The Hall case in the Poconos and malice in the US | Moving Mountains
Kenosha, Wisconsin is 779.0 miles from the capitol of our Poconos. Brunswick, Georgia is 874.8 miles away. Yet they have one thing in common with us: Americans are killing Americans. These other sites pursued justice in the courts. Kyle Rittenhouse was absolved of killing two men in Wisconsin and Georgia’s guys with shotguns in pick-up trucks were guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed young black male, finally breaking with the hundred-year-old Jim Crow pattern that had bestowed immunity on white vigilantes.
In our Pocono Mountains, the December 2020 police shooting of Christian Hall at a bridge over Route 80 in Bartonsville resurfaced when an unredacted version of the video used in the case was made public. The Assistant District Attorney had labeled this “classic suicide by cop scenario,” refusing to pursue charges in the fatal shooting of the mentally disturbed teenager. Family members say the new version shows Hall’s surrender more clearly and refutes the contention that the fake revolver threatened police. Acrimony abounds appallingly both for Hall’s mixed-race family and our ADA.
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Like it or not, what happens in Monroe County, Pennsylvania doesn’t stay in Monroe County. We suffer from the same escalating violence afflicting the nation. President Trump denounced our plight as American “carnage;” President Biden labeled it “an uncivil war.” Whether you are Republican or Democrat or something in-between, you live in a US society where hatred has become violent and fatal.
We can’t wait for government to remedy our ills because, in a democracy, the people are the ultimate arbiters of social norms. Quelling controversy in our Pocono Mountains requires a clear statement: mental illness is not a crime.
During the hour-long standoff, Christian Hall shouted he didn’t trust the police. So why wasn’t a non-uniformed practitioner brought to the scene? The police believed the pellet pistol was the real thing. Why are these fake guns sold to under-age mentally sick persons? As I wrote here months ago, we have laws against counterfeit money, why not restrict counterfeit guns?
Until we take remedial action, we will find ourselves in a social quicksand where every motion and countermotion sink us deeper into danger. The most immediate remedy would be for ADA Michael Mancuso to allow the state Attorney General to review the case. Third-party review from the state Attorney General will neutralize the current unresolvable I-say/you-say exchanges that problematize the video evidence. Mr. Mancuso recently published a book on the unsolved murder of 17-year-old Etna Bittenbender of Hamilton Township in 1880 and delivered a webinar lecture for the historical society on the subject.
More Moving Mountains: Legally right, versus morally wrong
If he thinks reviewing a killing that took place in 1880 serves justice, why would he deny the state examination of a fatal shooting from less than a year ago? If there is nothing to hide, why not allow for a second opinion?
Even those who have no interest in this controversy understand that if a prosecutor’s judgment is proven faulty even once, every case under the same official might be overturned. Because the potential legal fees to defend the ADA would likely come from taxpayers, state review now would protect our pocketbooks.
We would do well to seek a moral high ground instead of wallowing in partisan politics and the justice-denying legalisms that plague resolution in today’s divided America. Restricting local sale of counterfeit guns would help. Recruiting non-uniformed mental health experts as negotiators here is only a pen-stroke away. I would hope that at least one of our elected Republican legislators would soon join Maureen Madden, our Democratic State Representative in asking for review by the state Attorney General’s office.
As citizens, we can urge these practical remedies from inside our churches, meeting halls, barber shops and beauty salons. While we can’t ignore the dour judgements of Trump and Biden, we can prefer the words of Lincoln who urged us to unite the country “with malice toward none; with charity for all.” Unity is best!
Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo holds a doctorate in Catholic Theology from Fordham University and authored a column on religion for the Washington Post from 2008-2012. He is also Professor Emeritus of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies, Brooklyn College and Distinguished Scholar of the City University of New York. He serves on several community boards in the Poconos, including FLECHA, the Federation of Latinos/as for Education about the Cultures of Hispanic America.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Opinion: If there's nothing to hide, why not seek a second opinion?
