It's disturbing that there was a guy on CNN saying we shouldn't call them rioters or looters, but "uprisers" because they are fighting against cops. Really? Because looting liquor stores and burning down the senior center will show them! Yeah, we don't want to be abused by police, so let's show them by committing crimes!
Also, I saw they burned down a church??? REALLY?!
And I'm tired of the "fight back against cops" mentality we've seen in the past 8 or 9 months.
I said this in an older thread, but if you are involved with police officiers, there's a reason why. Cops don't randomly come up and kill you without reason Yes, absolutely there are cops that abuse their power (as seen in the Alabama cops and the elderly Indian man). But, if you don't cooperate with law *enforcement* and resit arrest or run away, bad things happen. Don't commit crimes, don't be involved with people that do. It's a simplistic but true statement.
A friend of mine is always first to bitch about police, always forgetting the good that they do. Tonight, he's silent. NOTHING good comes out of this, NOTHING.
I can count the number of of police officers that have been corrupt on my hands, which is completely dwarfed by the number of officers doing good for society.
Cops don't randomly kill you for no reason? Sure they do. Not a lot, but they do. If you don't think killing that guy in SC because he was fleeing over a busted taillight is no reason, we just ain't ever gonna agree. And that dude ran away so slow he looked like Fred Sanford, so how cowardly was that cop that he had to empty a clip into a guy who could hardly waddle away from him?
And this guy? His death was complete nonsense and now we find out it's very likely not the first guy killed this way in police custody. I don't agree with rioting, but what are citizens supposed to do? When the police engage in criminal activity like murder, falsifying evidence and reports and whatnot, how are poor and middle income folks supposed to affect change when, as we've seen, they can kill with impunity?
We have a Constitution for a damned reason. It's because as citizens, we have rights.
Virtually every instance of lethal force in the news lately was UNNECESSARY and a result of a police force that no longer see citizens as having rights.
How many times are we told, "just do what the officer says"? Well, that's BS, because I know a cop stalked my mom, for example. And, it ignores the fact that TIME AND AGAIN, at trial the court reaffirms the law and our Constitution that we have a right to respectfully question and to assert our rights under the constitution and we shouldn't be killed for doing that. It's LEGAL in all 50 states to film officers in the process of discharging their lawful duties. Yet, in how many videos have we seen people be told, screamed at, arrested (often violently) or worse because they sought to assert their rights.
I served and believe strongly in the oath I took. The actual Constitution means something to me and I'm not giving up my liberty because some fat lazy mostly white cops under pressure to write tickets to fund their cities on the backs of poor and middle class folks. I have a right to ask if I'm being charged and what the charges are. I have a right to assert my 4th amendment right to unlawful search and seizure by insisting on a warrant and NOT facing violent repercussions for that.
As for the rioting and all that, it's dumb, no doubt about it. It doesn't affect justice or peace nor does it improve the policing policies or misconduct that lead to the man's death.
Moreover, I appreciate the good, hard work good cops do, which is why I'm so critical of the bad ones. I absolutely will not surrender my citizenship because some dumbass with a badge doesn't know the law and just want me to do what I'm told like I'm a toddler at the mall. That guy needs to get another job if he can't handle the stresses of managing people, their rights, their security and the security of their property. I especially appreciate that the good cops I've spoken to on this subject feel even more strongly on this than I do. One cop, a LAPD CRASH vet who'd worked Watts and Compton ground his teeth barely able to contain his disgust talking about one case that was in the news.
Again, looting and rioting is dumb, stupid and eight kinds of wrong. And, it's not occurring in a vacuum. The same police that killed that guy aren't all of a sudden heroes because some idiots decided to flash mob shoplift at a CVS and make S'Mores around the burning cop car. Idiots are idiots and bad cops are still bad cops even when idiots are being idiots.
And it's really a bad mix to have idiots and bad cops in the same place. Unfortunately, that seems to be happening more and more often.
Some say the cure is "stop being idiots"
I'm less optimistic. I don't think we can get over 300 million people to do that.
Which is why I come down on the "stop being bad cops" for those that are bad, obviously...
