They say you should never meet your heroes, a rule that is not always correct. But I did have a salutary session some years ago when a friend in New York asked me if I wanted to meet a comedian I really do admire.

I had been looking forward to the meeting, but unfortunately it took place during the summer of 2020. If you remember those far-distant days, this was a time when America was obsessing over the story of alleged disproportionate police violence against black Americans. One of the cases was that of a woman named Breonna Taylor. Although the case for the police’s actions and the victim’s innocence revolved around a number of issues, the main one was whether officers should have shot when they did. As ever, this involved highly specific ballistics issues and a considerable amount of hindsight. For two hours I sat with my comedy hero discussing post-mortem reports and bullet trajectories.

All this is occurring in a visual culture where if something hasn’t appeared online it effectively has not happened

Certainly I have had funnier meetings. I went away dismayed for a number of reasons. One was the fact that this seemed such a bizarre way to litigate a case. Yes it was important, but is it healthy for everyone to obsess over it in such minute detail?

The thought recurred to me this week with the shooting of a second protestor by ICE officials in Minnesota. These officials are currently going after a good many people who broke into........

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