These cops should spend the rest of their lives beyond bars. Having a gun in your pocket in an open carry state is not a death penalty offense, particularly when it has not been adjudicated.
Reader Interactions
80Comments
Comments are closed.
by John Cole| 80 Comments
This post is in: #BLM #M4BL, Shitty Cops
These cops should spend the rest of their lives beyond bars. Having a gun in your pocket in an open carry state is not a death penalty offense, particularly when it has not been adjudicated.
Comments are closed.
rikyrah
Funny how these ‘Open Carry’ laws don’t seem to extend to Black people….isn’t it.
sigh…..
and, people want to whine about Jesse Williams speech. he told THE TRUTH.
Punchy
Is there video confirming/denying the allegation that he had earlier threatened someone with his piece? Otherwise someone made some shit up, called in the po-po, and likely knew what the likely result was.
Reminds me of the WalMart guy walking around and getting shot after someone called in a BS 911 report.
rikyrah
where’s the phone call to dispatch to research if he had a legal permit?
Aardvark Cheeselog
“Public execution” implies a little more dignity than that video shows. I’d call it a “gangland-style killing.”
rikyrah
@Punchy:
John Crawford – in another OPEN CARRY STATE.
Once again….how come OPEN CARRY states seem to only apply to WHITE PEOPLE?
rikyrah
Skittles. Toys. Cigarettes. Hoodies. CDs. Playing in the park. Being in police custody.
State-sponsored murder. #AltonSterling
— nora rahimian (@norarahimian) July 6, 2016
rp
What police academy class teaches an officer to fire point blank down into a suspect when your partner is inches away? Even putting aside the, ya know, murder aspect of this, it’s absolutely horrible procedure. Totally unprofessional.
These guys look like George Zimmerman with an actual badge.
Jesus.
Betty Cracker
They’ll get away with it. If the cops can’t be held to account when there’s video evidence of them shooting down a 12-year-old child for no reason, there’s no hope of justice for a grown man’s murder.
TriassicSands
A “justified” shooting? Of course. The police officer was afraid for his own safety — therefore, he was justified in killing the (African American) man. End of story.
A “necessary” shooting? Of course not. None of the recent, highly publicized shootings have been necessary. They all could have been handled differently and the result, almost certainly, would have been no fatalities.
When will we start weighing police shootings based on the criterion that matters most — Was the shooting necessary? Or could a different approach have resulted in no deaths and the “suspect” in custody (where he or she also would not necessarily be safe). Police have shown they are perfectly capable of killing people in their custody, so just getting through the arrest without death is not enough. However, it would be a huge improvement.
Important point to remember: The police in this video only had a few minutes (seconds?) to subdue and arrest the suspect before the planet would have spun out of control and headed off into space. Any delay, perhaps to try to figure out how to carry out an arrest or at least conduct the confrontation, would have threatened the lives of every living thing on Earth. The police must always — apparently — move as quickly as possible, without reflection or consideration of how best to act to ensure that no one is killed in the process. What matters most is speed and making sure no police officer is killed or injured. The lives of the civilians are inconsequential when the fate of the entire planet is at stake.
Pogonip
@Punchy: The guy in the Walmart case cautioned 911 that no one appeared in any immediate danger; he was just doing the if-you-see-something-say-something. Later on Beavercreek PD”s position was that the it’s-probably-nothing part didn’t get relayed to the cops. Not much of an excuse in my opinion. Beavercreek is not the hood. It’s a wealthy jurisdiction. Not a place where cops need to be on a hair trigger.
scav
Well, Real ‘mercans like their reality show live-time executions by cops (Circuses with executions!), so the boys in blue are doing their best to cut out the media middleman (not to mention all the costs of actually trying and convicting people) and stream direct to their chosen white-bread cheering sections by making the bystanders film their efforts. The PDs and related infrastructure also get a lot of fund-raising dollars by milking the second-round blue-boy defenders, so it’s to their benefit to push the envelope of edgy policing.
Trollhattan
@Pogonip:
Reminds me of the dudebros puttering around a Portland residential neighborhood with their AR-15s out for all the world to see. My hunch is they still are among the living.
BTW, I would so call the cops whatever the gun laws may be.
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: I won’t hold my breath that the cops receive any form of punishment after so many have walked off scot-free in the past. And I’ve already heard all about how Mr. Sterling was a menace to society who got what he deserved. As we know, Black men victimized by the police must be spotless in character. Sigh.
EBT
@Punchy: Last I saw the shop owner that he was killed in front of denied he was threatening anyone.
TriassicSands
@Patricia Kayden:
I just checked. Mr. Sterling is not up for sainthood, therefore he was fair game for police executioners.
scav
@EBT: Wrong sort of eyewitness, clearly. Besides, just as the FBI not suggesting prosecution of Clinton is damning evidence of wrongdoing, the DOJ investigation is proof of further inerrant police conduct in the eyes of the properly discerning.
jacy
Disconcerting to find this happened 10 minutes from my house.
eclare
@Pogonip: Stuff like that has cautioned me to never, never, unless I see someone literally dragging someone away at gunpoint, call the cops.
Mary G
We need to keep prosecuting these thugs operating under cover of authority until we get juries with brains who will bring in a guilty verdict. Seriously, how many times does this have to happen? They were wearing body cameras which just happened to fall off in the struggle?
The only positive thing I can think of is that the Donald will be unable to stick to his talking points about Hillary’s emails and will defend and praise these murderers. I am sure Mr. Sterling would much prefer to still be living life unmolested.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@eclare: I’m in the same boat. Don’t want to be. Think being in that boat is really bad for me, my neighbors, my town, my city, my state, my country. Oughta be able to call the cops if I see something hinky and be reassured that things will be properly investigated and taken care of.
But that’s not the way the world works anymore and you gotta do the math: would this situation be helped by the addition of a screaming, poor-impulse-controlled, ‘roided-up armed strongman? One who may just turn on my ass (seen it happen before!) if the prospects for a fun beatdown aren’t so good with the other party?
The answer is almost always no, so I haven’t called the cops in years and won’t.
@Mary G: That’s not going to happen until you make jury service universal, mandatory, paid, and with heavy fines/jail time if you don’t show up. And we all know that is not going to happen, because our legal system really likes the way jury service is currently set up – you get nothing but old, conservative white juries, because everyone else is out working their asses off trying to stay afloat.
eclare
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Agree that it is not a good attitude for society, but seen too many stories of cops unable to deescalate situations because they show up at !11!, whether it’s kids at a pool in TX, a mentally ill person in St. Louis, poor Tamir in Cleveland, too many to list.
Miss Bianca
@eclare: I’m starting to wonder seriously if, in addition to pure racism, cops are also stoking out on ‘roids or other drugs. Maybe instead of mandatory drug-testing for TANF clients we should be pushing for mandatory drug-testing of all cops involved in fatal shootings? Boy, we’d hear some squealing then, wouldn’t we?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
I got nothin. But at least there’s been a prompt announcement that DOJ will investigate.
scott (the other one)
Jesus God but that was fucking brutal.
Also, I don’t know a damn thing about proper technique, but having two cops right next to each other pull their gun on a suspect who may or may not be struggling—is that really a good idea, to have them both with weapons in their hands, mere inches from each other? It sure seems to me it would’ve been awfully easy for one cop to shoot the other. (And while, yes, I know they would have just blamed the black guy for it, still and all, I assume the cops would rather not get injured by friendly fire, all things considered.)
eclare
@Miss Bianca: Oh yes, I’m generally in favor of unions, but the way the police unions protect their own is beyond me.
scott (the other one)
@Miss Bianca:
I’ve heard entirely anecdotally that, yes, ‘roids are often a problem. But also that police departments are more and more being filled with veterans who may be suffering from untreated PTSD.
Villago Delenda Est
@Aardvark Cheeselog: This.
We have gang members in uniform “protecting and serving” the public. Well, the “right” members of the public, anyways.
elm
@eclare: The problem with police unions is in the police part, not the union part.
The unions are doing their job, which is to advocate for their members. If their members act horribly, that’s not the fault of the unions, that is the fault of city government that fails to control its police.
Mary G
@Miss Bianca: It’ll never happen, but cops involved in any shooting, whether someone is killed or not, should have to immediately give blood to be tested for steroids, other drugs, and alcohol.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@elm: THANK YOU. Not the fault of the union.
Gin & Tonic
@elm: I posted this downstairs, but I was surprised at the number. On-duty police officers have killed over 500 people in the US so far in 2016.
Villago Delenda Est
@Gin & Tonic: I’m not surprised. Police killings are no longer news. It’s dog bites man. Open season on the blahs, the browns, the Muslim. Eventually they’ll start killing white people who aren’t in the 1%.
D's Squirrel Food
Anyone who doubts most cops support this shit can head on over to Police One, where they’re almost unanimously celebrating a “good shoot.” Police culture is rotten to the core.
scav
@elm: I nevertheless think that even police unions should be thinking about the long-term benefit of all police members and the long-term reputation of the force — which should also work to the benefit and safety of all members — rather than the knee-jerk automatic protection of any behavior of individual members in any circumstance.
Mike in DC
I’d like to see the DOJ move swiftly here. We don’t need months to investigate here. It can be done in a few weeks.
elm
@scav: It’s the job of local government to manage their police. If the public doesn’t give a shit about police killings, then it’s hard to see why the police unions should.
I’m not saying I like the job police unions do, but their job is to advocate for police officers.
When police kill people and don’t discipline officers, sue the city, sue the department, and campaign to have the chief of police fired. If that fails, campaign against the mayor and city council. Force them to respond.
But the police unions are just a symptom, not the problem or a cause of the problem.
? Martin
Just as notable, almost all of these deaths involved misdemeanors. Selling cigarettes, etc. There is no public safety concern here. The drop in violent crime in the US appears to be matched with an increase in aggressive policing for non-violent offenses, as though the police have an aggressive arrest quota to meet.
Trollhattan
@? Martin:
I’d go with infraction, not even a misdemeanor but IANAL.
rikyrah
Propane Jane @docrocktex26 10 Apr 2015
When you continually harass people you increase the likelihood of a negative outcome i.e. a “routine” traffic stop ending in murder.
Propane Jane
@docrocktex26
Every instance of racial profiling by police has the potential to end in violence because at its core, the harassment is a violent act.
scav
@elm: I’m not disagreeing with their role of defending officers, but urging some qualifications on that and some long-term broader thinking about officer safety. Further enabling the increasingly justified perception that officers are above consequences for any actions and justified in whatever they do will not do much to improve officer community relations or the reputation of the occupation in the larger community.
ETA the reputation of football is not enhanced by players unions going to bat for all behaviors of all football members at all times. Even off-duty cops seems to get to haul out guns and shoot wildly (forget the exact instance in Chicago, but it was in an alley with a female victim) without much consequence.
Prescott Cactus
I can’t watch. Perhaps I need to to feel the pain and injustice being perpetrated. I can’t though.
They end the same. Black man is dead. Sometimes it’s a black female.
White is wrong with US.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@rikyrah:
Propane Jane has been on an amazing twitter spree – her analysis of gun rights and white supremacy is right the fuck on point.
Prescott Cactus
@elm:
When 80% of a community is white, that’s not going to work.
Embrace BLM.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@D’s Squirrel Food:
Malcolm X nailed it – the KKK became cops. They’re the enforcement arm of white America’s racist operating system. The cops exist to maintain white supremacy all the way up and down.
Aleta
I have to wonder if the BR Police department’s statement that the officers responded to a call (about a man in a red shirt pointing a gun) was a cover story put into the record after they killed Mr. Sterling. When corrupt police lie, as they did for the Michael Brown murder and so many other killings, one has no choice but to question. This statement was issued fairly quickly last night, despite the supposed hold on information. I have looked but haven’t found a single news report that mentions hearing the actual call. It is always “the police department said.” And details vary. (‘It was a man in a red shirt but not Mr. Sterling.’ ‘It was a man in a red shirt selling CDs.’ Etc
Batgirl
Re jury trials. Don’t most of the cops prosecuted choose a bench trial?
gex
@Batgirl: I’m not sure it makes much difference. There was that cop in St. Paul that had a post on Facebook encouraging people to run over BLM protesters. His post included a statement that said that no jury would convict them. (I assume he was assuming white drivers.)
They know the score. The cops KNOW there is very little chance they will be convicted and that’s after having very little chance of even being prosecuted.
Prescott Cactus
@Batgirl: I think the choice is the defendant’s. I’m not a lawyer. May even be a constitutional right ?
Batgirl
@Prescott Cactus: Chicago police department regularly pay out huge sums in lawsuits. Doesn’t seem to make any difference.
rikyrah
Negroes
Sweet and docile,
Meek, humble, and kind:
Beware the day
They change their mind
-Langston Hughes
Batgirl
@Prescott Cactus: yes it is. Says something about the relationship between cops and the judge. Rather roll the dice with the judge than face a jury
Prescott Cactus
@Batgirl: Former Chicagoan. Surprised white and black are within a percent or two in the city. (year 2000).
Regularly and huge.
Prescott Cactus
@Batgirl: especially in “the City that works” !
Barb2
Racist cops like the ones in that video (yes I watched it) believe in the mythology of the “monster African American”. These are the cops who didn’t go to integrated schools or live in integrated neighborhoods.
The cop’s victim was down with a huge red patch on his chest. No normal human being could get up and do anything to the cop.
Yet the cop is dragging his butt on the ground getting away from, the completely helpless human being, gun at the ready to fire a few more bullets. Those cops did not see a human being, based on their body language. It was rather like a zombie movie, where the actor was waiting for the dead guy to get back up and engage in a full on attack.
I think the construct for these cops is – human/not human. Plus – black/not black. Constructs are bipolar either or ways we see ourselves and see others. Brian R. Little in his book – Me, myself and us- uses the first chapter to explain constructs and give examples. At first this part of the book seems dry and boring. Until it isn’t boring, but rath
er can help us understand more about human personality and individual differences.
There is already research on how people’s belief in some humans having mythological extra human power. Racist cops are often wrong in their guess of the age of a black child – to the point that they don’t see the child.
The way the cop in the video backed up on his butt , while still pointing his gun at the helpless and dying human being. The cop didn’t seem to be seeing a human being.
Roid rage – could be that as well.
OK now I’ve got that full on racist moment replaying in my mind. Body language can tell us much about a person’s motives.
Those cops should be in jail. Plus their commanding officers and whoever was responsible for hiring these two racist pigs. All of them stripped of jobs and retirement pensions.
We can do better. Other countries have a police force filled with guys who get away with murder.
There is a British comedy series “New Tricks” – about retired detectives showing how to defuse a stand off without a gun in hand. I learned so much about the British way of policing. Yes I know this is fiction and there are violent, lying cops in England.
rikyrah
Justin MillerVerified account
@justinjm1
NEW: #AltonSterling store owner says cops stole surveillance video after taking him to the station
celticdragonchick
@D’s Squirrel Food: Did they open policeone comments to public view again?
NotoriousJRT
@rp:
This comes through time after time. What kind of training do these police officers receive? Or is it really just racism writ large?
celticdragonchick
@elm:
That is becoming nigh impossible with cops rights laws, court mandated mediation and similar protections that police unions have achieved over the last 50 years. Police in many major cities are now virtually immune to both legal and political pressure, and cannot be held meaningfully accountable by local elected authority.
scav
Chicago PD just sanctioned again for not turning over potential evidence in a police misconduct lawsuit. 6th time since 2011.
ChiTrib link for those that can get there.
If not, another tidbit
celticdragonchick
@NotoriousJRT: As stated above, it’s “magic monster negro” panic response.
Pogonip
@eclare: I agree. Stay out of the legal system if at all possible.
NotoriousJRT
@Betty Cracker:
Sadly, this is my assessment, as well.
Prescott Cactus
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
Defence attorneys are sometimes tasked with giving council to the dregs of our society. Unions are here to protect their members. Whether saints or sinners it is their job.
NotoriousJRT
@Pogonip:
Do you have a link about this “probably nothing” comment in the Crawford matter?
NotoriousJRT
@elm:
I would be less skeptical if they did not make crappy, insensitive public statements. What I have seen out of Cleveland was DEPLORABLE, and I cannot understand why “good” cops cover or sanction by silence “bad” ones.
NotoriousJRT
@rikyrah:
I fear for the day they do because I believe they will be murdered with absolute impunity.
Pogonip
@NotoriousJRT: No, sorry, I was in the area at the time and it was in a couple of local papers and on at least one of the 3 local TV news broadcasts.
Hungry Joe
I’m seriously wondering whether police should be disarmed. No, really, I mean it. They can have all the weaponry they want/need in their patrol cars, but they should have to have a damn good reason for taking one out. How often do they unexpectedly encounter someone with a gun? I bet in almost every one of those situations they’ve got a pretty good idea — robbery in progress, for example — and can then break out the Glocks in advance. When someone surprises them with a weapon, retreat to the car, get a gun, and go from there. Seems like every time a policeman is murdered it’s by ambush anyway, when their weapons did them no good.
As I said, I’m just seriously wondering; the chances of its happening are probably somewhere between nil and bupkis.
D's Squirrel Food
@celticdragonchick: I’m talking about their Facebook page, actually. There’s 3 threads where you can read endless disgusting comments.
batgirl
@shomi: Until cops step up, stop protecting the bad cops and force them out of their ranks, everyone within the institution is responsible. It is an institutional problem. Remaining silent and/or neutral is not enough. Think the Catholic Church. Bad priests were protected by their colleagues, superiors, and the institution.
BillCinSD
@NotoriousJRT:
look and see what happens to those that did not cover for the bad cops in the past
scav
@batgirl: Don’t bother with the little nanometer-thin automatic-inverse of stereotypes of John Cole/bj. There,s not a neuron to attempt to flicker, just an XOR gate as best I can tell. showmi an apparent human concensus heer and showmi is agin it — it’s not at all about showmi the evidence and logic.
Arclite
The problem is not unions but prosecutors and grand juries that refuse to indict.
wuzzat
@Prescott Cactus: Unions aren’t lawyers. They’re charged to protect their entire membership as a whole, which is not accomplished by sheltering murderers because they pay dues. Too many police unions “have the backs” of people who shoot civilians without provocation, while whistleblowers are shunned or worse. That makes them part of the problem.
ruemara
@wuzzat: this. I’m as pro-union as they come & I’d support breaking the police unions up. They don’t just provide assistance, they negotiate massive protections against prosecution for their members, they get directly involved with setting media narratives, they actively rail against prosecutors, AGs, and every elected official who doesn’t tongue dive up their asses. Protecting doesn’t even begin to cover the depth of the police unions’ depravity & cruelty. Outright demanding the guarantee of freedom to murder as an officer sees fit, is more accurate. I’m true to unions until I snuff this life out, but police unions are filth. They’re worse than the blue wall of silence. Much worse.
louc
Over the weekend I heard a funny, but depressing, story by novelist Richard Price on the MOTH radio hour. He was riding with NYC cops when they saw a black guy with a white kid perched on the arms of his bicycle. They’re bored and decide to investigate. At the end, they determine the black guy is the boyfriend of the white kid’s mother after they speak to her on the phone.
The two depressing things: The white kid complains that they’re always stopping the boyfriend. And the coda to the story: The white cops after the two leave say: “Well, I still think something was fishy.”
I can’t share the link but if you Google Richard Price, MOTH and bicycle safety on Essex, you’ll find it. It’s very funny and very sad.
Paul in KY
@Pogonip: The guy in the Walmart case (the caller) was being a dick.
Paul in KY
@Miss Bianca: I think a lot of them do the roids. My take, if you see one who is white, bald headed and pumped up, I think he’s on roids.
Paul in KY
@Barb2: There are, unfortunately, a lot of white guys who feel they would get whupped bad by any able-bodied black guy, no matter the size, etc.
Paul in KY
@shomi: Fuck off you racist loser scum.