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Your anecdotes have NOTHING to do with this story. It only makes you look like you are going to be biased towards the black lady. Both are at fault. The police officer over-reacted. The black lady was non-compliant. It ended badly for her.
Since we don't know, and may never know, exactly how Bland came to be dead it is NOT fair to assume that her earlier indiscretion with the police officer is what is responsible for her death. That's the LIE white people tell themselves everytime something like this happens: well it wouldn't have happened if... its NOT happening to white people and it isn't because they are all models of civil behavior when interacting with police. Christ, back in the days of Hippies and Pigs and Make Love, Not War, the bodies would have been piled six deep if police had the same lack of restraint towards white people as they do towards blacks.
They don't know. I've come to realize that the world is a magical place to leftists and race hustlers. You can literally design your own reality and just completely disregard facts, evidence, etc.
They don't know. I've come to realize that the world is a magical place to leftists and race hustlers. You can literally design your own reality and just completely disregard facts, evidence, etc.
What facts and evidence might that be? The dashcam that shows a surly and uncooperative Ms. Bland? The same dashcam video that when reviewed by his superiors led to his placement on administrative leave? Why was he suspended since his actions had no direct bearing on what may later have occurred in jail? The answer is that in itself, his conduct, on camera, was deemed unprofessional and discourteous. Arcane legal rulings from 1977 notwithstanding, it is clear to most reviewing that video that the officer over-reacted to Bland's hostility, even insolence. It is the holdouts for a pre-Civil Rights Act America that need to get in touch with reality and understand that they can't operate under the old Apartheid status quo anymore.
Last edited by Leisesturm; 07-22-2015 at 03:32 PM..
I feel so bad for her, as I can understand how she felt. I just wish she would have reacted differently. I understand that she felt he was wrong. I understand that she felt profiled. But, we have to stop dying to prove a point! Take your video of the incident and take it to the media...alive.
Was that cop in the wrong? Yes, he was. He completely escalated the situation. Having said that, she didn't help herself at all. I wish she would have done what he asked, even if it was unreasonable and wrong. Fight him after you are away and safe. Stop dying for this crap! It frustrates me so much.
I don't know if this woman killed herself or if she was killed. All I know is this situation is tragic as hell.
Well said. I agree with this as well. He was wrong, obviously looking for trouble.
I watched the entire video last night, too and agree with your and baybook's assessments.....
She absolutely was being a smartazz, which is absolutely NOT the right thing to do, but until he yanked her out of the car, it was HER that was looking kind of stupid.... Unfortunately, he let her get under his skin and everything went straight to heck after that....
When I was much younger and far more foolish, I smarty-pantsed police officers who pulled me over, but I never got hauled to jail for it.... but then again, I am a blue-eyed, blonde white woman....
I managed to watch about seven minutes of the long video, up to the point where the cop demanded she get out of the car.
Up until then, I would hardly call Bland's attitude hostile. I could tell she was mad, but was still answering the cop's questions in a reasonable manner...up until he told her to put the smoke out and demanded she exit her car. There was no reason for the cop to do that at all!
Apparently, there was nothing wrong with her license or registration, so what exactly was his problem???
He just wanted to harass her, that's all.
Exactly. She was very angry and the officer asked her why, she explained why and then he ordered her to put out the cigarette. Why? A smoker probably smokes to calm themselves down and he knew she was very upset. She had a legal right to smoke in her own car and hence why did he order her out of her car? And off screen she tells them she has eplilpsy and all he says is that she should have thought of that first before she started all this? All what, explaining why she was upset or not putting out her smoke? Personnally I would not mind if smoking was totally banned but it was her car and he was not entering it. Her only charge should have been the traffic incident. She had no idea what was going to happen to her with the officer seemingly being very hostile to her. I think she had more to fear from him then as some one suggested he could be afraid of her throwing a cigarette at him. Is there a law that says you must be polite to LEO? He should have given her the ticket he had for her and walked back to his patrol car. He was the only one who had the option of walking away from the situation. If he did not want to hear an angry person why ask that angry person why they are angery?
I've been thinking about this most of today since I listened to the story on NPR.
Couple things did stand out to me. First, yes, she absolutely should've been cooperative. She'd have gotten a ticket at the most, drove off and resumed her life. This was one decision she made that had the worst possible outcome.
But beyond that, it is important to ask ourselves, was the officer in the right in how he acted? Did he have the right to escalate this situation? At any point, if he had been calm and dealt with the woman fairly this probably would've ended differently. He had the right to pull her over, he had the right to give her a ticket, but did he have the right to tell her to extinguish her cigarette, did he have the right to tell her to get out of her vehicle when there was no probable cause?
Could we compare this to an officer coming to our home and demanding we step out, refuse to tell us why, and then escalating into a confrontation when the person resists because they know that legally this officer does not have the right to demand these things?
I think we hear how angry both of them were, we think, "She should've just cooperated," but I also think that the underlying issue here is that we shouldn't have to do things that violate our rights just to stay alive at the end of the day. There is a problem here and it really needs to be addressed.
And I do think her death is suspicious. Why was she even still in jail three days later? This all started with a traffic violation, and one that many people commit every single day. It's the driving equivalent of jaywalking.
And I do think her death is suspicious. Why was she even still in jail three days later? This all started with a traffic violation, and one that many people commit every single day. It's the driving equivalent of jaywalking.
She was in jail because the cop charged her with assault for allegedly kicking him. But you have a point and I mentioned it earlier, why wasn't she arraigned on the charge? Texas law requires arraignment within 72 hours, so when did they plan on arraigning her? Had she gone to an arraignment, she might have been released on her O.R., or the bail could have been lowered.
How did a "simple traffic stop turn out like this?" That's easy. Because the driver didn't comply with the cop's order. It's the same old krapola that cops have to put up with--drivers with a whole lot of attitude who want to challenge a cop instead of "tell[ing] it to the judge."
Chuck the belligerent attitude, and comply. Period.
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