“His Dreams Were Cut Down”
October 29, 2020
HERE ARE SOME excerpts from two of the small number of stories (here and here) that explore the past of 27-year-old Walter Wallace, the latest victim of systemic racism in Philadelphia whose reported death has sparked mass violence:
“Wallace has had several run-ins with police over the years, according to a criminal record obtained by NBC Philadelphia. Most recently, in March, he was arrested after allegedly calling the mother of his child and threatening: ‘I’ll shoot you and that house up.’
“NBC Philadelphia also found records of arrests in 2019, 2016, and 2013, for issues ranging from allegedly holding a gun to a woman’s head during a robbery, and violating a protection order his mother had on him by allegedly punching her and threatening to shoot her.
“Wallace was the father of nine children, and three of his sons appeared briefly at the Tuesday news conference, Fox 29 reported.
“The family told NBC Philadelphia that Wallace had gotten married earlier this month. His wife, Dominique, was pregnant and due to be induced into labor on Wednesday, according to the AP.”
[….]
“In 2019, he was charged with resisting arrest by ‘kicking the windows and door panels of a police patrol car.’
“In 2016, during a robbery, he allegedly grabbed a woman by the neck and held what she believed to be a gun to her head, according to court records.
“In 2013, Wallace’s mother had a protective order against him which he allegedly violated when he “threw water in her face and punched her in the face” and “threatened to return and shoot” her, according to court records.
[…]
“Wallace was also an aspiring rapper.
“’He’s a kid who wanted to be a musician,’ White said. ‘He loved music. That’s what he loved and that’s what his aspirations were. So no matter what that looks like, his dreams are deferred, his dreams were cut down because he got murdered in the streets last night.’”
Some food for thought:
A country that mourns a thug is ruled by thugs.