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Indeed, and that's the way it was presented on this forum, as well.
So "**** them"?
I can't speak for him, but my reading is he's presenting the other extreme of the spectrum. I don't think he's explicitly claiming they're immune from police misconduct.
Originally Posted by Cap'n Tightpants
Pure conjecture, but I'd be more than happy to read a study on that subject.
Not pure. There's a rational basis for my conclusion. Some studies have shown blacks are perceived as more threatening than whites. Therefore, it'd follow that they would be more likely to get shot since the officer would be more likely to fear for their safety. (See: Dehumanizing stare)
No one is claiming that white people are "immune from police conduct". That would be crazy talk. And to even suggest it is a ridiculously transparent straw man argument. For anyone actually paying attention and not mired in self-delusion a running theme of this entire thread is that minorities are disproportionately the victims of police misconduct. And they have been for decades. The only difference now is that we are in the age of smartphones so it's a lot more difficult to dismiss the collective experience of minority communities with the police as "playing the victim" in light of video evidence. As it is to mentally twist and contort to come up with any fanciful explanation for such realities as long as it is never race.
White privilege? Wealth privilege? Or a bit of both?
The volunteer Oklahoma deputy charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to second-degree manslaughter and won approval for a controversial family vacation.
A Tulsa judge ordered Reserve Deputy Robert Bates, 73, to return to court July 2 -- but approved his request to first vacation in the Bahamas.
The vacation drew an angry response from the family of Eric Harris, who was fatally shot by Bates on April 2.
"Whether intended or not, Mr. Bates' vacationing in the Bahamas at this time sends a message of apathy with respect to the shooting and Eric's life," the Harris family said in a statement released by lawyer Dan Smolen. "At a time when we are still mourning the death of a loved one that he shot down in the street, Mr. Bates will be relaxing and enjoying his wealth and privilege."
Harris, 44, had run from deputies conducting a gun-buy sting operation when he was wrestled to the ground. Bates, a retired insurance executive, had been at the scene serving as a backup for an undercover gun deal.
Bates went to provide assistance and has said he meant to stun Harris with a Taser. Instead, Bates says he accidentally drew and fired his .357-magnum revolver. Immediately after firing his weapon, Bates is heard on a video of the tragedy saying "I shot him. I'm sorry."
Harris, 44, died a short time later. Bates is free on $25,000 bail.
Oh he admitted to the shooting. Just said he made a mistake and grabbed his firearm when he intended to use his taser. As I stated earlier .... I'm inclined to believe him given his immediate contrition. The million dollar question though is why he even felt the need to user a taser since Mr. Harris was already immobilized face down on the ground with several officers on top of him?
But yes you are right. The "justice" system is really weird at times.
There's a standoff situation going on in Ferguson right now. Cops have a house surrounded. Weapons drawn. It appears something is going on with a man who neighbors say is mentally ill. Hasn't hit the local news yet but unsurprisingly Twitter is all over it. Naturally the cops are trying to get the local activists that are taking pictures and video to leave the scene. They are trying to get a guy named Lorenzo to come out of the house. Stay tuned ...
Update 1: The police have stormed the house. We'll see if the occupant(s) make it out alive.
Update 2: Neighbors are holding a prayer circle for the guy to make it out alive. He's a known schizophrenic.
Update 3: Looks like the police haven't stormed the house but the front door is wide open. Police are asking him to come out with his hands up. Naturally the guy inside is apprehensive with all the guns pointed at the front door.
Update 4: The SWAT team from St. Charles County has arrived on the scene in Ferguson. Apparently the STL County SWAT team is tied up in a separate standoff over in St. John. There is blood in the street outside the house in Ferguson. This particular incident was related to an earlier shooting. Not sure if the guy in the house is the shooter or the victim.
Update 5: Ferguson PD says the suspect shot his brother in the head. Victim has been taken to the hospital and was alert. Described as a "family dispute". Neighbors say the suspect is mentally ill. SWAT team setup in neighbor's house where a guy is live-tweeting.
Update 6: Ferguson PD has been relieved of command. The St. Charles SWAT team is in charge now.
Update 7: The SWAT team is refusing to let the guy's mother try to talk him down.
Update 8: As the police continue setting the stage for a militarized response ... thus far they have not bothered to bring a mental health professional on the scene to try to assist.
Update 9: STL County SWAT just showed up. Think about this good people. There are now TWO separate SWAT teams on the scene in Ferguson for ONE mentally ill suspect.
Update 10: Cops pushing neighbors, protestors, and local media FAR AWAY from the surrounded house. SWAT team patrolling the street with rifles drawn. Suspect has been identified as Lorenzo Foster by his grandmother.
Update 11: SWAT team is pulling back from the front of the house. Trying to send in the robot through the open front door. But it's getting stuck.
Update 12: The robot is inside. Followed by the SWAT team.
Update 13: it would appear that Lorenzo Foster was not even in the house. He was found at a local church and is getting the help that he needs. All's well that ends well.
OAW
Oh he admitted to the shooting. Just said he made a mistake and grabbed his firearm when he intended to use his taser. As I stated earlier .... I'm inclined to believe him given his immediate contrition.
Even if he made a mistake (and from what I know this seems like the most plausible explanation), it still doesn't mean that he's not criminally liable. In any case, it's a mitigating circumstance.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
I can't speak for him, but my reading is he's presenting the other extreme of the spectrum. I don't think he's explicitly claiming they're immune from police misconduct.
Not pure. There's a rational basis for my conclusion. Some studies have shown blacks are perceived as more threatening than whites. Therefore, it'd follow that they would be more likely to get shot since the officer would be more likely to fear for their safety. (See: Dehumanizing stare)
Yep, that's pure conjecture. The "other extreme"? He IS the other extreme, he was backing the article, in his own words. Are you paying attention? "None shot. None killed."
(
Last edited by Cap'n Tightpants; Apr 22, 2015 at 02:52 AM.
)
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
No one is claiming that white people are "immune from police conduct". That would be crazy talk. And to even suggest it is a ridiculously transparent straw man argument.
Then why post stupid shit about "8 whites who didn't get shot"? "None shot. None killed." As if that's some form of evidence, when all it takes is a few seconds to prove, in just the last week, that it's a bullshit line of reasoning.
For anyone actually paying attention and not mired in self-delusion a running theme of this entire thread is that minorities are disproportionately the victims of police misconduct. And they have been for decades. The only difference now is that we are in the age of smartphones so it's a lot more difficult to dismiss the collective experience of minority communities with the police as "playing the victim" in light of video evidence. As it is to mentally twist and contort to come up with any fanciful explanation for such realities as long as it is never race.
No one around here twists and contorts things like you, no one.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
Federal officials are investigating a YouTube video posted on Sunday that shows a law enforcement officer grabbing what looks to be a recording device from a woman’s hand and smashing it on the ground.
..
A woman standing roughly 15 feet from two of the officers is heard repeatedly telling them to keep their distance. She appears to be recording the officers with a cellphone or camera held close to her chest.
“I have the right to be here. You’re making me feel unsafe,” she says. It’s unknown if the officers had already ordered her to move further away.
A third officer holding a rifle appears in the video and approaches the woman. As she backs away he dashes forward and grabs the camera from her hands before throwing it to the ground and kicking it.
Something about a person recording the person recording makes me feel like this was set-up in some way.
Yep. Marshals are an entirely different "breed", they have authority and powers that no other LEOs have. If they feel they need to smash your camera, they're going to smash your camera. Screaming and complaining isn't likely to get you anywhere.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
"The Department of Justice has been monitoring the developments in Baltimore, Md., regarding the death of Freddie Gray," spokeswoman Dena Iverson said in a statement. "Based on preliminary information, the Department of Justice has officially opened this matter and is gathering information to determine whether any prosecutable civil rights violation occurred."
Yep. Marshals are an entirely different "breed", they have authority and powers that no other LEOs have. If they feel they need to smash your camera, they're going to smash your camera. Screaming and complaining isn't likely to get you anywhere.
From what I gather, if they deem that it's impeding an investigation, pretty much.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
From what I gather, if they deem that it's impeding an investigation, pretty much.
Heh, well that's the rub. How is someone standing 15 feet away recording you impeding an investigation. Police try to pull that interference bullshit too.
That's... not the part of my previous post you were referring to as being conjecture.
I know, I was saying that the new statement you made, "it'd follow that they would be more likely to get shot since the officer would be more likely to fear for their safety", was conjecture too. I've read stories of cops unloading magazines in fear, but it seems to be a very rare thing.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
Heh, well that's the rub. How is someone standing 15 feet away recording you impeding an investigation. Police try to pull that interference bullshit too.
The difference is, they can say it without having IA crawling up their asses, they literally only answer to their chief, the AG (on some issues), or the PotUS.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
The difference is, they can say it without having IA crawling up their asses, they literally only answer to their chief, the AG (on some issues), or the PotUS.
Considering this Justice Department has been on the side of citizens being able to record, I feel optimistic the Marshall's won't be able to successfully pull that card, if they even bother.
As was stated earlier, Mr. Gray ended up dead from a severed spinal cord ... and every single officer cop involved is swearing on a stack of bibles that no force was used on him at all. But check the video on my first post on this case above. You see witnesses screaming that his leg looked broken as he was being arrested for no reason. Perhaps it was incapacitated because the police actually broke his spine when one of them had their knee on the back of his neck?
The streets of Baltimore flooded with residents Tuesday protesting the police force in the name of Freddie Gray, the young man who died from a severe spinal injury while in police custody, the Daily Mail reports.
Also Tuesday, the Justice Department announced its own civil rights investigation into Gray’s death, as police officials released the names of the six officers who were involved in Gray’s arrest and transport.
According to the Daily Mail, protesters gathered around the site of Gray’s ultimately fatal arrest before marching to the police station, chanting and holding up the now all-too familiar signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace” that have come to define the movement against police brutality.
The six officers involved, Lt. Brian Rice, Sgt. Alicia White, and officers Ceasar Goodson, William Porter, Edward Nero and Garret Miller, were all reportedly suspended with pay.
At least one person was detained as protesters jumped past police barriers that were meant to control the crowd.
The mysterious circumstances of Gray’s death began after his arrest April 12 after making eye contact with officers and allegedly beginning to run. According to the Daily Mail, while Gray was being transported in a van for roughly half an hour, the van was stopped and his legs shackled because, an officer claimed, he was becoming “irate.”
Gray reportedly requested an inhaler before asking several times for medical care. He was eventually taken to the hospital by ambulance, before dying about a week after his arrest of a “significant spinal injury,” as Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez described it.
It is still unclear how Gray was injured and what happened while he was in the van.
Gray’s family lawyer said that the police had no reason to stop the young man.
“They’ve made concessions on lack of probable cause,” attorney Billy Murphy said, according to the Daily Mail. “Running while black is not probable cause. Felony running doesn’t exist, and you can’t arrest someone for looking you in the eye.”
Considering this Justice Department has been on the side of citizens being able to record, I feel optimistic the Marshall's won't be able to successfully pull that card, if they even bother.
I guess they can indict the marshals in question, but they can't fire them, punish them, or really do anything other than make suggestions.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
When the lawsuit was first filed, the sheriff's office denied it had taken naked photos of the young woman at the scene. Smith, who was not with the sheriff's office at the time, acknowledged the photos were taken but said it's "standard operating procedure" to photograph crime scenes.
The pictures, shown to the Tribune by Mejia's attorney, show the young woman's body was moved after the accident. One set of photos shows Mejia, lifeless, in the back seat of the vehicle: She is wearing jeans, a white T-shirt and high heels.
Other shots show her on a tarp on the ground, naked except for her lower undergarment.
Apparently there was something on her clothing that they wanted to preserve for testing, but that could have been handled so much better. Yikes.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
I guess they can indict the marshals in question, but they can't fire them, punish them, or really do anything other than make suggestions.
I'm not in a place where I want people fired for stopping people from recording (yet). However if what he did counts as assault, I am a-ok with some type of punishment.
CBS News has learned that a 2009 investigation by the Tulsa Sheriff's Office concluded that there were concerns over Robert Bates behavior in the field. …
Since the incident there have been allegations that Bates was not properly trained. CBS News learned that in 2009, the Tulsa Sheriff's Office launched an internal investigation to find out if Bates received special treatment during training and while working as a reserve deputy. They also investigated whether supervisors pressured training officers on Bates' behalf.
The investigation concluded Bates' training was questionable and that he was given preferential treatment.
The investigation found that deputies voiced concerns about Bates' behavior in the field, almost from the very beginning. Bates reportedly used his personal car while on duty and made unauthorized vehicle stops. When confronted Bates said that he could do what he wanted, and that anyone who had a problem with him should go see the sheriff.
The investigation concluded that high ranking officers created an atmosphere where employees were intimidated in order to violate department policy.
It doesn't. If it was about preserving some sort of so-called evidence then they wouldn't have denied even taking the photos to begin with!
OAW
The denial could be explained away as a mistake if there's any legitimacy to how things went down at the scene, but I'm struggling to put together the scenario.
I can see removing the clothes. What visual evidence on her body wasn't going to survive a trip to the coroner?
Once again we have a police union demonstrating an astonishing amount of political tone-deafness.
As protesters decrying Freddie Gray's death plan more rallies in Baltimore Thursday, anger is mounting over a police union's comparison of the protest to a "lynch mob."
"While we appreciate the right of our citizens to protest and applaud the fact that, to date, the protests have been peaceful, we are very concerned about the rhetoric of the protests," the Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 said in a statement.
"In fact, the images seen on television look and sound much like a lynch mob in that they are calling for the immediate imprisonment of these officers without them ever receiving the due process that is the constitutional right of every citizen, including law enforcement officers."
That comparison drew swift and sharp criticism, given the history of lynchings of African-Americans in the United States. Rooted in the racial ire of the Civil War, lynching involved mobs hanging from trees black people, minorities and those who opposed oppression of minorities. The extrajudicial killings were common in the segregated South from 1877 to 1950 -- more than 4,000 people were murdered, according to a recent report. But lynchings took place across the country, and have deeply scarred race relations in the country.
"Which one is the #LynchMob again?" John Cotton tweeted, posting a photo of a peaceful protest next to photos of Gray during his arrest and hospitalization.
"The choice of words is not only ironic, it's sad," said Andrew O'Connell, an attorney for Gray's family.
"Police officers are never the subject of a lynch mob. It's actually usually the other way around," he told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront."
"And in the context of the powder keg that Baltimore city is right now, referring to the citizens of Baltimore city who are peacefully protesting as a 'lynch mob' doesn't serve to keep the peace. It only heightens the flames, or fans the flames of people who are already on edge."
Gray died Sunday, one week after he was arrested by Baltimore police.
At some point, he suffered a severe spinal cord injury. His family said his voice box was crushed and his neck snapped before he slipped into a coma and later died.
While Baltimore police say five of the six officers involved in the arrest have provided statements to investigators, the department has not released details of what the officers said or how Gray might have suffered the fatal injury.
Hours before her swearing-in last week, she got a call from a television reporter saying that four of Parma’s six police officers had quit. So had the town’s wastewater manager and clerk, who was supposed to administer the oath of office. Ms. Byrd, 40, wondered whether she would even be able to take office. The hamlet’s staff had been whittled to five from 11.
Adding to the intrigue was that the man whom Ms. Byrd defeated, Randall Ramsey, mayor for more than three and a half decades during two separate stints, offered a cryptic reason for the resignations: “safety concerns.”
Richard Medley, the other full-time officer, was more forthcoming.
His decision, he said, had nothing to do with race. “I resigned due to trust issues,” Mr. Medley said.
As he explained it, Ms. Byrd’s father, who was a Parma alderman for years until his defeat in the same election that led to Ms. Byrd’s ascension, had interfered with several police investigations. Mr. Medley, 34, said he was concerned that Ms. Byrd would be just as meddlesome.
Many people here said they questioned whether the hamlet’s previous leadership — the mayor and the police chief, mostly — did anything to make things better. Some said they had asked in vain for the hamlet to dig ditches to keep their yards from flooding. They complained about new police vehicles being purchased and driven out of town by officers who lived elsewhere. They questioned how the money was handled — the mayor admitted, for instance, to allowing town workers to borrow money from the town’s coffers. (He said that the money would later be taken out of their checks.)
Pine Lawn, a tiny St. Louis County town notorious for corruption and predatory ticketing practices, is being sued by its 80-year-old former mayor, who alleges a successor used the police department to falsely arrest him and portray him as a criminal.
The mostly African-American city puts out thousands of arrest warrants for minor code violations, including a ban on saggy pants, that can lead residents into insurmountable debt.
Betty McCray was not only prevented from entering city hall, she was also told she’d been impeached before she got a chance to start.
McCray ran for mayor in the April 7 election and won.
After the election results were certified earlier this week by the St. Louis County Board of Elections, Kinloch’s outgoing administration refused to allow the city clerk to give McCray the oath of office, claiming voter fraud.
“Today is the first day that that the city hall door has been unlocked. They keep it locked,” McCray said. “You got to beat and you got to bang (to get in). They have an officer police sitting right at the door.”
On Thursday, McCray was ready to start on the job, but was met with strong resistance. Fox 2 was there with McCray when she showed up at city hall, where she was greeted by more than 20 Kinloch police officers.
One officer attempted to prevent himself from being filmed by pushing a camera away. No one was being allowed inside city hall, including the elected mayor.
Kinloch city attorney James Robinson informed McCray she had been impeached. However, the city refused to tell the new mayor the articles of impeachment.
I mean, maybe this happens everywhere and the spotlight on St. Louis is the reason we're see this. But that only means everywhere is nuts.
Listen to that whiny thug scream, geez. He's making more noise than the poor guy he beat the shit out of. Figures, WRT Swedes, they downplay anything that's extraordinary, because they don't want anyone to stand out as being heroic (it might make someone else feel inferior, or some shit like that).
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
Figures, WRT Swedes, they downplay anything that's extraordinary, because they don't want anyone to stand out as being heroic (it might make someone else feel inferior, or some shit like that).
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
But a troubling detail emerged as hundreds of protesters converged on City Hall again Thursday: He was not only handcuffed and put in leg irons, but left without a seat belt during his trip to the station, a police union's lawyer said.
Unbelted detainees have been paralyzed and even killed by rough rides in what used to be called "paddy wagons." It even has a name: "nickel rides," referring to cheap amusement park thrills.
Police brutality against prisoners being transported was addressed just six months ago in a plan released by Baltimore officials to reduce this misconduct. Department rules updated nine days before Gray's arrest clearly state that all detainees shall be strapped in by seat belts or "other authorized restraining devices" for their own safety after arrest.
But if it happened on the way to the station, it wouldn't be the first such injury in Baltimore: Dondi Johnson died of a fractured spine in 2005 after he was arrested for urinating in public and transported without a seat belt, with his hands cuffed behind his back.
"We argued they gave him what we call a 'rough ride,'" at high speed with hard cornering, said Attorney Kerry D. Staton. "He was thrown from one seat into the opposite wall, and that's how he broke his neck."
Gray fled on foot and was captured on April 12 after an officer "made eye contact" with him outside a public housing complex, police said. Videos show Gray screaming on the ground before being dragged, his legs limp, into a van. Witnesses said he was crying out in pain.
I dunno, sounds like he might have been paralyzed beforehand.
Exceptionlism Politics has forever ruined that term for me.
It's the same people who refuse to keep score in little league sporting events and teach that there's no difference between winning and losing. It's such a pathetic state of affairs.
"I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
but by the content of their character." - M.L.King Jr
It's the same people who refuse to keep score in little league sporting events and teach that there's no difference between winning and losing. It's such a pathetic state of affairs.
Parma, MO really isn't near STL at all. It's way down in Southeast Missouri. In the part of the state called the "Bootheel". Which explains a lot about this particular issue.
Kinloch, MO is actually the oldest black township west of the Mississippi River. It was a thriving community for nearly a century but it started to decline when Lambert International Airport started buying up most of the land for an airport expansion. It lost nearly 80% of its population in the span of a decade. Those who remain are the poorest of the poor. It's right next door to Berkeley, MO which also lost a lot of land due to the expansion. One of my best friends and a former girlfriend from high school had their entire neighborhood in Berkeley bought out and torn down. What's really messed up is that after all of the community disruption all that land in Kinloch and Berkeley is still sitting empty because the airport expansion never occurred in that direction as planned. American Airlines acquired St. Louis based TWA in 2001 and soon dramatically cutback on the number of flights serving STL ... eliminating it as a major airline hub. So there was a LOT of displacement. Including a huge controversy involving one of the oldest African-American cemeteries in the STL area. The airport wanted that land too and the bodies were supposedly moved. But when the airport started bulldozing the area body parts were being dug up. Ownership of the cemetery itself had been passed around from company to company. Records were practically non-existent. People who had relatives buried there ... including my family ... had no idea what really happened to their loved ones. It was a big mess to say the least! But as I said after all the drama ... all that land is still sitting empty because of American Airlines. Go figure.
I dunno, sounds like he might have been paralyzed beforehand.
Agreed. Several witnesses have said from day one that he was screaming for the cops to "Get off my neck!" when they first arrested him. Before they ever put him in the van. Again, look at how his leg was dangling in the video so awkwardly that the lady who filmed it thought it was broken.
More of that "twisting and contorting" thing that some claim that I do. Yet another example of how I supposedly "need to see race in everything". Because you know ... the collective experience of our people can't possibly have any merit in any of this.
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. - Exclusively-obtained dash-cam video shows Dontrell Stephens, 20, talking on a cellphone while riding his bike on a Friday morning in September 2013. He can be seen turning onto Norma Elaine Road near Haverhill Road and Okeechobee Boulevard as PBSO deputy Adams Lin trails him.
Moments later, Stephens realizes he’s being followed. He pulls over, gets off his bike with a cellphone in his right hand and walks toward the deputy.
For approximately four seconds Stephens is out of frame only to be seen again when being shot four times.
Stephens, who is black and has a criminal record for possessing cocaine, is seen running from the bullets then dropping to the ground.
Stephens was armed with nothing but a cellphone.
The video, exclusively obtained by WPTV NewsChannel 5 and The Palm Beach Post as part of a joint investigation into police shootings, was released as part of a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed against PBSO.
A short time later, an admittedly shaken Deputy Lin is heard talking to another deputy.
"He starts backing away," Lin explains. "I said, ‘Get on the ground, get on the ground.”
Then, the other deputy is heard saying, "I got your back man. I got your back. Hey, you hear me?”
Deputy Lin responds, “Yeah, I know.”
That day, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw went on TV to defend the shooting.
"Stop what you're doing and comply with us,” he told reporters. "There's nothing in the rules of engagement that says we have to put our lives in jeopardy to wait to find out what this is to get killed."
Lin was cleared to return to work four days later. Months later, investigators from the State Attorney's Office and PBSO ruled the shooting justified.
West Palm Beach attorney Jack Scarola is suing the sheriff and the deputy on Stephens’ behalf. Scarola says he discovered issues with the deputy’s statements after requesting and viewing all the video and audio recordings from the incident.
"There are no records of any commands ever made to Dontrell Stephens," explained Scarola.
"The deputy's recorded statements following the shooting were absolutely false. Internal affairs completely ignored that evidence,” he said.
Today, Stephens is paralyzed from the waist down.
While Sheriff Bradshaw was on the record the day of Stephens’ shooting, he’s not talking about the case now. The Sheriff’s policy is to not comment on pending litigation.
Stephens' shooting reveals a pattern of problems with how deputy-involved shootings are investigated.
Why is Stephens even being followed? He's minding his own f*cking business having a conversation while idly riding down the street. Is Biking While Black now a crime?
The officer turns on the siren and pulls him over. Stephens gets off his bike and approaches the officer. We see nothing "aggressive" or "threatening" in his demeanor or actions. Unless one's mind is so warped that a black male simply walking towards you "armed" with nothing but a cell phone constitutes a "life threatening" event. 4 seconds later Stephens is running for his life ... and gets shot 4 times in the back! These "officers" make no attempt to provide Stephens any medical assistance. Instead, their first instinct is to get their story straight. Deputy Lin tells a bald-faced lie when he claims that he told Stephens to get on the ground. The other deputy makes it abundantly clear that he will cover for him. And the Sheriff defends his deputies with the same old blame the victim routine. His deputies "feared for their lives" and the person shot in the back and paralyzed should have "complied" with non-existent commands. Uh huh. Yeah.
Why is Stephens even being followed? He's minding his own f*cking business having a conversation while idly riding down the street. Is Biking While Black now a crime?
Actually, I inadvertently addressed this the other day.
Then, the other deputy is heard saying, "I got your back man. I got your back. Hey, you hear me?”
If "I got your back" means he lied to support the other deputies story, he should be charged almost equally as the guy who pulled the trigger (Assuming wrong-doing).
Somebody sedate me, I'm getting close to no-tolerance on this blue-line bullshit.
Politics has forever ruined that term for me.
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