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

[Egomaniac]

Yeah, I'm not disagreeing with 12 people and all the evidence. Just expressing confusion over the defense's claim, since it seems like they thought it mattered.

Well, historically, all the defense has had to do is remind the jury that the defendant is a cop and then the barest sliver of justification is enough to get that acquittal.

[Draco-Onis]

Well, historically, all the defense has had to do is remind the jury that the defendant is a cop and then the barest sliver of justification is enough to get that acquittal.

To be fair it's not the jury's fault prosecutors have a vested interest in letting cops get off so they would basically be another defense lawyer.

[Egomaniac]

To be fair it's not the jury's fault prosecutors have a vested interest in letting cops get off so they would basically be another defense lawyer.

It's more than that. Society in general has been programmed to believe cops are "the good guys". That makes the guy they killed "the bad guy". Juries look for an excuse to let cops off the hook.

[Masark]

Frankly, it's not much different than a beat cop arriving at a hostage situation where a gunman's got a human shield, and is actively being negotiated with by a detective, and this beat cop runs in and shoots the hostage and gunman both "because he had a gun".

I'm pretty sure that's standard American police procedure. Though the cops generally try to obtain their own human shield first.

[Edge-]

https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-new...FCSB255REDRLQ/

Christopher Glenn insisted he was doing nothing wrong. So when Athens-Clarke County police officers handcuffed him and took him to a patrol car, he was having none of it.


Kicking and flailing, he strongly resisted arrest. At one point, Glenn lunged forward, smacking a sergeant’s face with his forehead. Soon after that, he was lying atop another officer on the pavement. When officers finally got Glenn into the cruiser, he kicked at the door so violently he damaged its hinges.

As it turned out, the officers had no probable cause to arrest Glenn for loitering and prowling outside Oglethorpe Elementary School in Athens. And Glenn’s appeal of the incident led to a landmark Georgia Supreme Court ruling that relied on centuries-old cases from England to find that not only was Glenn within his rights to use force to resist the unlawful arrest, he could also damage government property while doing so.

Score one for people and Georgia, the courts just ruled that people have a right to use force to resist unlawful arrest.

[tehdang]

https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-new...FCSB255REDRLQ/



Score one for people and Georgia, the courts just ruled that people have a right to use force to resist unlawful arrest.

The court just sent it down to the lower court to determine whether his damage to property was proportional. It's vacated and remanded on a question the lower court did not consider.

[Muzjhath]

https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-new...FCSB255REDRLQ/



Score one for people and Georgia, the courts just ruled that people have a right to use force to resist unlawful arrest.

That webpage is blocked in the EU due to lazy design (and I assume they harvest the hell out of reader information and sell that). However, I assume the person in that article is white as fuck.

[DarkTZeratul]

That webpage is blocked in the EU due to lazy design (and I assume they harvest the hell out of reader information and sell that). However, I assume the person in that article is white as fuck.

It doesn't say, and I'm pretty sure the people pictured are lawyers and judges.

[Edge-]

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...nt-there.shtml

And South Dakota courts have decided that if the cops absolutely destroy your home in a warrantless search for a suspect that isn't even there, you're just shit outta luck.

Why? Because I dunno, I guess cops just fucking love legal property damage/destruction. Seriously, if all the folks whinging about antifa damaging private property actually cared about this, they'd be raising hell for the legally protected right of police to dismantle your home for funzies.

[Endus]

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20...nt-there.shtml

And South Dakota courts have decided that if the cops absolutely destroy your home in a warrantless search for a suspect that isn't even there, you're just shit outta luck.

Why? Because I dunno, I guess cops just fucking love legal property damage/destruction. Seriously, if all the folks whinging about antifa damaging private property actually cared about this, they'd be raising hell for the legally protected right of police to dismantle your home for funzies.

This shit is the kind of thing that needs to get appealed to federal courts, on the basis that the state systems are hopelessly corrupted by their need to work with police. Clearly their decisions can't be treated as reliable.

[Captain N]

This shit is the kind of thing that needs to get appealed to federal courts, on the basis that the state systems are hopelessly corrupted by their need to work with police. Clearly their decisions can't be treated as reliable.

Wouldn't it also fall under violating the Fourth Amendment? I mean this seems to be a larger version of police checking your trunk for no apparent reason.

[Endus]

Wouldn't it also fall under violating the Fourth Amendment? I mean this seems to be a larger version of police checking your trunk for no apparent reason.

If they're "looking for a suspect", the courts likely rule that it constitutes probable cause, meaning no warrant necessary.

That's part of the bullshit, of course, but that's how you get around the 4th. My point is basically that the federal courts need to act as a check on State malfeasance on things like this.

[Edge-]

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/17/us/po...int/index.html

A committee convened by the AFL-CIO, International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Service Employees International Union Friday approved the plan that calls on more than 250,000 law enforcement members and more than 100,000 members in police-adjacent professions to intervene when another union member is doing something wrong.

Unions still have a responsibility to represent members they believe are wrongfully accused, but the framework challenges local unions to look at the merits of an officer's actions when considering whether to defend them.

The program will "empower local union members to speak up and take action if fellow members are violating their professional oath or abusing their power, and ultimately helps the union weed out wrong-doers from union membership," according to the document.

"We'll represent you, we'll be there for you, absolutely. Unless you don't hold up your end of the bargain," said Lisa Titus, who was part of the committee that wrote this plan. "But we'll also hold you accountable. It is a big shift, and it's going to take some time."

Officers in these unions have enjoyed near-absolute union solidarity for decades, but a national reckoning over policing, prompted by the deaths of Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of officers, led many to question whether police unions should even exist. A plan produced by the union committee is their attempt to address problems in their ranks without waiting for police department leadership or elected officials to take the lead.

"This is a huge step for law enforcement to take, and for unions to take," said Fred Redmond, who led the task force that approved this plan. "But at this moment, regarding this profession, I'm not gonna say it's on life support, but we've lost confidence of the public in many areas throughout the country."

The Fraternal Order of Police, an organization which represents 356,000 members in more than 2,100 lodges across the country, was not involved in developing this plan. John Paul Smith, a United Steel Workers staffer who was a police officer for four years and who worked on this project, said that local FOP leaders' "incendiary rhetoric" made labor's job more difficult over the last year.

Jim Pasco, executive director of the national Fraternal Order of Police, declined to comment on the plan. "I'm fascinated by this but don't have anything to say about it," he said.

Not a perfect solution, but more steps being taken towards holding police accountable and pushing for cops to stop protecting bad officers.

[Egomaniac]

Haven't seen this posted anywhere else yet and this seems like the appropriate place to put it

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...body-cam-video

Louisiana state troopers were captured on body-camera video stunning, punching and dragging a Black man as he apologized for leading them on a high-speed chase – footage of the man’s last moments alive that the Associated Press obtained after authorities refused to release it for two years.

The 2019 arrest outside Monroe, Louisiana, is the subject of a federal civil rights investigation. But unlike other in-custody deaths across the nation where body-camera video was released almost immediately, Greene’s case has been shrouded in secrecy and accusations of a cover-up.

Louisiana officials have rebuffed repeated calls to release footage and details about what caused the 49-year-old’s death. Troopers initially told Greene’s family he died on impact after crashing into a tree during the chase. Later, state police released a one-page statement acknowledging only that Greene struggled with troopers and died on his way to the hospital.

The AP last year also obtained a medical report showing an emergency room doctor noted Greene arrived dead at the hospital, bruised and bloodied with two stun-gun prongs in his back. That led the doctor to question troopers’ initial account that Greene had “died on impact” after crashing into a tree.

“Does not add up,” the doctor wrote.

This happened 2 years ago...but recently bodycam footage was discovered by a reporter. Be warned, the video is hard to watch at points.

[Edge-]

Not gonna watch another lynching, seen too much of that shit. Read the article instead. But this was a fuckin lynching, they murdered that man. Every officer there deserves to serve life in prison, it's no wonder the department did their best to cover it up and lie, which implicates everyone at the police department involved in conspiracy.

This ain't sensational shit. This is how shit would work if the people murdering Greene were anything other than police officers, and their colleagues went to great lengths to cover up the video evidence of their murder.

[s_bushido]

it's no wonder the department did their best to cover it up and lie, which implicates everyone at the police department involved in conspiracy.

But it's just a few bad apples, bro.

Seriously though...lying in a report like that should be an actionable offense. I have no idea how it's justifiable that it's not worth at least losing your job, if not facing some sort of civil/criminal charges for covering up a crime.

[Egomaniac]

Not gonna watch another lynching, seen too much of that shit. Read the article instead. But this was a fuckin lynching, they murdered that man. Every officer there deserves to serve life in prison, it's no wonder the department did their best to cover it up and lie, which implicates everyone at the police department involved in conspiracy.

This ain't sensational shit. This is how shit would work if the people murdering Greene were anything other than police officers, and their colleagues went to great lengths to cover up the video evidence of their murder.

Yeah, this was straight up murder with a full blown-cover up. They sat on that footage for 2 years. They'd still be sitting on it now if this hadn't happened.

ACAB.

[Zaydin]

But it's just a few bad apples, bro.

Seriously though...lying in a report like that should be an actionable offense. I have no idea how it's justifiable that it's not worth at least losing your job, if not facing some sort of civil/criminal charges for covering up a crime.

Every cop involved in covering this up needs to be fired, barred from ever serving as a police officer ever again and rot in prison for the rest of their lives.

[Teriz]

Haven't seen this posted anywhere else yet and this seems like the appropriate place to put it

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...body-cam-video





This happened 2 years ago...but recently bodycam footage was discovered by a reporter. Be warned, the video is hard to watch at points.

I have friends who are black that are more scared of getting pulled over by the cops than getting car jacked. Honestly, after seeing stuff like this, I don't blame them. There's probably thousands of cases like this that were covered up by the cops over the years.

[Endus]

Yeah, this was straight up murder with a full blown-cover up. They sat on that footage for 2 years. They'd still be sitting on it now if this hadn't happened.

ACAB.

That's why I'm of the opinion that all police body- and vehicle-camera footage should be made publicly accessible after two weeks. That's enough time to edit footage if there's something relevant to an ongoing case. Said edits in the case of police malice like this would only be justifiable if said officer had already been criminally charged for their actions and the footage was secured for the prosecution's use in court.

Let the public crawl through those feeds and pull out ANY bad actions they find.