Long ago, a different version of me was a gun enthusiast and took professional training about when to use lethal force.
Some things I learned. Shooting into a moving car is stupid. Shooting somebody fleeing is illegal except under very tight restrictions set forth in Tennessee v. Garner.
The attitude from the trainers and students was that there was no excuse to use a gun except to protect innocent life.
I treat police officers with the same caution I would a coiled rattlesnake. I try to avoid places where I may encounter one. If I do encounter one I use extreme caution, no sudden moves, try to back away slowly. They can't be trusted, and will strike if they feel threatened.. Am I a young Black man? Nope. 75 year old White guy usually walking with a cane.
Five years from the day of the shooting is when the statute of limitations will run out on Federal crimes. By then, pray and hope, we will have a Democratic administration in Washington and a determined, decent Attorney General in the Department of Justice who can bring charges against these officers that include hate crimes, reckless endangerment, and maybe even willful second-degree murder, since they knew the child was in the car.
Also, by then we should have a Democratic Congress who will pass a law that creates a national registry of all law enforcement officers -- local, state, municipal and federal -- so that anyone who "under cover of the law," abuses his power this way, or even in other ways less lethal, is prohibited for life from ever obtaining any employment anywhere in the country at any level in law enforcement, and is also prohibited forever from owning a gun as a civilian. And the new law, like others the new Congress must pass and the new president must sign, must also prohibit the Supreme Court from judging its constitutionality (per III-ii-2) AND restrict the right of any future president to pardon the offender, commute his sentence, or reduce his punishment in any way.
I was a victim of armed robbery while working at a Stop 'n' Go in Sunnyvale, CA, in the early '70s. Guy in a Halloween mask pointed a .25 cal pistol at my face and said "all your cash". I complied. My mom said "and you just gave it to him?" My mom was a clueless asshole.
My default assumption is that the merchandise was paid for just fine and mom and baby were simply existing while Black. The police behavior is atrocious.
I reread Black Like Me a few years ago, and honestly, the ink could still be wet on the page. The author’s description of the level of hate and danger is compelling. You can’t look away, which was the point.
There’s a description in there about being picked up on the road by a young man who tells him it’s not safe for him to be out there, and he invites the author home for the night. And he describes them driving deep, deep, deep into a swamp, to a tiny cabin for his wife and children were. And they were so poor, but it was an oasis of kindness. I think about those people sometimes, about the degree of separation that it took to create that little island of safety, such as it was, of how far those parents had to go so that their children would be brought up knowing kindness.
Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one
Ah, the ICE defense.
You know, bet that Walmart has got a parking lot camera, cops. Just release that so we can see how she was striking you, rather than, as the witness says, driving away
The phrase, “pre-juvenile delinquent” doesn’t roll off the tongue quite so easily, but juvenile child implies as much. Jesus fucking Christ on toast points, how twisted does a human being have to be under those circumstances to come up with that phrase?
Long ago, a different version of me was a gun enthusiast and took professional training about when to use lethal force.
Some things I learned. Shooting into a moving car is stupid. Shooting somebody fleeing is illegal except under very tight restrictions set forth in Tennessee v. Garner.
The attitude from the trainers and students was that there was no excuse to use a gun except to protect innocent life.
The person who called the police should also be charged, IMO.
I treat police officers with the same caution I would a coiled rattlesnake. I try to avoid places where I may encounter one. If I do encounter one I use extreme caution, no sudden moves, try to back away slowly. They can't be trusted, and will strike if they feel threatened.. Am I a young Black man? Nope. 75 year old White guy usually walking with a cane.
Remember this date: June 19th, 2026.
Five years from the day of the shooting is when the statute of limitations will run out on Federal crimes. By then, pray and hope, we will have a Democratic administration in Washington and a determined, decent Attorney General in the Department of Justice who can bring charges against these officers that include hate crimes, reckless endangerment, and maybe even willful second-degree murder, since they knew the child was in the car.
Also, by then we should have a Democratic Congress who will pass a law that creates a national registry of all law enforcement officers -- local, state, municipal and federal -- so that anyone who "under cover of the law," abuses his power this way, or even in other ways less lethal, is prohibited for life from ever obtaining any employment anywhere in the country at any level in law enforcement, and is also prohibited forever from owning a gun as a civilian. And the new law, like others the new Congress must pass and the new president must sign, must also prohibit the Supreme Court from judging its constitutionality (per III-ii-2) AND restrict the right of any future president to pardon the offender, commute his sentence, or reduce his punishment in any way.
I was a victim of armed robbery while working at a Stop 'n' Go in Sunnyvale, CA, in the early '70s. Guy in a Halloween mask pointed a .25 cal pistol at my face and said "all your cash". I complied. My mom said "and you just gave it to him?" My mom was a clueless asshole.
Pistol expert and trainer Massad Ayoob says the best defenses against armed robbery are locks, alarms, and a sensible policy stressing cooperation.
ACAB
ACAB
ACAB
ACAB
ACAB
ACAB
ACAB
ACAB
ACAB
ACAB
ACAB
My default assumption is that the merchandise was paid for just fine and mom and baby were simply existing while Black. The police behavior is atrocious.
I reread Black Like Me a few years ago, and honestly, the ink could still be wet on the page. The author’s description of the level of hate and danger is compelling. You can’t look away, which was the point.
There’s a description in there about being picked up on the road by a young man who tells him it’s not safe for him to be out there, and he invites the author home for the night. And he describes them driving deep, deep, deep into a swamp, to a tiny cabin for his wife and children were. And they were so poor, but it was an oasis of kindness. I think about those people sometimes, about the degree of separation that it took to create that little island of safety, such as it was, of how far those parents had to go so that their children would be brought up knowing kindness.
Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one
Ah, the ICE defense.
You know, bet that Walmart has got a parking lot camera, cops. Just release that so we can see how she was striking you, rather than, as the witness says, driving away
So shooting at a “juvenile child” is OK?
The phrase, “pre-juvenile delinquent” doesn’t roll off the tongue quite so easily, but juvenile child implies as much. Jesus fucking Christ on toast points, how twisted does a human being have to be under those circumstances to come up with that phrase?
The thing is, if you paid for your shit, why *wouldn't* you keep driving? Why would you think it had anything to do with you?
These are the same people who hoot and squeal about abortion "killing babies".
Management, no doubt, regrets the error.
Were the cops white? Might explain their reckless disregard for the lives of the victims.
Cops don’t pull this shit because they’re scared.
They do it because they know they will get away with it.
"There's a medal for that, I mean this." -- Donald J. Trump, President of The United States of America