It also got a headline in the student newspaper, the Johns Hopkins News-Letter, and a scowl from Marc Perkins, the president of the Student Government Association, who told me he tolerated the poster because of free speech but didn't condone it. He said freshmen sometimes get caught up and excited by "moments" but "lack the proper perspective" to see, as in this case, that killing someone, no matter what the circumstances, shouldn't be celebrated.
Perkins said the poster and slogan "certainly was a good portion" of Larkin's campaign, and he thinks it helped him gain name recognition in a race that had six candidates.
Larkin disputed this assessment and said that he and his closest opponent got out and talked to students and that the final tally came down to "peer-to-peer contact." The killing, he said, "wasn't a big part of my campaign. It was all about getting out and talking to people and telling them what I wanted to do. It was not about posters or slogans."
Larkin said he put up 60 posters and that 10 to 15 mentioned the samurai sword. He said that message was aimed at attracting freshmen and because "this incident was the first major event that we all talked about." He added, "I'm sorry if I offended anybody. That was not my intention. I didn't want to single out the poor guy who was involved. It was not supposed to be about one person."
Baltimore is considered by some a lawless, violent city in which justice often comes up short. So I can understand applauding people who feel it necessary or who are forced to take matters into their own hands. The student who swung the sword hasn't talked publicly, and he didn't respond to a request for an interview for this article, but from all accounts, he is traumatized by what he did.
We can also debate how and why the man who was killed, Donald D. Rice, was on the street despite 29 prior convictions on crimes that included breaking-and-entering and car theft. He too has a story - my colleague Dan Rodricks reported that Rice once wanted to be an attorney and had counseled another defendant to tell the truth while testifying against another person.
That people are exploiting this case cheapens the legitimate debate about whether what Pontolillo did was legal and right and whether the justice system had appropriately dealt with Rice. Neither the student nor the dead man's family deserves to be remembered in caricature, or be reduced to sayings on T-shirts and on campaign posters.
Police are still examining the case, and a ruling on whether the killing was justified could be weeks away. Pontolillo told police he took his sword to check on reports of a suspicious man near a back garage on East University Place in North Baltimore's Oakenshawe neighborhood and that he swung when Rice lunged at him.
Authorities have lots to sort out and are awaiting a final autopsy report. It's an important decision and shouldn't be taken lightly - not by the police, the prosecutors or the students at Johns Hopkins. Pontolillo has to live with the fact he took a life, and the Rice family has to live without a loved one for the rest of their lives.
These are the sobering consequences of a violent act in a violent city. Let's talk about the issues instead of using this case for personal gain.
