Thirteen-year-old Zhakyra Cousin, center, is comforted Thursday night by friends Shia Brooks, left, and Markeesha McDade in the alley where Zhakyra Cousin’s cousin Jessica Hernandez was shot dead by a police officer. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)
Re: “Police fatally shooting people at twice rate reported by FBI,” May 31 news story.
If you publish an article on the front page of your Sunday paper, please make an effort to present the whole truth, not sensationalized half-truths.
The first sentence of this article said, “In Denver, police gunned down a 17-year-old girl joyriding in a stolen car.”
Some amount of editorial control could have been exercised to more clearly present the dangerous situation involving a criminal using a stolen car as a weapon against officers trapped in a small alley. Jessie Hernandez was driving a stolen car in a violent manner in an attempt to evade arrest. That is not “joyriding.” And “gunned down” implies warrantless victimization, which is not accurate in this case involving police self-defense against a noncompliant offender in an attacking car.
I am left thinking that the intention of the authors and editors of this prominent article was less about informing the public and more, sadly, about inflaming the public.
Kathy McMorries, Centennial
This letter was published in the June 7 edition.
