Details are still sketchy (and probably will never become clear) and the incident is still fresh in our minds. Yesterday, an “American citizen” (for whatever reason, media is obsessed with this detail), a Latino man, was gunned down by federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.

Did he really say he had a bomb? Did authorities truly feel threatened? We’ll probably never know. But this reminds us that our policy in this country is to shoot first and ask questions later, at the expense of the life of someone who could be mentally ill.

What is disturbing to me is that as the White House scrambles to wash its hands of the situation, its strongest defense is making sure we don’t see the victim as a “normal” person. The incident mustn’t be personalized lest you unleash the wrath of public opinion. The lesson of the young Brazilian gunned down by police in London must be remembered.

So yeah, all we know is: Rigoberto Alpizar was born in Costa Rica and was an American citizen. He lived near Orlando. He was married and suffered from bipolar disorder. His neighbors remember him as “friendly” and “normal”.

This is probably all we’ll ever know about Rigoberto Alpizar.

Via / NBC 6