As the spouse of a veteran and the mother of an active military member, I was appalled at your headline on Aug. 19. The 84-year-old retired general deserved better than to be labeled “a robber.”
The headline was inflammatory and biased in nature and beneath what we need in Fayette County from a local newspaper.
Hopefully in the future, The Citizen will be more journalistic and less like a headline-grabbing tabloid.
Deborah Dunfee
Fayetteville, Ga.
[The editor replies: I agree: The general is no robber. That’s what Fayetteville police say he is.
What remains to be reported is whether the Fayetteville police response was appropriate to the circumstances — a food delivery dispute inside a private home in which there were at least four (and maybe five) witnesses: a 26-year-old takeout driver, an 84-year-old retired Army general and two young women, one of them named “Tanji,” who have been described as guests in the home.
Would two men now face felony charges — initiated entirely by police, not by any other complainant — if some basic police detective work had been done before handcuffs were employed?
Can we dial 9-1-1 for some common sense?
Is this the Fayetteville department’s version of “community policing” and “to serve and protect”?
I feel neither served nor protected by this example of policing. Based on my news experience covering the police beat beginning in 1969, I almost always give cops the benefit of a doubt. This is different: Too many doubts. Something’s not right here. Something’s not right. My column expands on this theme on the front page.]
