Another "I can't breath" death: Police Reform & Protests in the USA

[Endus]

My empathy lies with people who uphold the public order, not with the ones who upset it

That's just patting yourself on the back for your desire to see other human beings suffer on your behalf. Just straight-up, no-holds-barred apologism for abusive racism wielded by those in power.

[PhaelixWW]

My empathy lies with people who uphold the public order, not with the ones who upset it

You think being openly racist in a position of authority is upholding the public order?

Good to know.

[Verdugo]

My empathy lies with people who uphold the public order, not with the ones who upset it

Said by a gopnik shithead.

[shimerra]

My empathy lies with people who uphold the public order, not with the ones who upset it

Not sure about you but I find the public order, whatever bullshit boot licking meaning you're trying to push with that, is best upheld when the police don't treat me or others worse because of skin color.

So by your own logic racist cops are upsetting your sacred order. And yet you defend them. Seems like you're more empathetic towards racists being shitty people than your sacred order.

[Jastall]

My empathy lies with people who uphold the public order, not with the ones who upset it

Big Brother approves of this message.

[Benggaul]

California enacts law to strip badges from bad officers

It's not everything that needs to happen, but at least it's another step in the right direction.

Officers can now lose their certification for serious misconduct including using excessive force, committing sexual assault, intimidating witnesses, making a false arrest or report, or participating in a law enforcement gang. Other grounds include “demonstrating bias” based on race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation or mental disability, among other criteria.
...
Newsom also signed a measure setting statewide standards for when officers can use “kinetic projectiles" like rubber bullets and chemical agents or tear gas to break up peaceful demonstrations. Police also are prohibited from aiming rubber bullets, beanbags and foam rounds at anyone’s head, neck or other vital areas.
...
The new law also requires training officers to use the less-lethal weapons only when someone is at risk of death or serious injury, or “to bring an objectively dangerous and unlawful situation safely and effectively under control.” Officers will have to give verbal warnings and try other de-escalation tactics first.

Of course, not everyone was happy with this.

Police groups opposed the measure, arguing the less-than-lethal tools are needed to prevent violence and are often better than the alternatives.

You don't PREVENT violence by fucking firing rubber bullets at people. THAT IS VIOLENCE.

ACAB.

[s_bushido]

California enacts law to strip badges from bad officers

It's very strange to read about them enacting a law that you'd think would have been on the books since the inception of policing...

[Benggaul]

And just as a companion piece for the above link:

More than half of US killings by police go unreported: Study

A new study on fatal police violence shows more than half of killings by police were left unreported in the last 40 years, and that Black Americans were estimated to be 3.5 times more likely to die from police violence than white Americans.

[Santti]

California enacts law to strip badges from bad officers

It's not everything that needs to happen, but at least it's another step in the right direction.

It's pretty sad, that this is needed.

But step is a step, and better late than never, I guess.

[Benggaul]

It's very strange to read about them enacting a law that you'd think would have been on the books since the inception of policing...

Also from the article:

The law allowing the decertification of poor officers comes 18 years after lawmakers stripped away that power from a state police standards commission.

That left it to local agencies to decide if officers should be fired, but critics said they could often simply get a job in a different department.

The legislation will create a mandatory new state license, or certification, that can be permanently revoked. Allowing decertification will end “the wash, rinse, repeat cycle of police misconduct,” Democratic state Sen. Steven Bradford said.

Basically, this ensures they can't just find a job in another precinct in the state. Ideally it would be "in the US", but, you know, "States rights". **spit**

[Egomaniac]

My empathy lies with people who uphold the public order, not with the ones who upset it

Then why side with the cops?

Shouldn't cops be even more responsible for not upsetting public order?

- - - Updated - - -

Basically, this ensures they can't just find a job in another precinct in the state. Ideally it would be "in the US", but, you know, "States rights". **spit**

Yeah, this should be a federal thing...but there's a lot of things that should be handled federally that are left to the individual states to manage.

There should at least be a federal database of police that were fired over such things....so at least when they apply for a police job outside the state, that information is the first thing that the department looking to hire that officer is immediately notified. Let them hire them if they want to...but they can't say later that they didn't know about the officer's history.

[Edge-]

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/0...on-during-riot

A man who had been part of a far-right group that wants to foment a civil war admitted in federal court Thursday he traveled to Minneapolis from the San Antonio area to sow chaos after the police murder of George Floyd.

Ivan Harrison Hunter, 24, of Boerne, Texas, pleaded guilty to a single count of rioting. The charge carries a maximum prison term of five years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Winter said sentencing guidelines call for Hunter to serve between 37 and 46 months in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Michael Davis said he would schedule a sentencing hearing following a standard pre-sentence investigation.

Hunter admitted that he fired 13 rounds from an AK-47-style rifle into the 3rd precinct police station on May 28, 2020, as other rioters looted and set fire to the building after police evacuated. No one was struck by the gunfire.

After shooting at the building, Hunter was recorded on video high-fiving another person and yelling "Justice for Floyd!" Investigators matched the skull mask Hunter was wearing in the video to a photo on his Facebook page.

Reminder that a lot of the "violence from BLM" was actually just right wing fucks creating false flags.

[Endus]

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/0...on-during-riot

Reminder that a lot of the "violence from BLM" was actually just right wing fucks creating false flags.

Last time I broke down the serious violence during the BLM rallies based on a Wikipedia list, it broke down to like 50% initiated by police without justification, 30% false flags/counter-protests by right-wingers, 18% crimes that just happened to occur during or nearby to the protest but were otherwise completely unrelated with the only potential connection being a deliberate use of the protests as a smoke screen, and the last 2% were actual bits of violence initiated by BLM protesters.

Like, it's not 50/50. It's not even 60/40. The scale is so ridiculously unbalanced that acting like there's a comparison to be made at all is just willful dishonesty. Anyone blaming BLM protesters for violence is a racist. Full stop. That's the motive. There is no other explanation.

[Edge-]

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/01/10419...-misclassified

I think this is linked before but it's damned important.

They calculate that the death certificates misclassified the cause of death on more than 17,000 such deaths since 1980.

That's a MASSIVE number of deaths caused by police that were misclassified, and honestly is uncomfortably close to a national conspiracy driven by systemic issues within law enforcement.

And note, this isn't in a vacuum and unconnected to other issues regarding police and minorities discussed in this thread -

Deaths involving police have been greatly undercounted in the United States, and African American people die in such encounters at 3.5 times the rate of whites, according to a new analysis by public health researchers.

Shit like this is why policing, nationally, is likely better burned to the ground and reformed from the ground up. The rot and corruption seems so central and foundational to the entire profession spanning back decades that the chances of being able to "prune" the rot and corruption seems impossible.

[Masark]

Oh look, police who are members of violent far-right group.

https://www.newsweek.com/oath-keeper...ilitia-1634356

And another regularly scheduled police murder.

https://lbpost.com/news/millikan-sho...z-woman-update

[Themius]

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/01/10419...-misclassified

I think this is linked before but it's damned important.



That's a MASSIVE number of deaths caused by police that were misclassified, and honestly is uncomfortably close to a national conspiracy driven by systemic issues within law enforcement.

And note, this isn't in a vacuum and unconnected to other issues regarding police and minorities discussed in this thread -



Shit like this is why policing, nationally, is likely better burned to the ground and reformed from the ground up. The rot and corruption seems so central and foundational to the entire profession spanning back decades that the chances of being able to "prune" the rot and corruption seems impossible.

This means America who is already the worst in the world on per capita deaths by cops is just that much worse...

55%... that is a conspiracy

[Breccia]

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles has sent a pardon to the governor's desk for George Floyd.

"Ah, clearly some commie librul state like California that rewards crime."

It's Texas.

"Well clearly it snuck through with a slim majority."

It was unanimous.

"Well he was a violent dangerous criminal, how dare they?"

It was over $10 worth of crack. You can't get a four-piece from KFC with that.

"The cop who arrested him must be livid!"

I imagine he is. Gerald Goines lied about getting a search warrant, broke into a house and killed two people. He's on murder charges.

More than 160 of Goines' cases are being effectively tossed. And, "funny" story, the public defender says Goines fabricated evidence and sent Floyd to 10 months in prison over $10 and his word.

[Edge-]

https://kstp.com/news/new-bodycam-vi...ounds/6261110/
https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreak...nd_not_guilty/

Oh look, footage from last years protests of cops driving around in unmarked vans in Minneapolis tagging folks with less than lethal rounds. Which they seem pretty fuckin excited about, almost as if they enjoy inflicting pain upon unarmed civilians who can't fight back and aren't even aware of what's going on.

A former soldier was fired upon and, not knowing that the unmarked van was full of cops, fired back with his legal firearm in self defense. Cops rushed him, obviously, and as soon as he saw the officers surrendered. Despite this, he was pretty harshly beaten by officers who kicked his head while arresting him, despite him having surrendered. You can see his bruised up face in the mugshot in this AP report -

https://apnews.com/article/death-of-...bb479c9f3ee699

And as a reminder, the cops lied about events, claiming he was "hiding" and they were "Afraid he would throw rocks" and that he "fled", all of which is contradicted by the video, showing Stallings taking cover behind the vechicle as he was fired upon and returning fire before dropping to the ground, where he remained as officers approached him - again, laying on the ground without his weapon and clearly surrendering peacefully having realized that he'd fired upon officers - and began repeatedly punching and kicking him, straight up assault.

Glad he was acquitted, but every one of those cops needs to be fired and have charges pressed against them. This is fascist police bullshit, and all financial penalties should come out of these officers respective pay/retirement rather than be paid for by taxpayers.

Fuck fascist cops. Fuck lying cops. Fuck violent cops. I just wish that didn't seem to be most cops.

[PhaelixWW]

A former soldier was fired upon and, not knowing that the unmarked van was full of cops, fired back with his legal firearm in self defense. Cops rushed him, obviously, and as soon as he saw the officers surrendered. Despite this, he was pretty harshly beaten by officers who kicked his head while arresting him, despite him having surrendered. You can see his bruised up face in the mugshot in this AP report -

https://apnews.com/article/death-of-...bb479c9f3ee699

And as a reminder, the cops lied about events, claiming he was "hiding" and they were "Afraid he would throw rocks" and that he "fled", all of which is contradicted by the video, showing Stallings taking cover behind the vechicle as he was fired upon and returning fire before dropping to the ground, where he remained as officers approached him - again, laying on the ground without his weapon and clearly surrendering peacefully having realized that he'd fired upon officers - and began repeatedly punching and kicking him, straight up assault.

Heads should figuratively roll for this. There's zero excuse for any other outcome.

Also, thank god for bodycams. Every single LEO in the country should be wearing one at this point.

[Edge-]

Heads should figuratively roll for this. There's zero excuse for any other outcome.

Also, thank god for bodycams. Every single LEO in the country should be wearing one at this point.

Plus house security cameras. They very, very, very clearly show that the cops lied through their teeth and then assaulted the fuck out of a civilian who had dropped their weapon and was peacefully surrendering as soon as they realized they'd fired upon cops. And perfectly captured the assault from multiple officers all in a still frame.