Liftoff.
The Artemis II mission launched from @NASAKennedy at 6:35pm ET (2235 UTC), propelling four astronauts on a journey around the Moon.
Artemis II will pave the way for future Moon landings, as well as the next giant leap — astronauts on Mars.
I don’t think people understand how real this job is. Yesterday, a panicked citizen told me a young man was walking around with a gun in his waistband. As he was telling me this, he pointed and yelled, “He’s right there!” The person was walking up the street towards me with his hand on a gun in his waistband, just like the man said. With all the people around, I couldn’t wait. I had to stop him before he got to a corner with a large crowd. I exited my vehicle and confronted him. He reached for the gun again, and I was about to do something I pray I never have to do. He knew me and immediately dropped to the ground. When backup arrived, we cuffed him and removed a toy gun with an orange tip. I scolded the young man. I remembered trying to help this young man get shelter and buying him a pair of shoes a few years ago. I could have shot this man, who looked like one of my sons, over a toy.
I haven’t been able to sleep all night, thinking about how close I came. Would I have been justified? Absolutely. It looked like a real gun. But what would the papers say in the morning? How would the anti-cop crowd spin it? “Cop who claimed he cares for the homeless shoots unarmed homeless Black man with a toy.” Though his race was never a factor other than how he was described by the witness. No one would have known how many times I tried to help this young brother. How many would believe this biased headline and call me trigger-happy when I haven’t shot anyone in 30 years? How many friends would I lose? How woke would the narrative be among people about how I hate myself and my people, leading me to murder with impunity.
Folks, the decisions we have to make in a split second aren’t easy. But they are NOT rooted in racism or brutality. It’s what we are up against in the moment.
I thank God he complied. That would have been tough to live with.
This would have been another case Of a broken system failing him, and me, then all cops being made the scapegoat for it.