Letter: No one likes trash, but the Plum Creek incident could have been tragic

I have been watching the conversations around the Memorial Day party at Plum Creek Park on the Kent and Stow community Facebook pages.

People seem to be very concerned for the state of the park property, which is warranted, I guess. But what I am more concerned about was that police officer Michael Carnahan drew a gun in the presence of 2,000 mostly Black folks.

(The race of the attendees was a detail both the Record-Courier and Portager stories left out, but I actually had driven through the park that day around 8 p.m., so I saw who was there. I ended up leaving after being unable to find parking.)

Would you be worried about picking up trash after seeing an officer draw a gun, especially if you felt you were in danger? Sorry, but I wouldn’t be.

It makes me wonder: Why are readers so concerned with grass and picnic tables? Why am I not hearing more relief that humans were not harmed?

Let’s remember that a previous time Carnahan drew a gun, someone ended up dead. He, along with three other officers, was put on administrative leave in 2015 for firing 18 times at a 25-year-old white man holding a machete.

The man, Douglas Yon, had been living with bipolar disorder and needed help, his family said. Instead, he died in the middle of the street. To be fair, Carnahan’s AR-15 duty rifle had jammed, so he wasn’t able to contribute to the 18 shots.

Do I love our parks? Absolutely. Do I want to see them treated with care? As much as the next person.

But in the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting, I’m reminded how a bullet can wreck a community. I’m grateful that this time, it didn’t.

Lyndsey Brennan, Kent