It breaks my heart to think that is happening.
The ex-officer who shot Rayshard Brooks has been charged with felony murder, that being one of 11 charges against him. It’s also been revealed that this guy kicked Brooks on the ground after shooting him. The other officer - who was suspended - stood on Brooks’ shoulder, and is now a cooperating witness. If he hasn’t been fired yet too, it’s only because it’s 7pm in Atlanta.
1 Like
Here’s Scott Thuman of Trump-friendly Sinclair Broadcasting desperately trying to get Trump to say even the barest minimum of a bromide about race relations. Trump just cannot bring himself to do it. His answers tell you everything you need to know.
Trump is the worse listener of all time.
He is the worst everything of all time. That sounds hyperbolic, but think of a negative trait…any negative trait…and then try to think of someone who has it worse than Trump. I’ll wait.
2 Likes
The 11 charges include 4 related to the one shot that missed going into a car with three people in it. The other officer has 4 charges against him - all for his actions (or lack thereof) after Brooks was shot. Both had warrants issued and both turned themselves in.
The charging, particularly of Rolfe, should be the blueprint for all future such incidents. The DA literally threw the book at him, citing him for every possible violation related to the shooting. The charges also include one for failing to tell Brooks what he was being arrested for (Brooks passed the field sobriety tests but failed a breathalyzer).
1 Like
Some good news: The Bubba Wallace / Talladega noose incident turns out to be a nothing burger. The noose was apparently a pull cord on a garage door that had been fashioned last year some time. It was there long before the Wallace Team.
2 Likes
Here’s a clip from February of police in Georgia rolling up on a black guy. Hard to watch, but stay with it until the end (it’s only just over 2 minutes).
Reports out today say that he’s suing. Tax payers shell out billions every year to settle police abuse lawsuits - how can we afford not to completely rethink how we do this?
Everything about that video is fucking repugnant.
And without a bodycam there’d be no evidence of the incompetence, brutality, and fucking stupidity behind the whole thing.
2 Likes
If you read the linked article, the suit alleges - aside from the obvious excessive force - that the cops filed a false report on the incident. The “thrower” said that the man - Smith - was told to put his hands behind his back before he was locked in a bear hug, which is patently false. He also said that he how no idea how Smith broke his arm and made no mention of the body slam.
To my mind, every “justified” act of violence by police is now suspect, and turning off body/dash cams should mean at least instant dismissal.
1 Like
Last August, police officers in Aurora, Colorado, approached 23-year-old Elijah McClain as he walked home from a convenience store. The Aurora Police Department later said that a 911 caller had reported a “suspicious person” in a ski mask, and that when officers confronted McClain — who was not armed and had not committed any kind of crime — he “resisted arrest.” In the 15 minutes that followed, the officers tackled McClain to the ground, put him in a carotid hold, and called first responders, who injected him with ketamine. He had a heart attack on the way to the hospital, and died days later, after he was declared brain dead.
1 Like
Stories like this one and the other one you shared today are sick and disgusting.
1 Like
Previously, all of these stories would have just been a local news story and so lost in the wind. Now that there’s a focus, it becomes inescapable that this is happening all the time, everywhere.
There’s a fellow who is collecting these stories and creating one long series of tweets. I’m suspended from the platform at the moment for reasons best not discussed or I’d find it, but yes, it is incomprehensible.
Big cities pay hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars annually to a rogue organization that literally terrorizes the community that pays it with a near total lack of legal accountability. It is fucking INSANE. Their closure rate on serious crimes is a joke. They spend most of their time doing shit they shouldn’t be doing in the first place, things that are better left to social workers for myriad reasons not least of which is that tactical firearms training is not a foundational component of an MSW.
These cocksuckers roam around hoping to arrest some kid on some bullshit with half an hour to go on their shift so they can spend the next four hours sitting around doing paperwork inside and collect overtime. They run up enormous overtime charges, then they retire at 50. You’re paying for all of this, remember. And they play virtually no preventative role in crime, no role in crime prevention or reduction. Sure, they may swing by when you get back from vacation and see that someone has broken in. Sure, they may eventually come when someone calls 911 after a mugging. Do they do anything about it? Fuck no. But god help a black teenager who jaywalks forty minutes before shift change.
It is absolutely unconscionable that this is allowed to persist.
In terms of what US Americans pay for what they receive, municipal law enforcement must be an even bigger scam than healthcare.
2 Likes
I believe you’re talking about this thread by T. Greg Doucette. It’s extraordinarily upsetting, cataloging over 600 events so far.
1 Like
I think that’s it. The person I was referencing said at last count he had almost 3,000 videos. These are typically videos filmed by a bystander, the police fully aware that they are being recorded. It’s hard to imagine what goes on when there’s no one recording.
I find these virtually impossible to watch. It sends me into a homicidal rage.
1 Like
Something like 90% of police calls are for non-criminal incidents.
This has been proven by the recent protests. People are essentially law abiding but, if we choose to do something that the police doesn’t want, they’re powerless to stop it. As to solving crimes, the stats aren’t good:
And you have to wonder how many of those cleared crimes have the correct culprit. The “Confession Killer” admitted to committing a number of rapes and murders, so police up and down the country started asking him about unsolved crimes they had, and he fessed up to those too.
He ended up being tagged with over 600 murders nationwide, at which time the cases were closed and the evidence destroyed, but it turns out that he had nothing to do with a lot of them. But the cases were closed and now cannot be re-opened because the evidence is gone.
Even though the volume of crimes committed without previously being caught was unfathomable, police were happy to keep piling on to clear cases. There are hundreds of murders attributed to this guy that weren’t him and will never now be solved.
1 Like
I’d like to know more about this. But mainly I’m perplexed by how the hell do I not know your handle or that you were even on it?
My first and last name. I guess you and I have never connected via email. No need, really; we’d see each other in Spec’s often enough to make other forms of communication superfluous.
I would not claim to be a great Twitter follow. My tweets tend to be saturated with doubt, objection and ire, and largely avoid being accretive to discussion.
We have emailed and I’ve searched your name on Twitter, but to no avail. Ironically, the first person to fit that bill identifies as “Jesus lover • husband to Leslie • Dad of 4 • pastor in New England • hoops fan” which would be an incredible cover.