{"id":132589,"date":"2023-09-21T06:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T11:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=132589"},"modified":"2023-09-20T17:11:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T22:11:05","slug":"the-view-from-the-balcony-danelo-cavalcante-animal-or-human","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/the-view-from-the-balcony-danelo-cavalcante-animal-or-human\/","title":{"rendered":"The View From The Balcony: “Danelo Cavalcante: Animal or Human?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Danelo Cavalcante is the convicted murderer who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison recently and evaded capture for two weeks. Law enforcement carried out a grueling search that tested their endurance and tenacity but proved successful in the end. Minutes after Cavalcante was apprehended a group of about two dozen law enforcement professionals dressed in tactical gear posed for a picture with him front and center. This has led to a debate about the appropriateness of such action. Should the picture have been taken or not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A little background\u2026
Cavalcante left Brazil, escaping to the United States in 2018. He began a romantic relationship with Deborah Brandao, a Brazilian woman who had immigrated to the United States. When the relationship ended he stabbed Brandao 38 times in front of her children (aged 4 & 7), killing her, fearful that she would let authorities know he was still wanted for murder in Brazil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cavalcante was convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment in Pennsylvania.
Cavalcante is guilty of the crime by his own admission. Sources report that he said he knew he would have to pay for his heinous actions, but that he wasn\u2019t going to pay with his life. He is clearly a significant threat to society and must remain behind bars to protect the public from more monstrous violence. I have no argument with that. What I do question is the dynamics behind taking a trophy photo of another human being, captured like a wild animal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many will say that Cavalcante\u2019s crimes show that he is no more than an animal, ergo, he should be treated as such. If that\u2019s the case, why wasn\u2019t he shot dead, strung up, skinned, and gutted like a deer? Why not send his body to a taxidermist and hang him\u2014at least his head\u2014at local law enforcement HEADquarters? Because we are above that\u2014or are we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a good friend who is a prisoners\u2019 rights attorney. I\u2019ve heard him speak about the inhumane and horrid conditions in most of America\u2019s prisons. Most prisons in the South don\u2019t have air conditioning. That fact sets up inmates for heat stroke and death, especially when there are contributing medical factors. Would you put your dog or cat in such conditions? The ASPCA would be all over you in a second!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people who are incarcerated will one day be released. If we treat them like animals while they\u2019re in prison, how can we expect them to behave otherwise once they are free?
We live in a country that many call a \u201cChristian nation.\u201d I defy anyone to prove that degrading and demeaning anyone\u2014even a convicted murderer\u2014is consistent with the teachings of Jesus, who forgave his own murderers, even while he himself was dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately my stance in this case is about the dehumanization of wrongdoers. The photographing of two dozen law enforcement officers with their captured prey is a slippery slope. There\u2019s plenty of video coverage of Cavalcante after his apprehension that was neither staged nor planned. The picture in question was. There was no need for it. The desire for it was rooted (unconsciously for some) in pride and self-justified vengeance. But I understand how, in the heat of the moment, following the exhausting search for a known killer and prison escapee, it could happen. After all, we\u2019re only human, right? Well, like it or not, Danelo Cavalcante is only human, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Sgt. Phil Esterhaus (played by Michael Conrad) would say after every roll call of police officers in the 1980\u2019s television series NYPD Blue, \u201cLet\u2019s be careful out there.\u201d
Let\u2019s be careful, indeed.
\u2026and that\u2019s the view from The Balcony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Weeks is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Certified Shamanic Life Coach, an ordained minister, a singer-songwriter, and an actor. He makes no apologies for the views he\u2019s expressed in this article. Randy may be reached at\u00a0randallsweeks@gmail.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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