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Is it an dumb thing to protest about? Maybe. But I'm, personally, glad to see that we live in a free society where people can protest. Yes, even about stupid things.
Yes, well, Joan, there are, sadly, nefarious people afoot. We must guard against them and oppose them at very turn. Why? Because we love our rights! Because we love America! Because we don't want to return to the days of lynchings, of the KKK, of police attack dogs and fire hoses! It is our duty as citizens of Rhode Island and of America to resist and reject and repel the murdering of citizens who, you know, just happen to be black?
Three words right wingers hate: God Bless America!
The video showed him arguing with cops. That doesn't make him a threat to them. He didn't pick the fight with the cops, they picked a fight with him.
The coroner's report says he died as a result of pressure put on his was killed by neck compression from the illegal chokehold, along with "the compression of his chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police".
Obviously you're wrong that he wouldn't have been able to tell them he couldn't breathe. He really couldn't breathe. You could hear the panic in his voice that got weaker each time. Maybe in the other examples you cite, those people really couldn't breathe either, but cops are predispositioned to disbelieve everyone. Maybe they luckily stopped just short of killing someone and now they don't believe anyone. They had four cops on top of him and his hands behind his back - how could he pull a weapon on anyone? It seems cops are always imagining they see guns....
By the way, they had no evidence that he was selling loose cigarettes, and they still don't, so basically they were just hassling him and hoping to get lucky. And killed him in the process. I don't really understand how they thought they were making an arrest with no evidence anyway. What a waste of police manpower.
You can think whatever you want of Garner, but the police should have given him medical assistance and they didn't. It was clear he was not well. But then, they also didn't help Tamir Rice after they shot him, and they let Mike Brown's body sit there for five hours, and never called Trayvon Martin's parents to tell him their son was dead, even though they'd reported him missing and they had Trayvon's cell phone.
Total lack of humanity and responsibility by people who are over armed and over fearful.
I want to know why police officers don't have to live by the same laws they enforce. How about that time in Boston they broke into that ministers apt, with masks on and guns drawn, because they had the wrong apartment. They pepper gassed him and he died of a heart attack. Why weren't they charged with home invasion? Anybody else would have been. I would be in jail right now if I did to Garner what that officer did to him. And you can bet I'd be in jail if I blinded a baby by throwing a stun grenade into her crib.
So I understand why people protest. If the police are never held accountable, what's next? It will only get worse. Police forces are becoming para military units and using swat teams for everything these days, and who will protect us from the police? Not this Supreme Court, certainly.
It sounds like you're a police officer. I have a question for you. In your training, do they ever address that there may be times you give an order to a person who is deaf, blind or otherwise unable to comprehend you and that you should make sure they heard and understand you before you shoot?
I had an incident in Boston one time. I was walking home on a public street after buying a six pack at the liquor store. Evidently a car pulled up on my left and said something to me. I never heard it; I'm deaf in my left ear. However the gentleman walking with me never heard anything either.
This cop jumps out of this unmarked car and is IRATE with me that I didn't stop when he called me. Since when am I under any obligation to stop for just random guys driving down the road who yell things out their window? Do the police really advise that?
He screamed at me, "So, whaddya deaf?" Well, yeah, actually....He was a real jerk, trying to goad me into doing something he could arrest me for. He said they were checking on that liquor store to see if they were selling to underage kids. I wasn't underaged and showed him my ID. That wasn't good enough, he then wanted to see my BU ID as if that had anything to do with the case, and then asked why I didn't have the current year sticker on the card!
These days he probably would have just shot me when I didn't stop for him and claimed I was reaching for a gun. But seriously, what if I were deaf in both ears? What do cops do? If a cop asks a deaf person to put their hands up and they can't hear, do they just start shooting? That cop shot Tamir Rice before the car even stopped moving; there's no way I believe he told him three times to put his hands up, but even if he had issued an order, you have to give people time to hear and comprehend the order.
And good cops take the time to talk to people and reason with them instead of hurting them.
No I'm not a police officer, but I do happen to work in that field. What I will say from my experience, is that no matter the allegation brought against the police; the media will always take the side of the perpetrator. That is the cops are guilty until proven otherwise, ten out of ten times. You see that's what gets the ratings up. If the conclusion was that the cops' level of force was justified (which it is 99% of the time), then there would be no story.
Sorry to hear about your incident in Boston. But let me ask you this: Out of all times an officer attempts to speak to a passerby in a situation like that (assuming you were young/healthy looking, college area, night time) and the person does not respond, what percentage of those interactions do you think the person is ACTUALLY deaf vs. just ignoring the officer? It sounded like a sting was going on and he suspected a false ID (perhaps you looked very young?).
Sometimes everyday citizens forget how dangerous the world has gotten today, and how easy it is for police to get injured/killed for letting their guards down for even one second. None of us know the full facts of the Garner case, and these pea brain kids barely even know what planet they are on (never mind an arrest that happened 200 miles away).
Protesting is fine Alfie, but you can't protest on 95 like these people did.
Uh, why not? Are drivers a "protected class?"
Mark my words, there will come a day when car drivers will be viewed as cigarette smokers, but that's a different thread on a different forum in a different time...
Because a protester will be hurt or killed and the same thing could happen to the driver and occupants of the car. Protesters have to stay off the highways.
Because a protester will be hurt or killed and the same thing could happen to the driver and occupants of the car. Protesters have to stay off the highways.
Oh. How compassionate. Sorry I missed your condolences for the thousands of pedestrians butchered by car drivers, STOP KILLING INNOCENT HUMANS! Or do you, you know, ignore this inconvenient FACT because you were delayed getting your French Vanilla tips at the local salon by five minutes? God Damned America!
Now we have Jeremiah Wright posting here, just wonderful.
LOFL! Good one, my pal, good one! Now, who is Jeremiah Wright? Is he, you know, one of the Wright brothers? I live such a cloistered life that I just don't know.
Yes! Of course, 'dem Black folk should know their place. Honestly, this is as
near-racist a rant as I have read on this forum, unconsciously, I think, but there it is.
Whatever you say A Boy. Learn how to read things in context. Or even better, learn how to have an indiscriminate set of eyes (rather than reiterating what you want to see each time).
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlfieBoy
Really? How many have you interacted with? At what level, and in what context? I mean, you don't strike me as an Ivy, you don't live in PVD, you don't socialize with kids (I suspect), and your opportunity to interact with Brownies, it seems, is limited if not possible. And your clear resentment that perhaps they come from wealthier families than yours raises all manner of flags of envy, so I'll leave it at that. I think we have a very clear understanding of your biases, though I suspect you do not.
Quite a few. In fact, two relatives of mine attended there (one B.S., one for grad). Clear resentment? Envy??? What have you been up to lately?
But I'll give you this, Brown students as a whole are much better rounded than most of the other Ivy Leagues. I was actually surprised so many from there partook in this clownery (maybe they're "losing it" like many institutions?). Would have expected mostly RISDs with a few J&Ws and Browns thrown in.
LOFL! Good one, my pal, good one! Now, who is Jeremiah Wright? Is he, you know, one of the Wright brothers? I live such a cloistered life that I just don't know.
I suppose you don't know who Saul Alinsky is either...
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But seriously, what if I were deaf in both ears? What do cops do? If a cop asks a deaf person to put their hands up and they can't hear, do they just start shooting? That cop shot Tamir Rice before the car even stopped moving; there's no way I believe he told him three times to put his hands up, but even if he had issued an order, you have to give people time to hear and comprehend the order.
Now, who is Jeremiah Wright? Is he, you know, one of the Wright brothers? I live such a cloistered life that I just don't know.
