In the past couple of weeks some impactful events occurred in the town I grew up in.

Four teenage boys from my high school, ones that I have passed in the halls, committed a crime that ended in the death of a man. A man with friends and a family, who now have the weight of the world on their shoulders. For them I would like to send my most sincere apology. But not only were they effected. The families of the four boys were affected. The friends of those families. People who only faintly knew either of the parties.

Complete strangers.

A tragedy is like an eruption, there is a huge, destructive, initial impact that devastates some, and then reaches out and engulfs others as it spreads. Our eruption continues to spread, and its left behind horrible aftermath.

This is because no matter the commonality, crime and death will never be something that people are used to.

My hometown, which was never known for more than being on county line ten or another exit on I-75, was not used to such events.

Nothing to this extent has ever really occurred, at least not in my lifetime. My town was usually quiet and not a large contributor to anything worth national news. But now it was on the map. Good Morning America featured our town and its most recent news front and center for the world to see. The story became the number one trending topic on Twitter, my news feed was filled with hate and disgust and threats. Facebook updates and polls with arguments about who to blame and what to do, ran wild. I could see the anger.

I could feel the tension.

I couldn’t, however, recognize the people and the town that I grew up in.

The moment those rocks were thrown, the perception of Clio, Michigan to the world was changed. Our town was viewed as a place of discord and calamity. We viewed this issue as a defining moment in our history and have acted upon it discordantly. I’ve seen a lot of hate thrown at the families of the teenage boys. Hate that was not earned.

Harsh words and harmful threats that become nothing short of unproductive. A lot of focus on the extensive punishment of these boys and not enough love and sympathy for the families who lost loved ones. Now I’m not saying that those boys should not be held accountable with the law, I believe justice should and will be served. I’m saying, that as a member of this community.

A community that has been labeled by the outside world.

That instead of tearing each other down, that we should be focusing on how we can band together and make sure nothing like this ever happens again. It’s naïve, but its hopeful. And sometimes hope is all you have.