By Rosetta Miller-Perry
Information has surfaced that Nashville bomber Anthony Quinn Warner’s girl friend tried to warn police in 2019 that he was making bombs. A police report has surfaced that the police went to Warner’s home once, but he either wasn’t there or didn’t answer the door. The police didn’t press the search. The reasons for that according to Chief John Drake were they had no probable cause to search, and he had no criminal record.
I give due respect to the Chief John Drake but once again, that explanation strains credibility. If Warner had been Black and resided in my neighborhood, Haynes Manor, Nashville’s finest would have kicked the door in and began a search. How many times this year has the nation seen police breaking into the WRONG homes, terrorizing and killing innocent Black folks, then later apologizing for it. I am not sure about their definition of probable cause. It is strange how someone in possession of a few joints in neighborhoods of color be grounds for a drug bust, but a report of possible bomb making by a personal friend of the suspected bomb maker in a predominantly white neighborhood didn’t justify for a more extensive search. I wonder if Metro’s Police department’s probable cause definition is different for neighborhoods of color?
The Tribune is grateful no one was killed in the Christmas Day incident and we pray when Black or Brown people are involved in any future situations that Nashville’s finest also operate with a high regard for our communities. If so, it will go a long way towards this ongoing suspicion that whites residing in certain areas get treated one way, and Black neighborhoods are treated in such an offensive negative way.
