Cecil is dead, and so is Samuel.

I have been hearing and reading a lot about Cecil the lion, but not much about Samuel the man.

This is not surprising, since animals have always been a little higher in the American pecking order than black males. 

I tweeted about this earlier, and I was only half joking when I wrote that maybe we should start an organization called PETN (People for the ethical treatment of Negroes). I mean if only we could be as outraged over the killings of humans as we are the killing of poor Cecil. (And, for the record, it's not only black males who are catching the business from law enforcement.)

Anyway, props to the prosecutor in Cincinnati for charging  Ray Tensing with murder in the shooting death of  Samuel DuBose. And you have to wonder, after seeing this latest killing and the murder of Walter Scott, just how much of these  types of incidents went unreported before body cameras and cell phone videos became a thing.

"I've been doing this for over 30 years. This is the most asinine act I've ever seen a police officer make -- totally unwarranted," said Deters. "It's an absolute tragedy in the year 2015 that anyone would behave in this manner. It was senseless."

The prosecutor, who said he was shocked when he first saw the video, was adamant DuBose, who is black, had not acted aggressively toward Tensing, who is white.

"People want to believe that Mr. DuBose had done something violent towards the officer -- he did not. He did not at all. I feel so sorry for his family and what they lost, and I feel sorry for the community, too," Deters said. [Source]

Nope. The killing of Cecil was an "asinine act". The killing of Samuel DuBose, on the other hand, was something far more sinister.  

*Pics from cnn.com