Patrick T. Fallon/Reuters
Police are trained as warriors in military-style training that emphasizes shooting without hesitation.
Officers are not equipped to serve and protect. They are equipped to protect their own lives.
Robert Evans is an investigative journalist for Bellingcat and has worked as a conflict reporter in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine.
This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
In June of 2020 I was reporting on a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, when a woman with a machete charged into view and started lunging erratically towards people. I was just a few feet away. Images of the 2017 fatal stabbing of two Portlanders by a right-wing extremist flashed through my head. I was carrying a concealed handgun that day, but I did not draw it. Instead, I watched as several activists, some still half-blind from tear gas, deescalated the woman. It turned out she was homeless and paranoid that members of th