By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, the city will be reeling from Wednesday night’s tragic shooting, leaving two Bristol police officers dead, one injured, and two others, one dead and another in a hospital intensive care unit. At church the lector, reading the prayers of the faithful, will come to the names of the two officers and her voice will catch, struggling to continue.
On Thursday and Friday, there will be vigils honoring the officers. Across the city, Bristol police officers will be relieved of their duties in the aftermath of the shooting, officers from across the state having offered to cover their duties them while they mourn and cope and struggle themselves. No one should have to face a situation where their lives are threatened, and yet the three officers involved in this particular situation, a unique and horrible one, did without knowing that it would end the way that it did.
Nothing over the past few days, since that incident, has been routine, and I can’t imagine things turning back to the routine anytime soon. We have all been touched terribly by this traumatic turn. And I am talking here of the public, in general. What I cannot pretend to comprehend is the pain that that friends and family are going through. And all I can do is offer my heartfelt condolences each day with my prayers for them and their loved ones.
It is all so very sad.
Over the next few days we will be hearing about arrangements and services and TBE will do our best to inform you about times and places. We will be following tributes, for instance, the New York Yankees held a moment of silence for the deceased officers earlier. For the time being, donations to the families can be made at any Thomaston Savings Bank branch. An online donor link is being developed.
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Since Wednesday evening, I have been reminded what a small world this is. Our family has had several interactions with Officer Demonte over the years. In one, Demonte was there to resuscitate Grandpa, after a heart attack. And the high school where I teach, it is not in Bristol, the teacher in the room next door to mine is a relative, through marriage, of Officer Hamzy. A co-worker’s sister-in-law had dinner with the Hamzys in the last few weeks.
And of course, Officer Hamzy having lived in Bristol his entire life ran in the same circles as several of the Fortier children.
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As for TBE, we had intended to post our candidate profiles and responses to a TBE candidate questionnaire on Thursday, but under the circumstances, have chosen to push the publication back. We will post sometime soon.
As part of our mission, we try to do what we can to educate students about journalism, the free press and free speech. On Saturday, I was invited to speak to a small gathering of foreign exchange students about these subjects. These students are high school aged. Of course, one of the topics was Wednesday’s incident, what can a small newspaper do in these circumstances, obligations and decision making. The students were thoughtful, incrediably inciteful, and from a wide swath of the Earth.
The students were from, respectively, Germany, Egypt, Tunisia, Romania, Mozambique and the Czech Republic. Each shared their experiences with freedom of speech and of the press, to the extend it is either present or lacking in their respective country. The young person from Tunisia, for example, shared living through the “Arab Spring,” with guns firing in the streets and parents at wit’s end trying to keep the family safe. A relative now works in France doing investigative stories about relations between France and Tunisia.
The student from Germany shared about working as an intern in a local newspaper and writing for a regional publication. One story he worked on, dealing with some intrigue among local government officials ended up with those officials being dismissed.
In Mozambique, according to this student, speaking out about high ranking government officials typically ended in a death or having your legs broken.
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Reading and listening this week was mostly to French lessons, from a Great Courses program.
Be well.
“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.
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