If #MotherEmmanuelAME church had treated #DylanStormRoof like First Baptist Church treated Joshua Chukwuedozie Ude they would be alive today.

A screenshot taken from a YouTube video involving Huntsville police officers arresting a man outside a church via al.com

Let's recap.  Remember Josha Ude, the 23 year old grad student from Africa who had the misfortune of sightseeing while black?

Huntsville police spokesman Harry Hobbs said off-duty officers arrested 23-year-old Joshua Chukwuedozie Ude on Sunday, Oct. 27, on charges of resisting arrest and criminal trespassing, following reports of disruptive conduct during a church service at First Baptist Church, located at 600 Governors Drive.
Here's the complete police statement from Hobbs:
"Church members contacted officers working at the church regarding suspicious behavior by Ude and his two adult male companions. Witnesses told police that the three men entered the church after the 11 a.m. service began. One of the men remained in the sanctuary hallway while Ude and another man walked to the front row and began videotaping the pastor and congregation. The three men left the church building on their own accord before the service concluded.
Police approached the three men as they left the building to inquire about their activities. During that conversation, Ude became uncooperative, refused to leave, and was subsequently arrested. Ude's companions, who were also detained by police, videotaped the arrest, posted it to You Tube within 30 minutes and contacted local media. The video does not show the events leading up to Ude's arrest."
"Initial review of the posted videotapes indicate the officers used appropriate techniques under the circumstances,"Chief Lewis Morris said. "However, I have instructed our Internal Affairs division to investigate any alleged use of excessive force during the arrest of Mr. Ude."

In all fairness First Baptist Church said that's not exactly what happened.

On Sunday, October 27th, three men were observed taking photographs outside the church of the mosaic on the front of our building. One man entered the building, was welcomed by our ushers and invited to join the service which was already in progress. Initially, he declined, but later two of the three young men entered the sanctuary approximately 40 minutes after the service had begun, walked down the center aisle and sat in the front pew. Our pastor, Dr. David Hull, was already preaching the sermon at this point. One of the men removed a cell phone and appeared to be videotaping and/or taking photographs. At no time were the men confronted or asked to leave the service. They remained in the service for approximately 10 minutes, at which time they got up, walked out the center aisle and left the service. The third young man remained in the hallway engaged in conversation with our ushers. After leaving the building on their own initiative, an incident occurred in the parking lot involving the young men and uniformed police officers.
First Baptist Church has received many inquiries from concerned members of the public, especially pertaining to videos of the incident which have been posted to YouTube by one or more of these young men. Some have speculated that First Baptist Church asked these men to leave the service because of the way they were dressed. First Baptist Church did not ask these men to leave the service at any time. First Baptist Church welcomes all people who wish to worship and attend our services, and does not have any type of dress code.

You can watch the entire take down here, but if the good people of Charlestons' Mother Emmanuel AME Church had profiled Dylan Strom Roof instead of welcoming him into the house of the Lord with open arms they might be alive today.

EYE am back.

Racial Profiling in the Name of the Lord. Let the church say Amen.

A screenshot taken from a viral video involving officers of the Huntsville Police Department

Here we go again.

You know the drill.

Young black men stalked, profiled, arrested (if lucky) for walking, shopping, seeking help, going to church, while black.

Neighborhood watch,  police (on or off duty) acted appropriately.

The latest case of racial profiling happened in  Huntsville, Alabama, nicknamed the Rocket City because of it's close association with the U.S. military and NASA.  Huntsville is also known for its abundance of churches.  A friend once described the city to a Canadian saying if you see something tall and it has a cross on it, it's a church, if it doesn't it's a rocket.

The Church pictured above is First Baptist Church,  it is a beautiful edifice not only on the outside but inside as well.  According to the Huntsville Police Department and reported by the media,  Joshua Chukwuedozie Ude, 23, was arrested in the parking lot of the church, located at 600 Governors Drive, after Huntsville police said he was questioned about disruptive behavior during a service inside. Police said he became uncooperative and refused to leave. 

According to a statement on the First Baptist Church website that is not what happened.  The young men were taking pictures of the outside of the church (no crime), an usher invited them to attend service, initially they declined (should have followed their first instinct), decided to take him up on the invitation to see inside, walked down to the front row, sat down, took some pictures, and left. Unfortunately, their appearance inside the sanctuary made some members nervous and they alerted HPD and that's when all hell broke out in the parking lot.

Why did the young men make some members nervous and HPD react they way they did?  For the answer, we have to look no further than THE  ATTACK MACHINE, who says "people  in Huntsville are giving benefit of doubt to a guy screaming he was arrested for going to church when you know that wasn't what he was stopped for."

What we know:

• These guys appeared at the church, took video, alarmed people.
• This guy was under arrest
• He is fighting them from the minute the video starts
• They were not going to let him go.
• He kicks them

Here is what we can assume:

• The cops were alerted to this incident, they did not just spawn out of nowhere
• The cops told this guy he was under arrest
• He was combatitve (sic)
• They were not there to “go to church”
• This guy will get a check.

Amazingly if this guy puts a bullet in these cops, the same people whining about this would be the first grieving for a fallen officer.

"This guy" didn't have a gun, he had a camera (thank God).  The only ones with guns were the police.  You know, the people who are trained to protect and serve?  Amazingly if these young men had run the police probably would have shot them and been acquitted.

Let's go back to the: These guys appeared at the church, took video, alarmed people declaratory statement. Why did these guys appearing at a church alarm people? Could it be the media enabled racial stereotype of the dangerous black man?  I could understand their fear if black men had a documented history of violence towards whites, you know like slavery, lynchings, and bombing churches.  

If there is any race of people who should fear another race of people and wonder if they are friend or foe,  it's black people.  What if black people automatically assumed every white person was a member of the KKK and wanted to bring back Slavery? 

"There is a mean spirit on the loose, not only in Alabama, but America, and that's what makes this election so important". Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D. Selma)