So officials in the city that is ground zero for the “Stop Snitching” craze are asking for someone to snitch on Ken Harris’ killers. In a town like this, that’s an iffy proposition.
Catching the killers of the former Baltimore City councilman may be the last chance Baltimoreans have to do right by Harris. Voters here failed him at the ballot box, in essence kicking him in the teeth by rejecting his bid for City Council president. It wasn’t the first time city voters did that to an elected official with an exemplary record of public service. We did the same thing to former City Council President Lawrence Bell in his mayoral bid nine years ago.
Earlier this week, Baltimore police gave us a chance to do right by Harris. They released video taken from two security cameras showing three men who were in the area of the Haven Lounge the night Harris was killed. Those men are the suspects in the robbery and homicide. Cops are hoping someone will recognize at least one of the trio and drop the proverbial dime.
As miffed as I am with Baltimore voters for not electing Harris City Council president, I’ll at least concede that even they would have given up Harris’ killers by now, if they knew who they were. Unfortunately, we’re dealing with a subculture in Baltimore whose adherents think the moral thing to do is to NOT give up Harris’ killers. Does anyone really believe that no one knows who killed Harris other then the ones who committed the slaying?
The suspects have friends, relatives and perhaps girlfriends who know exactly what they did. So far, not one of them has come forward to finger the killers. Such is the grip that the “Stop Snitching” mind-set has on some people in this town.
Remember Jerrod Hamlett? Three years ago Hamlett was talking to a friend when some 13-year-old punk threw a bottle at him. The bottle struck Hamlett in the foot. Hamlett, only 23, apparently tried to give the punk some instructions his parents failed to give him.
The punk left, returned with a gun and fatally shot Hamlett.
A short time later the punk was in juvenile court. His pitiful excuse of a mother showed up, wearing, of all things, a “Stop Snitching” cap.
It’s not just clueless moms of 13-year-old sociopaths who’ve gotten in on the “Stop Snitching” madness. Even college students, who you would hope to be in the mainstream of society, embrace “Stop Snitching” adherents, if not the credo itself.
Two years ago students at Morgan State University paid — with YOUR tax money — rapper Busta Rhymes for an appearance at the school’s homecoming concert. Early in 2006 Rhymes — real name Trevor Smith — was on the set of a video shoot when someone fatally shot his bodyguard. Smith may have seen everything that happened or he may have seen nothing at all. For the past 30-odd months Smith has been in full “Stop Snitching” mode, refusing to tell police what he saw and when he saw it.
If Baltimore is ground zero for the “Stop Snitching” culture, then Smith is its poster child. And this is a town where college students at a publicly funded institution were perfectly comfortable inviting — and paying — the “Stop Snitching” poster child for a concert.
Ironically, Morgan is located within short walking distance of the shopping center where the Haven Lounge is located. It’s infuriating, but certainly not surprising, that Harris was killed so close to a place where students had a chance to reject the “Stop Snitching” culture but decided to pass on it.
Infuriating, yes, but let’s hope it’s not an omen or a harbinger of things to come. Harris’ death was so unnecessary, so beyond the pale even for a city nicknamed Bodymore, Murderland, that you would have thought common decency might prevail at this point. Someone knows who shot Harris and that someone — or someones — need to give up his killers.
And they shouldn’t think of it as snitching. They need only think of it as giving simple justice a much-needed nudge.
Gregory Kane is a columnist who has been writing about Baltimore and Maryland for more than 15 years. Look for his columns in the editorial section every Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at [email protected].
