FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT DELTA BURNING IN MISSISSIPPI

“KOHEN WILEY WAS a clear and present danger when he was killed. Don’t be fooled by his cuteness. This one-year-old shot dead by police in Senatobia, Mississippi, last June, is part of a growing scourge of babies who are obviously a deadly threat to their communities, and to America. Lethal force is the only reasonable response.”

These are the words of an unnamed Mississippi police officer, written on a baby wipe and passed to me. It continued:

“The child’s mother and a friend stole a pack of diapers from a store. I mean, come on, dangerous or what? They were already in their getaway car with Kohen when police arrived. His mother held Kohen up, without doubt to threaten law enforcement with the contents of one of the freshly purloined diapers. What else could any cop do but open fire?”

The message came in the wake of the Mississippi Attorney General ruling that the shooting was justified. It finished with a warning, and a plea:

“Look, we need more firepower to deal with this growing menace. We’re begging. Shoplifting diapers is only the beginning; we could be looking at a wave of crying without a proper reason, or giggling and smiling during work hours, or, God forbid, cuddling mommy with intent to commit a felony. We have got to stop the madness!”