The response by many to Ma’Khai Bryant’s death earlier this week was one of condemnation. Despite Bryant appearing to be moments away from stabbing another black teenage girl, a police officer’s decision to shoot Bryant to prevent such a crime has been decried as another example of racist and systemic police brutality.
The most bizarre examples of this viewpoint involved the notion that “knife fights” are normal elements of a functioning and civilized society, and are far from deadly.
After news broke of Bryant’s death, former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett tweeted, “A Black teenage girl named Ma’Khia Bryant was killed because a police officer immediately decided to shoot her multiple times in order to break up a knife fight. Demand accountability.”
“Fight for justice,” she added.
A Black teenage girl named Ma’Khia Bryant was killed because a police officer immediately decided to shoot her multiple times in order to break up a knife fight. Demand accountability. Fight for justice. #BlackLivesMatter.
— Valerie Jarrett (@ValerieJarrett) April 21, 2021
“Comedian” Kathy Griffin implied that knife fights are regular occurrences in neighborhoods.
“WARNING. How in the hell does this police officer think it’s a good idea to fire shots blindly into a group of teenagers having a fight. Yes one of them has a knife. Oh, that never happened in your school or neighborhood? She didn’t deserve to die. 16 years old,” she tweeted.
WARNING. How in the hell does this police officer think it’s a good idea to fire shots blindly into a group of teenagers having a fight. Yes one of them has a knife. Oh, that never happened in your school or neighborhood? She didn’t deserve to die. 16 years old. #makhiabryant https://t.co/hnimSwnG7s
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) April 21, 2021
Activist and filmmaker Bree Newsome tweeted, “Teenagers have been having fights including fights involving knives for eons. We do not need police to address these situations by showing up to the scene & using a weapon against one of the teenagers. Y’all need help. I mean that sincerely.”
Teenagers have been having fights including fights involving knives for eons. We do not need police to address these situations by showing up to the scene & using a weapon against one of the teenagers. Y’all need help. I mean that sincerely.
— DEFUND & ABOLISH POLICE, REFUND OUR COMMUNITIES (@BreeNewsome) April 21, 2021
As Hank Berrien for The Daily Wire pointed out, however, the obvious human impact of such knife “fights” discussed so casually by these frankly unhinged activists was made all too clear, just 100 miles away in Winton Hills, Ohio one day prior.
“The day before, just 100 miles away, in Winton Hills, Ohio, a 13-year-old girl was stabbed in the neck by another 13-year-old girl and died that night in her father’s arms. No police were there to prevent the violent incident and save the victim’s life,” The Daily Wire reported.
“13-year-old Nyaira Givens died at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital after she was stabbed during a fight near her family’s home. Both girls attended Aiken High School, where they were in seventh grade,” the report added.
Givens’ father, Maurice Jackson, provided a heartbreaking account of her final moments.
“I held her. I watched her as she died. I watched her, you know. All I could do was just hold her, hold her. I tried. I tried to stop the bleeding,” he said.
“Just tried my best to protect her and be the father I could be, you know?” Jackson added. “I guess I didn’t pay attention to all the other stuff that was going on around her.”
“She was a great daughter. A great friend. All of the above. Until the end,” Jackson said.
The brutal fact is that police officers often stand as the last remaining line between civilization and chaos, and their presence or lack thereof is a matter of life and death for victims like Givens.
Griffin tweeted that Ma’Khia Bryant “didn’t deserve to die” as she attempted to stab another young girl.
Neither did Nyaira Givens, a 13-year-old child who was killed because no police officer was there to “break up a knife fight.”
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.