Laurels & lances: Credit & quiet

Laurel: To a job completed. For three and a half years, Marc Fogel survived his stint in a Russian prison. But let’s give a laurel to the people who brought him home.

There is President Donald Trump, who made a promise shortly before being shot in Fogel’s hometown in Butler County. He said he wouldn’t forget. He didn’t.

There are the lawmakers of both parties who lined up in lockstep, determined to make bringing home Fogel something they all agreed upon. There are the lawyers and spokespeople who worked tirelessly on his behalf.

There were the people who put signs in their yards, painted pictures, made documentaries, lobbied Washington and sent letters by the bushel to Russia.

But more than anything, there is Fogel’s family — his sisters, his wife, his sons, his cousins and his mother, Malphine, 95, who begged presidents and God to just bring Marc back to her.

Lance: To institutional silence. That is the response from Munhall officials in the wake of a shooting.

The unidentified 38-year-old man was arrested late Sunday following a domestic dispute. While in the municipal building’s holding cell, he tried to cover the camera, leading officers to confront him. He reportedly was Tased but continued to “engage.” One officer shot the man in the chest multiple times. He was hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

“There’s not a lot I can say right now,” Mayor Rob Falce told TribLive.

Requests for comment were not returned by some officials. Others, like council members, the borough manager, the police chief, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office and Allegheny County council member Robert Macey, referred reporters to other people who didn’t respond either.

It is the latest example of an officer-involved incident having little information disclosed — most pointedly, the names of the officers involved.

This is different, and officials need to recognize that sooner rather than later. This is not an incident where police were responding to an unknown location. This was a man in a cell in a building under their control. Anything less than full disclosure at the earliest opportunity is unacceptable.