To Good Samaritans

Three days ago, there was a shooting in a bar in Kansas City. A drunk man tossed ethnic slurs at two Indian immigrants and got himself kicked out when patrons complained, to their immense credit. But he returned with a handgun and shot both Indians, one fatally.

The fact that the incident was racially motivated is worrisome, but let’s be clear: it would have been terrible even had racism not been involved. But in a perverse way, the incident gave me hope that I want to build on.

Today, I gave to a GoFundMe campaign for Ian Grillot, a bystander in the bar who chose to intervene after the shooter had let already let loose on the first two victims. He took a bullet to the chest. He doesn’t think of himself as a hero, he’s told the press. But we know better. And we should applaud good Samaritans.

There are actually three GoFundMe fundraisers related to the incident.One was setup on behalf of both of the victim’s families. Another was setup for the slain victim’s family. Combined, the three fundraisers have raised over $1 million as of this writing.