abandoned house after losing control of his motorcycle during a chase that at times reached 100 miles per hour.

After the chase ended, police said they discovered Shurn had a suspended license and a small amount of marijuana on him.

His death sparked outrage from Benton Harbor residents, some of whom have a long list of grievances with the police, and blamed the Benton Township officer chasing Shurn for his death.

Now, it’s a shame that a young man guilty of nothing more than minor crimes died while leading the police on a high speed motorcycle chase. But it’s not an unforeseeable consequence of such stupidity. And residents can’t have it both ways. People in the DC area are currently up in arms because the police have a no chase policy for most crimes and there has been a spate of car thefts by young hoodlums, the most recent of which led to someone being killed by said hoodlums whilst on their joyrides.

And, even if the residents feel the police have acted badly somehow, the idea that rioting is going to help the situation is crazy. This is action fit for a Third World banana republic, not a healthy Republic.