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Bystanders are filming the deaths or severe beatings of victims as an alternative of intervening or calling the police. There are a lot of stories of our youth being victimized in fights and stabbings as their friends simply stand by and casually movie their plight.
In the age of social media, that is a brutal actuality for a lot too many dad and mom throughout the nation. The police frequently identify deceased individuals and find their dad and mom lengthy after clips of the crime scene have already been uploaded and circulated on-line for everybody to see.
On Feb. 25, Birmingham mom Gail Maddox obtained the textual content each dad or mum dreads the most. Her 20-year-old daughter Mahogany Jackson stated she was being held hostage and implored her mother to name the police.
Mother and father, elevate your youngsters to by no means movie another person’s harm or demise for sport. (iStock)
That was simply the starting of Gail’s agony. Not 24 hours later, police discovered Mahogany’s physique.
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However one thing monstrous compounded this tragedy: movies of Mahogany’s rape, torture and demise appeared and circulated on-line. Her sadistic kidnappers and killers recorded their atrocities for the world to see.
Gail had already suffered the destiny that no dad or mum ought to ever have to endure, the demise of her baby. However with this barbarity revealed on-line, she suffers that indescribable ache over and over once more with every share of the video.
Individuals truly despatched the horrifying footage to Mahogany’s household, as if they wanted to see it. “That’s my child. Please stop. I can’t take it,’’ Gail pleaded.
I have lived the moment of unspeakable shock and grief when my own daughter was shot dead at just 19, killed by a stray bullet as she was sitting with friends in a car being filled up with gas. I know what Gail suffered in losing her daughter, and I regularly counsel and console other parents walking the same path of grief.
I also work to strengthen community relationships with the police. And I understand that in one sense, this video of Mahogany’s torture being made public allowed the police to identify the defendants and make a quick arrest in justice.
So I will speak for Gail, and for all parents of murdered children:
If you see video of a murder or torture online – posted by the perpetrator, an accomplice, or a bystander who thinks it’s sport – and you casually share this video, know that you are an accomplice to this crime. Know that you are giving the perpetrators the notoriety they crave.
And if you see this content and do nothing about it – if you don’t share it with law enforcement or request it be removed from the platform – know that you are part of the problem.
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The dissemination and sale of the video on-line was one other stage of evil. The defendants have the nerves to name themselves the “Sure Lord” gang. Their filming of their atrocities is the spineless sadism of persons walking around impersonating human beings.
I challenge municipalities to prosecute individuals who transmit such videos. States such as Alabama have prohibitions on the dissemination of revenge porn, which is defined in Alabama as “[d]istributing a personal picture with intent to harass, threaten, coerce, or intimidate the particular person depicted.” That definitely sounds like this is applicable to Mahogany’s case.
And parents, please form your children to be leaders and to stop violence themselves when they can or call the police. Raise them to have the basic decency never to film someone else’s injury or death for sport.
Social media platforms should proactively regulate and stop the circulation of recorded violence. Community moderation is commonplace, and in these cases it is a matter of life or death.
But so far all of these recommendations have been negative. There is also a positive vision for our country’s social media use. We can use these platforms to heal ourselves and each other, to spread messages of uplift and mutual respect.
On social media, we can rally around family survivors of violence and provide them with the emotional and material resources they need to cope with the grief and rage of sudden loss.
I personally have shared survivors’ tips on LinkedIn and Facebook. I’ve spoken at every opportunity about the suffering that mothers like me face, and the urgent need for a solution to the violence that’s tearing our neighborhoods apart.
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And now, I’m asking you to join me. Use your voice for good. Do your part to help your community heal, particularly during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
We all have a role to play – and together, we can stop this ongoing cycle of trauma and violence.
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