Born and raised on Staten Island, New York, USA. I'm retired after working in the FDNY for over 31 years years. I've written freelance commentary for the past thirtyty years and have one book published "Looking Up (A Working View)," Quiet Storm Publishers. For those of you with whom my ideas resonate, we probably share a common love of Liberty. If you like anything you read here, feel free to reuse...just please add my appellation. Life's been more than fair to me and this is a part of my humble offering back. If you have any corrections, or additions, please email me (my email address is in my profile) and I’ll both appreciate and consider them all and do my best to get back to you with my thoughts on it. My ideas are always evolving and I’m open to persuasion in all areas. I thank all those who've taken some of their time to read here.
The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement seems intent
on undermining its own message.
The FACT
is, police shootings are rare.
Moreover virtually ALL use of force encounters are initiated by aggressive suspects.
Finding a suitable victim is hard, but the BLM movement
was started centered around an outright LIE; "Hands UP, DON'T
shoot!"
All the prevailing evidence and the bulk of the
eyewitness testimony showed that Michael Brown attacked Officer Darren Wilson
and struggled for that cop's gun.
He was initially shot through the hand, his blood
and shell casings were found INSIDE
that patrol car, indicating that Michael Brown savagely attacked Officer
Wilson.
Further evidence indicated that Michael Brown was
then ordered to the ground, but instead charged the Officer again. Witnesses
said that Officer Wilson then fired 3 times until Mr. Brown went down, but
again, Michael Brown struggled to his feet and reportedly bull-rushed the squad
car again, resulting in 3 more shots. The entire incident occurred in LESS than
2 minutes on August 9th, 2014.
Michael Brown was a "bad guy." His
actions, attacking a police officer and struggling for that cop's gun
("Attempted Murder of a Police Officer) warranted him getting shot.
That is the "victim" that BLM, a movement
organized around the principles of Assata
Shakur (Black Panther Joanne Chesimard) based itself around. THAT is a huge problem...AND it is something our national media
fails to report because most in the media revile law enforcement and follow the
"divide and agitate" agenda of their multi-national corporation
masters.
Likewise the two men shot in early July of 2016 also
seem to be highly flawed "victims" themselves. In Baton Rouge, LA
Alton Sterling was reportedly menacing people with a handgun according to a 911
caller. When police arrived on-scene, Mr. Sterling refused to comply with their
commands and he was tased. The taser did not work effectively and Alton
Sterling began struggling/fighting with police. He was shot while grappling
with police on the ground his hands free and a gun in his pocket, that firearms
instructors have shown could be fired through one’s pants, so long as you can
reach the trigger.
In Falcon Heights, MN. according to Philando
Castile's girlfriend, he told police that he was "legally armed."
That was untrue, given he had no valid permit in that area. Regardless, Officer
Jeronimo Yanez ordered Philando Castile to keep his hands on the steering wheel
of the car. For whatever reason, Mr Castile refused to comply, his girlfriend
said to "get his ID," while police suspected that he was going for
his gun.
AGAIN, neither of these two men were anything close
to "victims," they appear to be "aggressive suspects."
Surprisingly few cases seem to fit the profile of
actual police misconduct or abuse. Two come to mind that of James Boyd (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tpAZObNZfI)
the homeless white man shot by Albuquerque Police over his illegal camping. Two
Officers were convicted of murder in that case, AND that of Walter Scott of
Charleston, South Carolina who was shot after fleeing a minor traffic stop and
allegedly grabbing that Officer's taser. That trial is slated for later this
year.
In the aftermath, the contrast between the two major
Presidential candidates couldn't be more stark. Hillary Clinton made it clear
that her primary empathy is with "Black Lives Matter" and seems to
agree that there is rampant police abuse, while Donald Trump has stood firmly
with law enforcement, blaming the majority of these negative interactions with
police on a lack of respect for police among many Americans.
Much has been made of a statement by Donald Trump
saying that he saw a group, "Ask for a moment of silence, for
him...for the KILLER!" That may, or may not be true. I haven't
seen that myself, BUT we've all (hopefully) seen the barrage of praise for
Micah Xavier Johnson. Here's a just small sampling of some of thathttp://newsninja2012.com/disgusting-these-twitter-users-pr…/
Another issue ignored in these negative interactions
with police is crime rates. The FACT is that blacks and whites have very
disparate crime rates. While whites and Asians have a violent crime rate
similar to Belgium's, black America has a violent crime rate close to that of
El Salvador, one of the most violent nations in the world.
News organs like the WaPo, the NY Times and CNN
among others do a terrible disservice to black America and to this issue by
ignoring the rampant violence in places like Chicago. Back in June, nearly 2
people an hour were murdered in Chicago over ONE weekend. 15 people were
murdered in Brooklyn, NY last weekend (7/9 &10). Police are painfully aware
of this disparity in crime rates and they act accordingly...taking more
precautions when dealing with that population. Given that LESS than 1% of all
police interactions involve "use of force," and less than 0.05%
result in "shots fired," there appears no "plague of police
violence," BUT our news media reports the issue, often BEFORE the facts
are all known, as though there were.
The vast majority of those killed by police in the
U.S. (over 99% actually) are killed attacking police officers.
There is NO
state in the U.S. that allows a citizen, ANY citizen to even question an arrest
or any police action without verifiable permission.
A LOT of
people are somehow surprised to hear this. “You
mean, I can’t, as a citizen, question a police officer on the street over an
action like cops closing down a block, or what seems like an unnecessary arrest?”
Yes, that is correct.
There is no mechanism for such on-scene encounters.
Police generally (and correctly) respond by arresting the questioner for “obstructing
justice.”
The ONLY
venue that government makes available to question its authority and the use/abuse
of that authority by its law enforcement is the court system.
It’s the same with the confusion over what
constitutes “Resisting Arrest.” LEGALLY,
merely backing away and claiming, “I didn’t
do anything,” amounts to a charge of “Resisting Arrest.”
Struggling with a cop as he/she tries to handcuff
you and effect that arrest is generally charged as “Assaulting a police officer.”
Yes, the two are closely related in that the former
(“Resisting Arrest”) is often followed by the latter - “Assaulting a police
officer,” as the arrestee struggles against what he/she perceives to be a false
arrest.
It’s easy to see how a naïve and ignorant citizen
might become frustrated and feel that the police are (A) unregulated and (B) overstepping
their authority and abusing the citizenry.
It’s also easy to see that given these erroneous
assumptions, some of these naïve citizens might feel justified in “attacking
the police,” or “fighting back against this abuse.”
The law is clear...very clear, either comply with
existing laws, or risk injury or death.
ANYONE
who assails a police officer with or without weapons SHOULD be shot, given that police are generally NOT equipped with non-lethal weapons
(like Tasers or fast-acting tranquilizers)...but don’t worry, they’re coming.
When the 6’5” nearly 300 pound Michael Brown first resisted arrest by Officer Darren Wilson, he (deliberately, or not) escalated that
incident. When he reached inside that patrol car to struggle over that Officer’s
weapon, he ratchetted up the charge from mere “resisting arrest,” to “attempted
murder of a police officer.”
Once that act was initiated, Michael Brown had to be
shot.
Officer Wilson, allegedly (according to all court
evidence) did the right thing in firing three times until Michael Brown went
down. The last three shots were allegedly fired after Michael Brown rose and
again charged that Officer.
A far more sympathetic character was Eric Garner of Staten Island, who
actively resisted arrest while selling loose cigarettes in front of a store.
Mr. Garner’s was a non-violent crime. The police crackdown
on the sale of “loosies” (loose cigarettes) was initiated from the Mayor’s
office because of a perceived massive loss in tax revenues due to that practice.
ALL
NYPD Sergeants carry Tasers. In this case, Sgt. Adonis eschewed the use of the
Taser (due to Mr. Garner’s history of heart problems) and the use of Pepper
Spray (due to his documented asthma), BUT
Mr. Garner HAD to be arrested.
Selling “loosies” is against the law, so is effectively blocking entrance to a
place of business (the store he was in front of) and even if those weren’t
enough to warrant an arrest (they were), once he began “resisting arrest,” Mr.
Garner had to be brought in and “processed.”
While Mr. Garner was NOT acting in an aggressively violent manner, he DID engage in “assaulting a police
officer” when he pushed arresting officers away.
THAT’S
why Sgt. Adonis decided that a “quick take down” needed to be initiated and Officer
Daniel Pantaleo jumped on the back of Mr. Garner and “horse collar” tackled him.
Mr. Garner DID
NOT die on-scene, as he would have had he been choked to death by Officer Pantaleo,
as many still believe. According to reports, Mr. Garner had a heart
attack while being transported to Richmond University Medical Center. He
was pronounced dead at the hospital one hour later. The preliminary autopsy showed no damage to Garner’s windpipe or the
bones of his neck/throat. (http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2014/12/03/actual-facts-eric-garner/)
It has been documented that no CPR was done at
the scene. Was that a failure of the EMS crews to properly assess Mr. Garner’s
condition, OR did police refuse
access to EMS personnel? In any case, Mr. Garner seems in obvious distress
while on the ground and there was no indication that any medical aid was given.
Either of those would be grounds for a Civil case.
That might seem to be a quandary, but it’s not.
Had Sgt. Adonis ordered the use of a Taser and Mr. Garner subsequently died of
a heart attack, he would’ve died while actively resisting arrest, the same if
he’d succumbed to an asthma attack if pepper spray was used, BUT in this case, Mr. Garner was already subdued and medical attention was not given. Mr.
Garner had a right to a basic “standard of care.”
The courts have remedied that “Wrongful Death”
suit AND had Mr. Garner felt his
initial arrest was unlawful, but had complied with Officers and then filed a “false
arrest” claim, that claim would’ve been heard in the courts, although probably NOT to Mr. Garner’s liking, as what he
did that day was illegal.
There are, without question, cases of improper
and poor police procedure, like that of John
Crawford, killed in an Ohio Walmart while carrying an air rifle in that
store.
An apparently malicious 911 call was made that
resulted in an “Active Shooter” response in which John Crawford was subsequently
shot and killed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqZ-teZsZmo)
But WHY
have we heard so much less about the John Crawford killing then the Michael
Brown and Eric Garner deaths? Mr. Crawford’s death was more preventable AND the circumstances far more
egregious. In fact, you COULD argue
that despite Ronald Ritchie’s false information, police SHOULD’VE done a much better (more professional) job of threat
assessment relative to John Crawford, who had his back turned to approaching
police and was on his cell phone at the time.
Even
the Walter Scott shooting in South
Carolina got less attention then the Michael Brown and Eric Garner deaths. In
that case, Officer Slager was
immediately terminated and charged with murder (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym4tE0SQCZY),
as was South Carolina State Trooper Sean Groubert, now facing 20 years in prison after pleading guilty this past March in
the shooting of Levar Jones (in the
hip) during a September, 2014 traffic stop in Columbia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yEQDBSt58w).
There
are others as well, but who’s ever heard of James Boyd?
Yes,
unfortunately for Boyd, he was white, so his shooting by police doesn’t fit the
scripted media meme, but thankfully, like in the case of Walter Scott, two Albuquerque
police Officers were charged with murder in this case (http://www.koat.com/news/closing-arguments-begin-in-james-boyd-case/34777938).
The
courts are the ONLY venue for claims
of governmental abuse (false arrest, police brutality, etc.). Officers can and
often are charged with crimes and Civil suits (even easier to prove) are almost
always heard.
There
is absolutely NO mechanism for negotiating
in the street. Police are NOT there
to adjudicate disputes, but to bring potential lawbreakers (“suspects”) before
the courts.
The
government DEMANDS that they carry
out that sworn duty. Body cams are becoming a mandatory, standard part of
police equipment, but the vast majority of police encounters caught on such
body cameras and dash board cameras condemn the suspects and exonerate police.
Notice how few dash board camera videos are used to prosecute police?
The
reason: such videos almost always show “suspects behaving badly.”
Non-lethal,
but highly effective weaponry IS also
on the way. In the near future, suspects who confront police in any way will be
almost immediately rendered unconscious and “packaged” and transported to
holding in order for them to be assessed as either criminal or psychiatric
cases (or both), but challenging police WILL
and SHOULD become a thing of the
past.
And
that’s a good thing, especially for urban communities. To date, homicide
remains the leading cause of death for black males between the ages of 16 and 36
and over 92% of those deaths are at the hands of other black males.
Here's the problem I see with today’s “Black
Lives Matter” anti-police agenda...ANYTHING
less than complete and docile compliance with a Police Officer's directions
during a stop constitutes "actively resisting arrest."
That has been taken far too lightly by the judicial
system up to now. Given the present climate, the discretion of prosecutors todrop such charges must be eliminated
and that charge must be elevated to a felony.
In the wake of the TWO autopsies and the DOJ’s investigation, there's virtually no
remaining doubt that Mike Brown attacked Police Officer, Darren Wilson. ALL Officer Wilson did that day was fight for
his life against a violent offender.
It appears that Christian Taylor (the football
player shot in an Arlington, TX car dealership did the same. It turns out that,
"In December, he took to Twitter to
condemn racist policing. And a few weeks before he died, friends and family
said, a religious awakening left him talking obsessively about social justice
and his desire to be a black leader.
“He said MLK, he was a peaceful-type dude, but Malcolm X, he was getting the
business done,” said his friend J’von Varra, 20, recalling a recent
conversation with Taylor at a local park. “He said he felt like sometimes you
have to be destructive to get what you want."...
“He said that on his break, God came to him and he cried and cried. It really
changed his life,” said Smith, who had lived across the street from Taylor
since the seventh grade and was his teammate on the Mansfield Summit High
School football team.
“He said God came to him not only to get himself right, but to get us all on
board. He wanted to save everybody.”
"Friends said Taylor cared passionately about social justice issues, an
interest apparent in his Twitter feed. “Every time I see a squad car I think
about all the lives lost...I’ve never felt protected,” he wrote on Dec. 11, one
of several such tweets around that time."
Sad to say, but it seems that Christian Taylor became radicalized by a false
BLM narrative. IF those stopped
would simply comply with ALL police
directives, there'd be far fewer such incidents AND more bad cops (they truly are few and far between) would be brought to justice.
This SHOULDN'T
BE a black/white issue, because it ISN’T an ethnic issue, it's a
scumbag/producer issue.
Yesterday (Friday, August 14th, 2015) on Staten Island, a career
thug opened fire on U.S. Marshalls serving a warrant, then shot an FDNY Lieutenant
as that fire crew responded to a house fire at that location.
The authorities negotiated with this goon for hours, even brought his Mom up
from another state, before they finally took him out with a sniper. His addled
mother's response? "They brought me
up here to witness my son's execution."
NO! All that's on her. She was brought there to talk that shitbird into
surrendering SHE failed. SHE'S the reason (HER FAILURE) is the reason he wound
up getting put down.
This isn't England where people are free to negotiate, even argue with police.
"Docile compliance" with ALL
police orders is mandated by law in the U.S.. The courts exist to adjudicate
wrongful arrest and brutality complaints.
I have ZERO sympathy with those who
mistakenly believe they have a right to question, challenge or confront police.
Cops are NOT social workers. They
merely exist to bring suspected lawbreakers into the system. The courts avail
us of the ability to question, challenge, confront...and where appropriate to
sue over improper state/police practices.
Nothing tells the story like a “progressive success!” Since the Freddie Gray incident arrests are down by almost 50% and violent crime is on a record pace. With 45 Homicides in July became Baltimore’s deadliest month since 1972! (http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/07/31/july-is-baltimores-3rd-most-deadliest-month-in-history/). Baltimore residents live in fear of perpetual violence. The anti-police agenda won and the thugs have taken that city. The other residents live in abject terror.
Moreover, the decent residents of such areas DO NOT hate, or fear the police.
Predominantly black Memphis residents post blue balloons in solidarity with police after cop is shot there
According to Kevin Jackson of Black Sphere; “Citizen journalism is what will keep America strong,
and fight the scourge of the Left.
“The
Left are scandalous, as they set their fake narratives, force-feeding Americans
their nonsense.
“When
the police officer Sean Bolton was ambushed and shot in Memphis, TN recently,
this black neighborhood put blue balloons up as a tribute to the fallen
officer.
“Why
didn’t the lamestream media report this? Because it doesn’t fit the narrative.
“Black
people don’t all hate the police. They know that the police are necessary, and
in fact, many of our family members and friends are police officers.
“But
with Liberals, they want blacks to NOT respect the police.
“Snitches
get stitches.”
“The
disservice done to blacks by the media is scandalous. Many blacks live in the
most dangerous neighborhoods in the country, and if there is anybody who should
cooperate with police, it’s blacks. Most blacks know this, but are afraid to
speak out.
We are currently faced with a quadratic
equation....most social issues are quadratic equations (with variables on both
sides). They're NOT very easy to deal with and don't lend themselves to easy
solutions.
There ARE "bad cops," just as there are
"bad" physicians, attorneys, etc., but like doctors, police deal in
life & death decisions every day and rarely run across people "at
their best."
Unfortunately, these have been overshadowed by
justified police shootings that have been made into "cause celebs" by
virulently anti-police and often anti-white misanthropes.
Mike Brown, like Trayvon Martin attacked the man
who killed him. While Martin attacked someone (George Zimmerman) he believed
was following him (YES, that was an ILLEGAL felony assault on Mr. Martin’s
part), Michael Brown attacked a cop who'd lawfully told him to STOP walking
down the center of a well-travelled street. Mike Brown was killed over his
attempted murder of a police officer.
Even in the Eric Garner case, in which Mr. Garner
was a much more sympathetic character, for merely resisting arrest without
violence, in that case too, a black, female NYPD Sergeant negated the use of a
taser (because of Mr. Garner's well known heart problems), nixed the use of
pepper spray (due to his asthma) and she made the command decision that a
"quick take down" was the safest method to subdue the belligerent and
very large Mr. Garner. THAT decision put police lives at greater jeopardy in
regard for Mr. Garner's personal safety.
It should be noted that Mr. Garner was NOT
"choked to death" at the scene. He died over an hour later at
hospital from a series of health complications.
The support for these high profile negative police
encounters (initiated BY civilian suspects) damage the credibility of those who
call for legitimate police reforms.
And reforms ARE needed.
Body cameras are a good START. EVERY police
interaction should be recorded from start to finish as a basic part of the
routine evidence gathering procedure. In over 98% of the cases, this video
evidence would show that the perpetrator was the aggressor. THAT can't be
tolerated. Violent individuals MUST be excised from our streets.
Police also need and deserve ongoing counseling.
They, like prison guards (Corrections Officers), work among the most dangerous and dysfunctional people in our society every day. That has to have a cumulative
negative impact on a person's mental/emotional health over time. We owe these
people the counseling services they often need.
Moreover, a dirty little (not so) secret is that a
small number of bullies and other anti-social types are drawn to police work
the same way that pedophiles are drawn to summer camps, school bus driving jobs
and the priesthood...it's where the victims are!
That's NOT to say that "most cops are
bullies," any more than most school bus drivers, or priests are
pedophiles, but a FEW ARE...and they NEED to be weeded out.
The misguided and unfounded racial component is one
pushed largely by white anarchists, who've been using poor, uneducated blacks
as weapons to advance their own warped agenda...THAT is the primary
"racial component" in all this.
There've been numerous unarmed whites recently shot
by police, from James Boyd (the homeless man shot by police while illegally
camping) and Robert Earl Lawrence, shot by Alabama police for refusing to show
ID. AND there've also been numerous cases of rogue black cops targeting whites
(http://rt.com/usa/249741-philly-cops-drugs-corruption/)...so
NONE of this is breaks exclusively along racial lines.
It's about scumbags abusing the law...on BOTH sides
of the law.
Mike Brown was a budding career criminal who was
shot after attempting to murder a police officer (struggling over that cop's
gun), just as Sean Groubert (the South Carolina State Trooper who shot unarmed
motorist, Levon Jones, when Jones went back in his car to get his ID) SHOULD
NEVER have been a cop. Mr. Groubert was either too scared (incompetent) to do
his job...or worse.
There ARE and always have been thugs on BOTH sides.
YES, there are far fewer "thug cops," because there are far fewer
cops than there are thugs in the population at large, but somewhere between 1%
and 3% of police are either "bad, or incompetent cops," and they need
to be removed from police forces.
It's critical that BOTH sides of this problem be
addressed.
Yes, we need some basic police reforms, with an
emphasis on removing bad/incompetent cops, BUT we also have to refocus our
criminal justice resources on VIOLENT crime. We can treat crimes against
PROPERTY and drug offenses with treatment programs and boot camps....we NEED to
reserve our prison space for warehousing violent offenders. There's really no reliable
way to rehabilitate violent offenders. Their recidivism rates are up there with
those of pedophiles at well over 90%!
We have to improve our police forces and utilize our
criminal justice resources much more effectively.
