i felt sick seeing that video and cried when i went to sleep last night. (and another posting on CC had made me sad too.)
that was real, not a movie.
Really? I think that the only aspect of it that one can doubt is that it is limited to the current day. I think that this has been going on forever, and only now are we beginning to physically SEE it, thanks to ubiquitous camera phones.
Going back to the first example I can think of of police brutality being filmed, I still cannot believe that the jury in the Rodney King case denied the evidence of their own eyes and believed that King was “in control” of what went on. (And please don’t start on the subsequent riots as if that excuses them. The riots were horrific, and many innocent people were severely hurt. That doesn’t make the jury decision correct.)
As for justice, the cop has been charged with murder. I’m willing to bet that he won’t be convicted.
“Why can’t they at least be more original? “He tried to grab my gun/my taser.” “He was resisting arrest./assaulted an officer.” “He was interfering with official police business.” Yeah, yeah, we know…”
They don’t try to be original because the tried and true excuses and lies have typically worked very well for malevolent cops. They get caught SOMETIMES, but the examples of lying and felonious cops are numerous in recent memory;
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*Kenna and Hogan, the infamous New Jersey Profiling Case That Started it All.’ State Troopers Kenna and Hogan met with their superiors after the unjustified shooting, who ordered them to concoct a story.
*Philadelphia P.D. 39th Division. Disgusting crooks and thugs.
*NYPD Abner Louima. Again, the criminal cops hid behind a wall of lies and witness intimidation, until prosecutors finally got one to flip on the others.
*Orange, NJ; the Officer Joyce Carnegie Affair. Cops arrested the wrong [and innocent] man, beat the bejesus out of him and then lied about it before the actual perpetrator was ultimately apprehended.
There’s something wrong with policing in this country and too many people prefer not to see it. It’s like policing in this country is beginning to resemble the lethal and extra-legal police gangs of Brazil today and Argentina in the 1980s.
It’s a strange connection, I guess, but I am reminded of the all-black (I believe) jury who acquitted OJ Simpson, because they didn’t trust the justice system. Given the evidence that is piling up about rampant police brutality toward people of color, and the well-documented inequalities in the justice system, can we blame them?
And yes, poetsheart, it’s hard not to notice. Threads on black students being admitted to multiple selective colleges are prime territory.
Noting that Facebook has to get a handle on what it presents. I clicked on its trending item for this story and it gave a list of pages and information with the 3rd one being a donation campaign to support the officer charged with murder. (I clicked on that link and it was gone.) This kind of thing happens now with Facebook. A friend posted a story about women not earning as much as men and two of the three extras that appeared below her post were contradictory. I thought that was kind of insulting: she posted something and Facebook decides algorithmically that what goes with her post is something which argues with her.
Mmhmm.
Really, I think cops are given too mcuh authorities particularly in the Us
@Consolation, I also frequently think back to the Rodney King case because – for me – it was the first instance when I saw how a blatant attack by a bunch of white cops against an unarmed black man was dismissed by a white jury. We all saw the video. We were all sickened by that video. Yet a bunch of white jurists were convinced that they weren’t seeing what they were seeing. The riots were a totally natural response because – unlike most of the white people watching the case – the black community said, oh, no. Not AGAIN. They knew in a way whites just didn’t that this was not an isolated case. That this happens a lot. They simply had had enough. Given that apparently police violence against the black population isn’t all that uncommon, what is surprising about riots is that they didn’t happen more often. I credit MLK and other civil rights leaders – in preaching dignity and non-violence – they may have prevented a kind of revolution – and the wholesale slaughter of black activists.
The videos prove what many in the black community have known all along – that despite progress it’s still dangerous to be black in 21st century America – and that we still have a loooong way to go, and a lot of growing up to do, as a society.
The AP story on Michael Slager’s history of excessive force complaints: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/09/michael-slager-excessive-force_n_7032212.html
I find it interesting that we have so many simultaneous threads about the misbehavior of fraternities and police. Similar themes in both - cover ups, unhealthy bonding, “us vs them”, a secret society attitude.
We must be reaching a tipping point, though, where municipalities will have to do something or risk their financial stability due of the possibility of negligence settlements.
“We must be reaching a tipping point, though, where municipalities will have to do something or risk their financial stability due of the possibility of negligence settlements.”
I remember YEARS AGO when conservative pundit George Will said the same thing with regard to the Los Angeles P.D. and controversial Chief Darryl Gates. In addition to the ethical and moral arguments, Will said, ‘`Gates should be canned by the citizenry of L.A. because he’s costing them money.’ They didn’t listen then and it remains to be seen if they will listen now.
You know…I thought we were going to reach a tipping point of Michael Brown…and then Eric Garner…and then…and then…and then, but yet…Here. We. Are. Again.
@Consolation I have to agree with you. I am not sure if he will be convicted either. I wonder if the charge of murder will include lesser offenses? A good attorney would be able to acquit or hang a jury on a murder charge.
It’s funny I was watching a trailer for the NWA movie coming out this year, and all these many years later things haven’t changed. Yes, NWA had horrible lyrics, language, etc, but if you’ve ever listened to their music or read the lyrics, they talked about how corrupt the LA police force was, hence their song F/$) the police. Imagine how many young men are dead or in prison for life, especially since California has the three strike rule.
I am tired of the news coverage to some extent. I know it’s good to get the story out, but we are treated as animals. The news stations think it is okay to replay this horrific video over and over. I am not saying it hasn’t happened, but I can’t remember news stories where non minority victims bodies lay out in the open for hours. There just seems to be no regard for the deceased. I am also tired of them talking about him being behind on child support, as if that is a reason to be gunned down.
SC shot at 43 suspects, killing 18 of them in 2014! That is too much! Ad no this isn’t a race issue totally, it is a policing issue in general. Although I will say we get the short end of the stick in all of this.
In case you are overcome with grief and pain about what this poor, benighted officer is going through, here is a place to contribute to Michael T. Slager’s Support Fund:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/michael-t-slager-support-fund
He made “missteps in judgement.” Ya think?
No discipline huh…well EVERY criminal in the world starts with no discipline records.
Events like this have been going on for decades, it’s only with the mass proliferation of cameras especially cell cameras that they have been getting national attention. Call me jaded and cynical, but I don’t see any serious reforms to police practices coming anytime soon especially not with the huge surplus of military gear thanks to the recent wars allowing Cops to play Soldier on the streets.
I used to be a Pollyanna about the police, but my younger kid’s experiences with the local police and how differently he got treated when he was with a diverse group of friends vs. just his white ones made me realize how institutionalized and casual racism in the police department is. Depressing.
Just watched the Dash cam on cnn. Thr victim was in his car and the cop was questioning about whether the victim had an insuramce and drivers license.The victim said that he got it from neighborhood,.not boubht yet but was allowed to drive it and that he would sort out insurance and stuff on Monday(he was slighlt inconsistent but it wasnt moslty). when the cop ordered him to stay in the car befoe going back to his police car, nothing happened until rhe victim ran out of the car probably 3 or 4 mi n after. I dont know what happened between the video that was released earlier and this dash a video though…
The victim’s brothers said that the victim had said that he didn’t want to be jailed for child support, and would run away from the police if he were apprehended. He probably thought that the officer would discover his outstanding warrant, and that’s why he ran.
Being a deadbeat dad is not a capital crime.
Mathmom, I believe I recall you saying something like this before, but I don’t remember whether you recounted incidences your S experienced that led you to no longer be a Pollyanna concerning your local police. Could you be specific about why your thinking changed? What part of the country do you live in?