In the eyes of the Beholder!... DJ Samin
Photo by: CyrusMafi

What would you do in the following situation:
Members of the Flying Dragons, a Manhattan Chinatown gang, upset with the cops of the 5th Precinct, specifically the Police Department's Asian Gang Intelligence Unit, decide to torment those cops by lobbing M69 practice hand grenades through the precinct windows. The grenades are harmless, after a few seconds they emit a small puff of white smoke and make a loud popping noise that scares the bejesus out of the cops. Even after the cops realize that the previous grenades are harmless, they can never be sure if a real one were to be thrown in.

The cops can't take it anymore and go to Pell Street, where this faction operates from (there are three Manhattan factions of the Flying Dragons defined by the streets they control: Pell, Grand and Bowery) to stop the gang from terrorizing them. There was always bad blood between the cops and the gang, so when the cops go to arrest them they are met with gunfire.

The cops return the favor and a battle royal ensues. After a short interval, half a dozen of the gang are dead including one gang member's wife and child. The gang calls up CNN and complains that the cops are targeting their wives and children.

CNN contacts the cops and finds out that no cops actually died, the grenades are harmless homemade knockoffs that haven't really injured anyone and accuses the cops of disproportionate response.

A reporter comes to you for an interview because you live on Pell Street just down the block from the gang. In fact, your brother lives next door to them and most gang members know you and your whole family. So you are asked about the situation. A camera is on your face and you think to yourself that the gang is probably watching this interview on TV right at this minute.

You want to say that the gang are a bunch of savage, irredeemable thugs who terrorize the neighborhood and that the cops would do well to kill them all. But you think about your brother and other relatives who might live in gang neighborhoods. So this is what you say: "They were minding their own business when the cops came in like the Nazi Gestapo shooting everyone Asian." The reference to Nazis doesn't really apply; certainly the cops weren't targeting the gang simply because they were Asian but because they were involved with kidnapping, extortion, illegal gambling, arson, and all around thuggery. But you have to say something really negative about the police, otherwise you only put yourself and your family in jeopardy.