Fiddler on the Roof, a record-breaking Broadway musical and subsequent movie adaptation, is a Jewish cultural touchstone — and also at the center of a new antisemitic trend on TikTok. But to counteract an outpouring of offensive videos, Jewish creators are now reclaiming the trend, educating audiences about antisemitic tropes, and boosting other Jewish users on the app.

The trend combines an audio clip of “If I Were a Rich Man,” one of Fiddler’s most recognizable songs, and a popular Expressify filter that exaggerates facial expressions. Many creators have pointed out that the filter resembles the happy merchant, an antisemitic meme that gained traction among the alt-right and has been identified as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League.

“When you combine a filter that makes you look like the Happy Merchant with a song that is very important to Jewish pop culture, what do you get?” one user asked. “Antisemitism.”

Even worse, many of the jokes that utilize the trend relate back to money, wealth, and greed, which lean into other antisemitic stereotypes. And some users also appear to be mocking the singer’s voice or use of the traditional Jewish vocal expressions. “This filter by itself? Perfectly fine. This song by itself? A perfectly wonderful song from a perfectly fun musical,” said user Rynnstar. “But the trend of using that filter with this sound over the voice of a Jewish man singing is a problem.”

@aidanpleasestoptalking

If you’re not jewish and think this is reaching, then please just listen to jewish voices. ib: @bella.the.rat and @saraczka

♬ . – jimboslice1

Oftentimes, TikTok trends start to spread when sounds become linked to special effects or joke formats. Whenever you hear the opening notes of Gia Giudice’s sad song from The Real Housewives of New Jersey, for example, you know you’re about to see footage of someone’s most embarrassing childhood memory. Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles,” meanwhile, is now automatically associated with creators turning quotes, hate comments, and texts into inspirational quotes. The Fiddler song was posted on TikTok before the trend took off, and some of the earliest videos — shared around April 14 — didn’t include the effect at all. But by April 22, many users were pairing the audio with the filter.

As The Forward noted, some creators were unaware of the song’s origins and thought it was just a cover of Gwen Stefani’s song “Rich Girl.” (In actuality, Stefani’s song, released in 2004, is a remake of a 1993 track of the same name. And the original “Rich Girl,” of course, is an homage to the Fiddler song.) Some knew it came from the musical but had no idea that it had any cultural significance. 

And, finally, there are soooo many comments saying something along the lines of “chill, it’s just a Gwen Stefani cover” and I- how. How do these kids not know about Fiddler?! pic.twitter.com/zjMd6tdL9Q

— Kalhan (@KalhanR) April 28, 2021

But this trope isn’t new, even to this space: Antisemitism has been given space to thrive on TikTok for years. A recent study showed that antisemitic remarks and Holocaust denial theories comprised over a fifth of far-right TikToks made between February and May 2020. Months later, in July 2020, TikTok took down almost a hundred more videos that used an offensive song about the Holocaust. 

“Before, I guess, I ‘came out’ as Jewish on my TikTok, before people knew, I was getting almost all positive response,” one Jewish TikToker told NBC’s Kalhan Rosenblatt in September. “And now, every single TikTok I’ve made since that video, I’ve received anti-Semitic comments, regardless of the content.”

In an attempt to reclaim the Fiddler sound, Jewish creators are sharing their own videos and racking up tens of thousands of likes. In a few popular TikToks, users address their concerns with the trend. In others, they just ask viewers to interact with their videos in order to bump them to the “top” of the sound. But many videos are just joyful depictions of Jewish creators dancing, lip-synching, and even baking cupcakes — which is probably the sound’s best trend yet.

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On the Wednesday episode of Facebook Watch’s Red Table Talk, co-host Willow Smith opened up about being polyamorous — and shared some insight into what polyamory means to her. “With polyamory, I feel like the main foundation is the freedom to be able to create a relationship style that works for you and not just stepping into monogamy because that’s what everyone around you says is the right thing to do,” Smith said. “So I was like, how can I structure the way that I approach relationships with that in mind?”

This is Red Table Talk, so naturally, her comment led to a frank, open discussion about sex, monogamy, and polyamory. “When you were like, ‘Hey, this is my get-down,’ I was like, ‘I totally get it.’ Wanting to set up your life in a way that you can have what it is that you want,” said her mom and co-host Jada Pinkett Smith. “I think anything goes as long as the intentions are clear.”

Smith’s grandma, Adrienne “Gammy” Banfield-Norris, was less on board at first; she said polyamory seemed solely “centered around sex.” Smith was excited to dispel that misconception, though. “In my friend group, I’m the only polyamorous person, and I have the least sex out of all of my friends,” she said. She gave the example of a person who might not want sex as often as their partner. Polyamory might be a good option for that couple, she explained.

Polyamory is personal and individual definitions may vary, but broadly speaking, being polyamorous means loving more than one person. Couples in polyamorous relationships might have other partners outside of their main relationships, while others may have multiple partners at a time. For some poly people, “being polyamorous feels hard-wired to their love lives,” sexuality educator Aida Manduley, LCSW, previously told Refinery29. 

Smith is the latest public figure to speak out about being polyamorous. In March, Caroline Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani’s daughter, penned a Vanity Fair essay about her journey to non-monogamy. Bella Thorne and Younger star Nico Tortorella have also discussed how and why polyamory works for them. 

Smith has previously mentioned that she was open to polyamory while discussing her sexuality in a 2019 episode of Red Table Talk. She said that she could see herself fulfilled with just two partners, though. “I love men and women equally, and so I would definitely want one man, one woman,” she said at the time. “I focus a lot on the emotional connection, and I feel like if I were to find two people of different genders that I really connected with and we had a romantic and sexual connection, I don’t feel like I would feel the need to try to go find more.”

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This week, cell phone video footage showed police in Loveland, CO violently arrested an 80-pound woman with dementia, fracturing her arm, spraining her wrist, and dislocating her shoulder. Hours after the arrest, which happened in June, the officers laughed about the incident: “I thought it went great,” one of them says in the released booking cell video. “I think we crushed it.”

Employees at a Walmart in Loveland called the police after 73-year-old Karen Garner allegedly pulled off an employee’’ mask and left the store without paying for items worth $13.88. The cops found her plucking flowers on the side of the road, and she repeatedly insisted that she was “going home” as they pushed her to the ground and handcuffed her. She was brought to jail, where she wasn’t given medical care until six hours later, according to a new lawsuit.

A lawyer representing Garner’s family who previously released bodycam footage of the arrest has now decided to release a cell video depicting the officers laughing and boasting about the incident. “When I had her pushed against the car when you first got there, I was like, ‘Okay, you’re gonna play,’ and I was pushing, pushing, pushing, I hear, pop. I was like, ‘Oh no,'” Officer Austin Hopp recounts in the video. Later, as they rewatch the footage, he jokes, “Ready for the pop? Hear the pop?”

Officer Daria Jalali, who was also involved in Garner’s arrest, shields her eyes and says, “I hate it. I hate this.” Another officer, Tyler Blackett, laughs and responds, “I love it.”

On April 14, Garner’s family filed a lawsuit against the city and three officers involved in the arrest. In the suit, they argue that Garner has dementia and sensory aphasia, which impeded her ability to understand the officers. After watching the booking cell footage, they amended the suit, accusing two more officers of failing to help Garner and call for medical assistance. The District Attorney’s office said in an April 19 statement that the incident is under criminal investigation, and the city of Loveland announced that another investigation would be conducted to determine whether the officers followed protocol. But since the cell phone footage has been widely released, on Tuesday, four officers were placed on administrative leave. Refinery29 will not be linking to the video.

“Karen is our mother. She is our children’s grandmother. She is a human being,” the family told The Washington Post in a statement. “The Loveland Police treated her like an animal. They reveled in her pain and did nothing to address it. They relished in stripping her of all dignity. Our hearts could not ache more.”

The lawsuit emphasizes the need to train officers how to interact with elderly people or those with disabilities like Garner. Lawyer Sarah Schielke said that, in this instance, the police should have requested a mental health unit. But Garner’s arrest wasn’t an isolated event — instead, it’s just another example of the police failing to understand and help someone with a mental health condition or illness, and further proof that mental health experts should be tasked with solving and de-escalating these kinds of situations.

“There is a cost associated with these controversial incidents,” Johnny Rice II, Dr.PH, a professor of criminal justice at Coppin State University, wrote in a 2020 blog post for the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “For instance, family members and friends may be reluctant to call the police for assistance in a crisis if they think their loved one may get hurt or killed as a result of their intervention.” 

Rice pointed to a 2016 incident in which Arnaldo Rios Soto, a man with autism, ran away from a Miami group home. A bystander called the police after watching Soto sit down in the middle of the street. When officers — and also his behavioral therapist, Charles Kinsey — arrived at the scene, Kinsey calmly attempted to explain that Soto posed no threat. An officer tried to shoot Soto and shot Kinsey instead.

“It is my opinion that the officer did not consider the context provided by Kinsey: that a man with a developmental disorder needed help and posed no harm,” wrote Rice. “What may be perceived by an officer as a person’s failure to reply to orders might simply reflect symptoms.”

There was also the 2013 murder of Ethan Saylor, a 26-year-old with Down syndrome: When Saylor tried to enter a movie theater with an old ticket, several off-duty officers working as security guards confronted him and tried to drag him out of the theater. He “ended up on the floor with at least one deputy on top of him,” wrote Saylor’s parents in a lawsuit. He stopped breathing and was then pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. His death was ruled a homicide, but the deputies were cleared of all charges. The state of Maryland, however, did implement new required training on responding to similar situations.

Or take the case of Daniel Prude, who was pushed and pinned to the ground in March 2020 after officers found him naked, rambling, and roaming a street in Rochester, NY. “I placed the phone call for my brother to get help. Not for my brother to get lynched,” said his brother, Joseph, according to NPR. 

Isabella Collins, whose brother Angelo Quinto was also killed after she called the police for help dealing with a mental health episode, echoed this statement. “I just wanted him to be able to calm down, and I thought they could help with that,” she told The Associated Press. “I guess it was really naive of me to think that he wouldn’t get hurt.”

And it shouldn’t be. But according to the Police Shootings Database, almost one out of four people killed by officers since 2015 had a mental illness, even though at least 34 states already require law enforcement to undergo specific training. Some states have proposed even more training, but after so many preventable tragedies, trends, and heartbreaking videos like the one of Garner’s arrest, it’s clear that the problem will only be solved when situations related to mental health, developmental issues, and disabilities are handled by the people best equipped to deal with them. And those people will never be the police.

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Like the rest of our country, the White House Rose Garden was left damaged by the Trump administration. In order to “fulfill the dynamic needs of the modern presidency,” according to CNN, former First Lady Melania Trump renovated the historic garden in summer 2020. As a result of those changes, which resulted in a bleak and cold space that lacked any semblance of joy, chaos ensued. (Not actually, but people tweeted a lot about how bad it looked.) Now, 42,000 people — and counting — are calling on Dr. Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff to restore the garden to its original state. Or, if you will, un-Melania the thing.

The Change.org petition was started in March, but it really gained traction last week. “In 2019, Melania Trump had the cherry trees, a gift from Japan, removed as well as the rest of the foliage and replaced with a boring tribute to herself,” wrote creator Liz Tapanes. “We want Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff to take this on and restore the Rose Garden to Jackie’s original design.”

Some supporters say they view a possible restoration as an important symbolic gesture. “I’m signing to restore positive traditions and move away from all the damage caused by Trump and his sycophants,” wrote one signer. Others are just livid that the garden, once full of color and flowers, had been made dull and lifeless. “Please restore the rose garden to its former look. The Trump look is terrible. It’s not warm and beautiful. Too many straight lines,” commented another person. 

Gardeners and horticulturists weighed in, too: “I am a gardener. The reasons given for Melania Trump ‘re-doing’ the garden were incorrect and bogus,” one wrote. “Please restore it.”

Photograph I took of the White House Rose Garden early last month, which shows its evisceration by previous administration last year: pic.twitter.com/i3VJWRwiX8

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) April 16, 2021

As the petition states, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy oversaw the last major renovation of the Rose Garden in 1962. Americans were particularly furious to learn that Trump had removed Kennedy’s colorful crabapple trees. (The trees were reportedly planted elsewhere on the White House grounds.) 

But even putting aside the garden’s history, Trump’s redesign just looked, well, soulless. And many people wondered why she decided it was a priority to revamp spaces like the Rose Garden and the White House Tennis Pavilion in the midst of a global pandemic and economic crisis. To that, she just said, “I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative & question my work at the @WhiteHouse to take time and contribute something good & productive in their own communities. #BeBest.”

Dr. Biden hasn’t yet commented on whether she’ll be overhauling the Rose Garden herself, but it’s certainly a possibility. In February, she gave an update on former First Lady Michelle Obama’s White House Kitchen Garden, which she said is still “going strong” more than 10 years after it was planted. Maybe under her leadership, the Bidens and Harris-Emhoffs can Make Gardens Beautiful Again.

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This week, administration officials reported that President Joe Biden will propose a ban on menthol cigarettes in an attempt to improve public health. The announcement, first reported on by The Washington Post, comes after years of health and civil rights groups pushing for restrictions on menthol cigarette sales. Some advocates argue that tobacco companies heavily advertise menthol products to Black communities, which plays into America’s life-threatening, colossal health disparity.

“COVID-19 and the racial awakening we had last summer exposed the inequities in our system,” Delmonte Jefferson, director of the Center for Black Health & Equity, told NBC News. He described menthol as “just another example of the health inequities that have plagued African-Americans for generations.”

Anti-smoking advocates also say that it’s important for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action against nicotine products often sold to and popular among young people, including cigarettes with “characterizing flavors other than menthol.” The FDA limited the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in 2018, but public health advocates filed a petition back in 2013 arguing that menthol should count as a “characterizing flavor.” Following a 2020 lawsuit, the FDA is expected to finally respond to the petition this week.

“Menthol cigarettes are the No. 1 cause of youth smoking in the United States,” Matthew L. Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, told The New York Times. “Eliminating menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars used by so many kids will do more in the long run to reduce tobacco-related disease than any action the federal government has ever taken.”

Advocacy groups believe that menthol products, known for their cooling, minty effect and taste, are often an easy and addictive entry point to other nicotine products. They’re also overwhelmingly marketed to Black people, through what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls “culturally tailored advertising images and messages.” As a result, over 70% of young Black smokers say they use menthol cigarettes — a significantly higher percentage than their Hispanic, Asian, and white counterparts, reported the anti-smoking group Truth Initiative.

From 2012 to 2014, 86% of Black smokers said they prefer menthol cigarettes, compared to just 28.9% of white smokers. This is particularly shameful given the many studies that prove Black people are more likely to die from smoking-related causes.

In 2020, Rep. Karen Bass, then-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, slammed the tobacco industry’s “greedy and ruthless strategy” to target Black communities. “Black Americans die from heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, and other tobacco-related diseases at rates far higher than others,” Bass wrote. “For far too long, tobacco companies have continuously been allowed to market their deadly products in our communities without regard for the enormous cost in Black lives and health, despite repeated calls for action to force them to stop.”

But some say that Biden’s plan could harm the very same communities his administration is trying to help. If menthol products are made illegal, this means Black people will also be disproportionately penalized for smoking. This, combined with data showing Black Americans are four times more likely than white Americans to be arrested for violating marijuana possession laws, raises concerns that the ban could further exacerbate our country’s racial justice problems if being in possession of menthol cigarettes is criminalized. Biden’s choice to focus on the impact of menthol on health and mortality disparities is an important one, but a ban might not be the best way to fix such a multilayered problem.

The ACLU, along with over two dozen civil rights and drug policy groups, warned about this in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Well-intentioned efforts to continue to reduce death and disease from tobacco products must avoid solutions that will create yet another reason for armed police to engage citizens on the street based on pretext or conduct that does not pose a threat to public safety,” the organization wrote. “Banning menthol cigarettes risks massive setbacks to our criminal justice system at precisely the moment we should be advancing reform.”

That said, the NAACP and several Black doctors groups have come out in support of the menthol cigarette ban, stating in a letter that it would likely target manufacturers rather than creating criminal penalties. “A ban on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars would do more to reduce youth tobacco use and health disparities than any other single action the federal government has ever undertaken,” Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said to the Post.

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A New York Post journalist says she has resigned after she was “ordered to write” an inaccurate story alleging that officials are distributing Kamala Harris’ book to unaccompanied migrant children at a Long Beach, CA facility. “Today I handed in my resignation to my editors at the New York Post,” tweeted Laura Italiano, a former reporter and editor for the Post. “The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point.”

Italiano closed her comment by praising New York’s “liveliest, wittiest tabloid — a paper filled with reporters and editors I admire deeply and hold as friends.” She did not further elaborate on who “ordered” her to write the article, and Refinery29 has reached out to the Post for comment.

The debunked report, published on April 23 and unfortunately titled “KAM ON IN” in the tabloid’s print edition, claimed that children at a new site in Long Beach would be given a copy of Harris’ 2019 children’s book, Superheroes are Everywhere, “in their welcome kits.” Alongside the article is a photo of Harris’ book placed on a cot next to toiletries and a backpack. But the piece has since been updated to clarify that “only one known copy of the book was given to a child.”

Before this edit, however, the New York Post‘s story was picked up by several conservative outlets and shared by right-wing politicians including Sen. Tom Cotton. “Migrant children get to read Kamala Harris’ kids’ book. It’s included in what can only be called a welcome pack given to unaccompanied minors at the border,” Fox News host Tammy Bruce said. “Propaganda aimed even to children.”

On Tuesday, The Washington Post fact-checked Italiano’s article and noticed that she didn’t cite any sources. “We repeatedly emailed the reporter, Laura Italiano, to ask how she arrived at that conclusion but received no response,” the paper wrote. The Washington Post also looked into a similar Fox News story, which reported that “photographs show” the book appearing in “welcome packs.” These “photographs,” really, are just the one photo, which was distributed by Reuters.

And as it turns out, even that one book didn’t come from a federal official. “The City of Long Beach, in partnership with the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, has a citywide book and toy drive that is ongoing to support the migrant children who are temporarily staying in Long Beach at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shelter,” city spokesman Kevin Lee told The Washington Post. “The book you reference is one of hundreds of books that have already been donated. The book was not purchased by HHS or the City.” Other local outlets and libraries backed up Lee’s explanation and told The Washington Post that the drive was well-publicized and many children’s books were donated to the center.

Like the New York Post story, the Fox News article remains online with an editor’s note: “In a previous version of this story, it was implied there were multiple copies of Harris’ book available for children in welcome packs.” (It was not just “implied,” though; the original story pretty specifically tells readers that the facility’s welcome packs include the books.)

A White House official told Fox News that Harris had no knowledge of the donation, and another representative gave a similar statement. “A citywide donation for books and toys was organized by the community to donate to children being housed at migrant facilities,” said spokeswoman Sabrina Singh. “The Office of the Vice President was not aware that her children’s book was donated.”

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Immediately after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, you might want to celebrate with a cute social media post or a socially distant outing with friends. (Or some pain meds and a nap, if you’re really feeling those side effects.) But if you’d prefer to celebrate with a freshly-packed bowl or a glass of wine, you might be wondering: Is it safe to mix these substances with the vaccine?

When it comes to marijuana, experts say there isn’t much research on a possible relationship between weed and the vaccine. But, according to William Schaffner, MD, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University, who spoke with Refinery29 health writer Molly Longman, there’s no cause for concern. “I don’t think it will influence [the] immune system in any way,” Dr. Schaffner said. Also, for what it’s worth, some marijuana legalization activists have offered free joints to newly vaccinated individuals.

Alcohol, however, is a little more tricky, because it can affect your immune system. This is why the World Health Center (WHO) advised heavy drinkers to “minimize their alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic,” if possible. The WHO wrote that there are known links between heavy alcohol use and pneumonia, lung infections, and other respiratory conditions that can worsen COVID-19 complications.

One celebratory beverage shouldn’t hurt, though. “If you are truly a moderate drinker, then there’s no risk of having a drink around the time of your vaccine,” Ilhem Messaoudi, director of the Center for Virus Research at the University of California at Irvine, told The New York Times. “It’s dangerous to drink large amounts of alcohol because the effects on all biological systems, including the immune system, are pretty severe and they occur pretty quickly after you get out of that moderate zone.”

Experts also warn that alcohol could exacerbate possible side effects from the vaccine. “Vaccine side effects include muscle aches and pains and feeling under the weather. Compounding that with the side effects of alcohol runs the risk of making you feel worse,” Tania Elliott, MD, a clinical instructor of medicine at NYU Langone Health, said in an interview with Health. And as Dr. Schaffner notes, you might wake up the next morning wondering whether you’re experiencing a hangover or vaccine side effects.

Weed, meanwhile, could make side effects better or worse. “It’s theoretically possible that it could help with the pain or nausea or headaches. Though it may make fatigue worse,” Zach Jenkins, PharmD, an associate professor of pharmacy practice at Cedarville University, told Refinery29. “I think it’ll vary person to person.”

Moderation might be your best bet, especially if you’re worried about the flu-like symptoms that might follow your second dose. But ultimately, after your vaccination, you should approach weed and alcohol the way you always should — with an understanding of possible reactions, and an understanding of your own body.

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Tucker Carlson — who previously accused liberals of weaponizing language and creating “drama” by accurately describing the January 6 riot as a violent insurrection — is now saying that it is “child abuse” to give children face masks. “Your response when you see children wearing masks as they play should be no different from your response to seeing someone beat a kid in Walmart,” Carlson said in a Monday night segment of his Fox News show. “What you’re looking at is abuse. It’s child abuse. And you are morally obligated to attempt to prevent it.”

He advised his viewers to call the police or Child Protective Services if they see a child wearing a mask outside. If they see a masked adult, however, he thinks they should take a different approach. “The next time you see someone in a mask on the sidewalk or bus path, do not hesitate. Ask politely but firmly, ‘Would you please take off your mask?'” he said. “We should do that. And we should keep doing it until wearing a mask outside is roughly as socially accepted as lighting a Marlboro in an elevator. It’s repulsive.”

Needless to say, wearing a mask is not dangerous or abusive, and it is much more invasive to approach, question, or call the police on a mask-wearing stranger than to follow the CDC’’ guidelines about a disease that has killed over 3 million Americans. But this isn’t Carlson’s first time spreading misinformation about the virus, masks, and the vaccine. In an April 13 segment, he wondered why vaccinated people have to continue wearing masks.

“If the vaccine is effective, there is no reason for people who’ve received a vaccine to wear masks or avoid physical contact,” Carlson said. “So maybe it doesn’t work, and they’re simply not telling you that.”

In a subsequent CNN interview, Dr. Anthony Fauci dismissed Carlson’s argument as a “crazy conspiracy theory” and pointed to data proving the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are all highly effective. But according to Fauci and other leading infectious disease experts, it’s important to keep masking up because it is still unknown whether a vaccinated, asymptomatic person can unintentionally infect someone else. Scientists are also still looking into how well the vaccines protect individuals from several identified variants.

A federal official said that President Joe Biden is expected to unveil “interim public health recommendations” on Tuesday. Fauci also noted during a Monday virtual event that the CDC will release new guidelines “really, really soon,” and these guidelines might indicate that it is safe for vaccinated people to go outside without masks.

But there’s a difference between Fauci or Biden providing specific scientific assurance of what’s safe and Carlson going on an angry, politically motivated, and sensationalized rant. And although Carlson claimed that “masks are purely a sign of political obedience,” it’s important to recognize that our presidential administration is listening to science. And when it comes to COVID-19, the vaccines, and — yes — face masks, we should, too.

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On Tuesday, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, in a rare instance of a white police officer facing prison time for killing a Black person. But moments before the verdict was announced, another white officer — Nicholas Reardon of Columbus, OH — shot and killed Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old girl who had called police for help on Tuesday afternoon. Reardon has since been placed on paid leave.

Reardon now joins the ranks of many white officers who have killed Black and brown people in recent years and months. Unlike Chauvin, officers like Jonathan Mattingly, who was involved in killing Breonna Taylor, or Kim Potter, who killed Daunte Wright, don’t face criminal charges — despite often having a history of racism and violence.

So, who exactly is the officer who shot and killed a 16-year-old girl four times? Reardon graduated from Bishop Watterson Catholic School in Columbus in 2016. A former classmate, who spoke to Refinery29 and requested to remain anonymous, confirmed that he first attended another Catholic high school in Ohio before transferring to BWCS halfway through his senior year. According to the classmate, he was “never a ‘think on your feet’ guy” but “a scrawny white kid with anger management issues.” He joined the Columbus Division of Police in 2019.

According to The Daily Beast, Reardon appears to be the son of Sgt. Edward Reardon, who was on the Columbus Police for 32 years before retiring in 2020. Sgt. Reardon was also the basic training sergeant at the Columbus Police Academy, where he trained over 700 officers, according to a tribute post from the Columbus Police.

Nicholas Reardon also appears to be a trained military marksman. A U.S. Air Force National Guard Airman, Reardon graduated from basic training after completing an “intensive,” eight-week program that taught “military discipline and studies,” Air Force values, and basic fitness skills and principles. As noted by The Daily Beast, a Twitter account linked to his high school posted a slew of updates on his training.

Alumni Update: Nick Reardon ’16 Rickenbacker AF Base Columbus, OH. While at Tech School earned expert marksman for M4A1 @Reardon2Nick pic.twitter.com/CXckmWtIX2

— BWHS Wrestling (@WattyWrestling) January 23, 2017

The Columbus Police released Reardon’s bodycam footage on Tuesday, but they did not initially name him as the shooting officer. The next day, the department shared a recording of Ma’Khia’s original phone call and further video footage of the shooting. “We need a police officer here now,” a girl says in the 911 recording, according to NPR. “We got these… grown girls over here, trying to fight us.”

In the footage, Reardon arrives alone at the scene and repeatedly asks what is going on as Ma’Khia fights with two girls. “Get down,” he shouts, before shooting Ma’Khia four times until she falls to the ground. Bystanders begin shouting that he didn’t need to use his gun and that Ma’Khia was just a child. Reardon responds, “She had a knife. She just went at her.”

The entire incident took place over the course of just 10 seconds. 

“A Black girl is dead because the cops brought a gun to a damn knife fight. If you don’t know how to de-escalate teen girls who are fighting, you should not be a police officer,” Dr. Brittney Cooper, an author and Rutgers University professor, wrote on Twitter. “This is why our movements keep asking us to reimagine public safety and to defund the police. Because the cops act like the only tool they have is a goddamn gun. And that’s a failure of both competence and imagination.”

Columbus’ Interim Police Chief Michael Woods said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation will conduct an “independent and transparent” investigation into the shooting. What is clear, though, is that Reardon should be dismissed as an officer. When he shot Ma’Khia four times — which happened in the wake of several other police killings, and in the midst of the highly publicized Chauvin trial — he proved that this is far from a trend of isolated incidents. He proved that even officers with the most training, and a military background, are still the ones shooting Black and brown people, even children. He proved that this isn’t a case of “one bad apple” — this is a problem within our police system.

“For the second time in less than a week, we are collectively mourning a child killed by the police,” the ACLU wrote in a statement. “We’ll say it again. A system that kills children with impunity cannot be reformed.”

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Ma'Khia Bryant's TikToks Remind Us She Was A Kid

The Police Are The Problem

Police Shot & Killed 16-Year-Old Ma'Khia Bryant

On Tuesday, 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was shot and killed by a police officer in Columbus, OH. The news, which broke after police released bodycam footage of the shooting just after Derek Chauvin was convicted for murdering George Floyd, has left many in shock and mourning. In the days following her death, people have been sharing Ma’Khia’s TikToks, which only serve as one more reminder that, no matter how police might try to justify or explain her murder, she was only a child.

Ma’Khia’s videos — mostly hair and beauty tutorials — have since been deleted from TikTok, but they’ve gone viral on Twitter. Before they were taken down, many TikTok users also dueted and stitched her videos, adding their own reactions and captions to her tutorials. One of Bryant’s videos received 2.6 million views on Twitter in two days; it has been retweeted over 31,000 times. In the TikTok, Ma’Khia smiles, blows a kiss, and dances to a Bryson Tiller song, all while showing off her haircare routine.

Ma’Khia was shot four times after she reportedly called the police for help. Ma’Khia’s aunt, Hazel Bryant, told the Ohio Statehouse News Bureau that she had gotten into an altercation with several older girls who were threatening her with assault. Ma’Khia was holding a knife when the police arrived, and Interim Chief of Police Michael Woods said that officers believed she was going to stab one or both of the girls she was seen pushing in the bodycam video. Nicholas Reardon, an officer at the scene, shot her four times. 

Conservative pundits have already begun justifying her death by insisting that she posed a risk to the other girls. But this argument doesn’t take into account that Ma’Khia called the police for help to end the fight. And as many have mentioned, cops have been able to stop themselves from murdering white children and adults wielding guns. But Ma’Khia was a 16-year-old girl — not an adult, not a young woman — she was a child.

For the sake of “transparency,” Columbus police released graphic bodycam footage of her death, which also spread across social media. But experts agree that these videos can be traumatizing to watch. Beyond that, no one should be known as just another casualty of our racist, broken policing system. Instead, supporters have been sharing Ma’Khia’s TikToks as a way to commemorate her life, showing how she will — and should — be remembered: as a vivacious Black teenager full of life, excitement, and joy. 

#makhiabryant deserved to be alive and happy with her family 💞 #SayHerName #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/kkRhWAd0yJ

— gracieミ☆ (@mercxkurt) April 21, 2021

This is Makhia Bryant pic.twitter.com/5Nb6bHhWcH

— Ryan (@tvisgreat) April 21, 2021

According to Ma’Khia’s mother, Paula Bryant, she was “a sweet child” who was excited to have recently made the honor roll. “She was a very loving, peaceful little girl,” Bryant told a 10TV reporter. “Ma’Khia had a motherly nature about her. She promoted peace, and that’s something that I want to always to be remembered.”

Reardon has not been charged or investigated for Ma’Khia’s death yet, and joins a long list of officers who have shot Black and brown people, especially in recent months. “Regardless of the circumstances associated with this, a 16-year-old girl lost her life yesterday. I sure as hell wish it hadn’t happened,” Woods said. Despite saying this now, right after her death, Woods said that protocol allows police to use deadly force as protection.

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Police Shot & Killed 16-Year-Old Ma'Khia Bryant

Will Black America Ever See Real Justice?

The Police Are The Problem

On April 20, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd in 2020. But Chauvin is only one part of the problem, and America’s broken police system isn’t changed by his conviction: While Chauvin’s trial was underway, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was shot and killed during a traffic stop. And moments before Chauvin was announced guilty, 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was shot and killed by a Columbus, OH officer whom she had reportedly called for help. 

Last year, 1,127 people — disproportionately Black men — were killed by the U.S. police, according to data from the Police Violence Report. It’s clear that our current system is racist, harmful, and violent. But there’s still disagreement on what America would look like with no police at all.

Part of the problem is that we’re conditioned to call the cops during tense situations. Even those who support abolition may not know what other resources are available. But very often, there are other solutions that could better de-escalate a situation. The website Don’t Call The Police is a great place to start. This comprehensive directory, sorted by city and emergency, offers numbers for local hotlines and crisis centers. 

For example, DCTP includes resources for local and national domestic violence hotlines. This information can be incredibly useful, as many people dealing with domestic violence report feeling reluctant to call the police, and one in three people who did call the police felt less safe after doing so, a 2015 survey by the National Domestic Violence Hotline found.

DCTP also has resources and hotline numbers for dealing with mental health crises. Evidence indicates that mental health professionals and nurses are more effective at helping in these kinds of situations: Eugene, OR has a system in place that sends both a medic and a crisis worker to homes upon receiving a report of erratic behavior. In one year, the team responded to around 24,000 calls, and backup was only required around 150 times. The police, however, are less adept and trained at handling such incidents: In 2020, 97 people were killed by the cops in response to reports of erratic behavior or mental health-related crises, the Police Violence Report states. 

If you’re in New York, formerly incarcerated software engineers also created an alternative to 911, aptly titled Not911. According to the app’s website, Not911 is designed to direct people in crisis to “New York City-based organizations that offer counseling, mediation and intervention services” that don’t involve police intervention.

Numbers show that in many cities, police primarily receive calls about nonviolent or life-threatening offenses. It might seem harmless to call a cop for help breaking up a neighbor’s party, but the majority of police killings begin with traffic stops, reports of mental health checks, and low-level offenses, according to Mapping Police Violence. Alternatives to the police don’t just solve problems; they potentially save lives.

The options listed here aren’t perfect solutions. Not911 only operates in New York City and DCTP currently displays resources for a limited list of locations. If your city isn’t included, it may be worth doing some prep work to find similar hotlines and resources that are local to you, so you have them on hand if you were ever to need them.

“In this long transition process [to a world without police], we may need a small, specialized class of public servants whose job it is to respond to violent crimes. But part of what we’re talking about here is what role police play in our society,” writes Minneapolis-based collective MPD150. “Right now, cops don’t just respond to violent crimes; they make needless traffic stops, arrest petty drug users, harass Black and Brown people, and engage in a wide range of ‘broken windows policing’ behaviors that only serve to keep more people under the thumb of the criminal justice system.” Changing this will take widespread, intentional action — and that can start with you.

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How Often Are Police Disciplined?

Nancy Pelosi Doesn't Get It

Video Shows Police Arresting Black Teen On Bike

On May 25, 2020, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed Black man, by kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes while he called out for help. Nearly a year later, on April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty on three counts of manslaughter and murder. He now faces up to 40 years in prison. But as many understandably celebrate this verdict, after decades of fighting for Black lives against police brutality, it’s important to remember: This isn’t justice, this is accountability.

Since Chauvin’s trial began several weeks ago, police officers killed at least 64 Americans, mostly Black and Latino men. Just 20 minutes before Chauvin’s verdict was announced, Columbus, OH, police shot and killed Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old who had reportedly called the cops for help. At the end of last month, just miles from where Chauvin murdered Floyd, another officer shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright. Darren Wilson, the police officer who killed Michael Brown in 2014, was not indicted. And when Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville police officers in her bed while she was asleep, the officers were relieved of their duties, but no one was charged for her death.

It took multiple videos, testimonies from 45 experts and witnesses, and a year of protests until Chauvin was convicted. And while the verdict brings some relief, it doesn’t change the entire system, nor does it prevent the ongoing killing of Black and brown people at the hands of police.

After the verdict was revealed, many people — including politicians — were quick to celebrate. President Joe Biden called the results of the trial “a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a particularly disturbing statement, thanked Floyd for “sacrificing [his] life for justice.” But when the word “justice” is used in these instances, what does it really mean? As Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison put it, “I would not call today’s verdict justice, because justice implies restoration.”

“This trial has always been about one police officer in a corrupt and violent system that continues to disproportionately target Black and brown people,” Missouri Rep. Cori Bush wrote in a statement. “We’ve all been forced to grapple with the question: What is justice? Because our criminal-legal system is not a just system — it’s a violent and oppressive one.”

While Chauvin’s conviction shows that he is being held accountable for his actions, it doesn’t mean that every similar offender will be held accountable for theirs. It’s rare to see an officer convicted for killing anyone in the United States, let alone a Black man; so rare, in fact, that experts said the odds were in favor of Chauvin being found not guilty.

Accountability must also include wide acknowledgement that our police and carceral systems are intrinsically tied to racism and violence. Many activists and abolitionists who have been working toward reforming, defunding, and abolishing the police don’t see Chauvin’s conviction as an indication of progress, because it happened within the same carceral system that empowered Chauvin to kill Floyd in the first place. 

“I’m glad George’s family got what they want but am not looking forward to people using this verdict to pretend that progress has been made or that this system is redeemable,” tweeted Mark Martinez, a Boston lawyer, State Senate staffer, and abolitionist. “The system that killed George Floyd can never bring him justice. The only justice is abolition.”

Martinez says there are several reasons the verdict isn’t exactly something worth celebrating. For abolitionists, punishment is never the goal — prevention is. “Abolition is not about retribution for harm caused, it’s about preventing the harm,” he told Refinery29. “I have trouble calling [the verdict] a win when it only happened because the entire murder was caught on tape and there’s been almost a year of nonstop protest as a result. A system in which we have to work so hard for a ‘win’ and have to have every second documented is not a system we should be celebrating.”

After Chauvin’s trial ended, one viral tweet asserted that this week has been a difficult time to be an abolitionist. For many people, it’s complicated: It’s tempting to celebrate the fact that, this one time, our justice system actually acknowledged Chauvin’s crime, and it’s also important that Floyd’s family feels a sense of relief. “I believe because of prayer, we got the verdict we wanted,” his brother, Terrence Floyd, told a crowd of supporters. “We said, God, we need justice. We need it now. And He answered.”

But a punishment for Chauvin doesn’t guarantee tangible change. “We are owed so much more than a guilty verdict,” says abolitionist Rena Karefa-Johnson. “Even if we disagree on whether our carceral state can bring us any justice, I hope we agree that we’re ultimately demanding and fighting for a world where George Floyd lives and thrives, not a world where his killer is punished.”

The official acknowledgement that Chauvin is guilty matters, but whatever the verdict had been, the truth always was that Floyd was murdered by the police — and still, despite nationwide protests and outrage, the police have continued to kill 319 people so far in 2021. Chauvin is just one example in a long history of police brutality, racist violence, and injustice. And if we want to see justice, we need change. In Rep. Bush’s words: “A just world is one where George Floyd is never murdered. It’s one where Daunte Wright isn’t pulled over for having air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror. It’s one where Black lives matter.”

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Derek Chauvin Found Guilty In George Floyd Murder

Police Shot & Killed 16-Year-Old Ma'Khia Bryant

Nancy Pelosi Doesn't Get It