This situation is tragic.

I am in no way pro-police, and strongly believe we should have another system for responding to individuals in crisis, but is it not premature to claim police brutality before there's been time for an investigation? We have a very imperfect system, but at the end of the day the officers are people, and surely most of them are trying to do their best working within that system.

Would it not be far more productive to rally for better access to mental health services? A person on our streets self-harming with a deadly weapon represents a failure of our society provide adequate (let alone comprehensive) mental health care to anyone who is not extraordinarily privileged, and usually self-motivated. This person would never have ended up in this terrible situation had they not first fallen through the cracks.