An attorney for the family of Ma’Khia Bryant called a press conference Wednesday and called for not only a Justice Department investigation into her shooting death but also a federal investigation of Ohio’s foster care system, beginning in Franklin County.
Attorney of Ma’Khia Bryant’s family says they are going to look into foster care services including Franklin County Children Services pic.twitter.com/qyioo3zNj8
— Alexis Moberger (@alexiswsyx6) April 28, 2021
NEW: In first official statement, an attorney representing Ma'Khia Bryant's family called for a federal investigation into fatal shooting of the teen by a Columbus police officer last week.
They also called for a probe into the state foster care system.https://t.co/qajaVEyZWu— Farnoush Amiri (@FarnoushAmiri) April 28, 2021
“She had a full life ahead of her,” said Ma’Khia Bryant’s mother. Ma’Khia Bryant was shot and killed by a Columbus police officer more than a week ago. pic.twitter.com/N3dNSoN4sk
— Alexis Moberger (@alexiswsyx6) April 28, 2021
Last week in the Washington Post, columnist David Von Drehle said foster care might provide a clue as to why Bryant tried to stab another girl.
Via @davidwondrehle In the Ma’Khia Bryant tragedy, foster care may provide a clue https://t.co/3m0CcsM90I
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) April 24, 2021
Von Drehle writes:
Of Ma’Khia, we have this shard that feels important, though we don’t know exactly how or where it fits. She was in foster care. Relatives describe her as an affectionate and loving person with hopes of being restored to her mother’s custody. Even so, any path to foster care is traumatic.
…
And while we don’t know the specific needs of this particular child, we know that in 2018, in Franklin County, where Columbus is the seat, nearly 14,000 reports of children in crisis were received. Of those, some 6,000 involved reported physical abuse, more than 2,700 involved neglect, 1,349 involved reported sexual abuse and 1,500 involved multiple offenses. The numbers were rising, according to social workers, as a result of the epidemic of opioid addiction among parents.
Not to be heartless, but we’ve been told to look at Bryant’s TikTok videos for evidence of the kind of child she was and how joyful and full of life she was.
Here’s a local TV journalist:
Alisha White spent her childhood in foster care in Central Ohio. She says she understands what Ma'Khia Bryant went through first hand, and the system failed her.
"This is what happens when you give up on your child," she said. "I was 16-years-old when my mom gave up on me." pic.twitter.com/xW1CW0T2Hb
— Jessi Starkey (@JessiStarkey) April 22, 2021
Here’s Zerlina Maxwell:
How might foster care have impacted Ma'khia Bryant?
@DrStaceyPatton: “I felt compelled to write about what it means to be a Black girl child who is traumatized, frustrated, voiceless, and in that system, and what it had to do with the fact that she picked up a knife that day.” pic.twitter.com/nGoQ7DX351— Zerlina on Peacock (@ZerlinaShow) April 27, 2021
Ma’Khia Bryant’s death shouldn’t be an indictment of the cop trying to protect the unarmed girl she was attacking. It should be an indictment of American culture that belittles the nuclear family and fails kids in our foster care system. They were both foster kids. So sad.
— Elisha (@ElishaKrauss) April 21, 2021
Her mother certainly has been around and vocal since the shooting.
Why was she in foster care? https://t.co/7C6PmkPykY
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 29, 2021
Can't ask out loud.
— I'm here for the laughs (@faxonb) April 29, 2021
Stephen that question is taboo.
— Gerry Todd (@realgerrytodd) April 29, 2021
— Legend (@Neandeplorable) April 29, 2021
And that is the question that should be asked. Why was she there in the first place? Where were her parents?
— ? ? Family Matters first ?? (@Stephan71944745) April 29, 2021
Probably systemic racism and climate change…
— Mr. Dill ? (@TheGreenNewDill) April 29, 2021
As a former foster parent, your kids just don’t magically enter the system. It takes some pretty serious actions on the parents part for a child to be removed from the home
— Rob Gardner (@roblgardner) April 29, 2021
Nobody wants to talk about the demographics of foster care
— Stone Age Idiot (@stoneageidiot) April 29, 2021
Asking (reasonable) questions like that will get you permanently banned from Twitter!!
— ((libertarianHead)) (@Head4Liberty) April 29, 2021
Is it wrong to ask who all of those people at the press conference are? Are they all family members?
Mother claimed she couldn’t get her under control.
— HRH Queenie (@theplastictruth) April 29, 2021
The mom's an opportunist, period.
— Mr_Gent (@cfloatthegent) April 29, 2021
Did anyone find a dad?
— JoJo (@jmlucyc) April 29, 2021
The fact that Ben Crump wouldn’t even take this case is telling.
— George W. Smith, from City Council (@Blckdmndskr) April 29, 2021
"My family lives right around the corner but I have to stay with a foster family," is probably not good for a girl's self-esteem.
— AmishDude (@TheAmishDude) April 29, 2021
OK, here are the GIFs you’ve been waiting for:
— BBQ Weed (@BBQWeed) April 29, 2021
— jam (@toejam1013) April 29, 2021
— All Lives Matter (@KS1775) April 29, 2021
— Bayleys' Dad (@EdWard92022691) April 29, 2021
All this is … pic.twitter.com/HmXI3SmuTu
— SWFLRightWinger (@RightSwfl) April 29, 2021
According to The Hill, “Her family did not detail Bryant’s time in foster care but said details of her experience in the foster system would be released soon.”
Related:
Joy Reid’s guest argues that people have ‘adultified’ Ma’Khia Bryant and don’t see her humanity because she was a big girl https://t.co/p0DT23Ao4j
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 23, 2021
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