Maybe Cops Shouldn't Handle Domestic Violence Calls

Weeks before Gabby Petito, a #vanlife influencer on a cross-country road trip, was reported missing, and before her remains were discovered in a national forest in Wyoming, the 22-year-old found herself crying uncontrollably in the back of a police car. On August 12, she and her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, had fought in front of a grocery store in Moab, Utah. A concerned bystander called 911 to report a domestic dispute after witnessing Laundrie strike Petito. According to the caller, “The gentleman was slapping the girl.” Another witness said it appeared Laundrie had taken her phone and locked her out of the van. He told police that he saw Petito hitting Laundrie as she fought to get back inside the van — her home at the time.

But when police pulled over the couple in the now-infamous white van to investigate further, they came to a very different conclusion about what had transpired. After separating and talking with both parties — one of whom was hyperventilating, and one of whom was calm and jovial — they made the determination that it was Petito who was the abuser and Laundrie the victim.

If you feel like you’ve lost all sense of perspective because of how long we’ve been in crisis, this should help clarify things: COVID has officially surpassed the Spanish Flu as the deadliest disease in American history. And yet, meanwhile in Texas. See the winners of the 2021 Drone Photography Contest for a bird’s-eye view of the world. Uma Thurman wrote a moving personal essay for the Post denouncing Texas’s new abortion ban. Brace yourself for the Netflix/Roald Dahl metaverse. And look: A giant inflatable moon ran amok during China’s Moon Festival, and apparently, it’s not the first time it has happened!

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