Ongoing U.S Police Brutality and Corruption Discussion Thread

I honestly wonder if his lawyers were.

I, weirdly, feel some amount of empathy toward Slager since he put in a guilty plea to this civil charge? Like, maybe dude isn't 100% irredeemable if he can admit to the wrongness of his actions? I also was not expecting to have this reaction.

was the guilty plea strategic due to thinking the second trial may not result in a mistrial and trying to minimize the damage? (which I guess Ned might have been getting at)?

he plead guilty to a civil rights violation to end the retrial, if i'm understanding correctly. punishment makes sense to me, especially after seeing that screenshot of the video again of his shooting Scott from behind.

Arizona Cop Acquitted for Killing Man Crawling Down Hotel Hallway While Begging for His Life

The video is unreal.

there's a link I will never click on

Some of us unfortunately need the reminder of the callousness some humans are able to inhabit.

fucking horrifying

I profoundly regret watching that.

Fuck this victim-blaming lawyer too. Shaver's 'actions' consisted of having a pellet gun in a hotel room. In Arizona, a state where you can walk around in public with a rifle.

“The last thing in the world that Mitch Brailsford wanted to do that night was shoot. His goal wasn’t to kill Daniel Shaver,” Piccarreta told the jury. “Shaver is not a bad person, but his actions are what brought the police that night.”

'if you make a mistake, i will kill you'

there's like no tense-situation bluster or unsaid implication to that, he's literally just saying, i have an idea of everything you must do and if you don't do it all exactly the way i want i will kill you

The cop's bloodlust was so sickening and obvious. And the inscription on his rifle? WTF???????????

And the jury saw that video and STILL let that fucking creep off.

i don't understand how this cop wasn't convicted of murder. there is absolutely no ambiguity here.

People want an authoritarian state where mistakes are punished by immediate death.

i don't get it -

There were two cops and the guy was face down, splayed out. One cop walks over and cuffs him, done. Instead it's a bunch of yelled commands about crawling and getting shot. bizarre.

The officer didn't want to investigate and de-escalate a situation. He wanted to kill someone.

There are some basic assumptions about what the police are supposed to do that are worth challenging in the face of all of these stories.

sadly, that is the only interpretation of that video that makes any sense whatsoever.

that he was out looking to kill

The opportunity to kill someone is part of the appeal of becoming a police officer for some.

monstrous

I'd argue for any occupation that requires a weapon appeals on that level to some people. I'd also argue that's the appeal for any hobby or "sport" that requires a weapon (for some people.)

It's hard for me to agree with that wrt target/clay shooting.

The opportunity to kill someone is part of the appeal of becoming a police officer for some.

― Embalming is a flirty business (DJP), Friday, December 8, 2017 1:39 PM (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

it's crazy that people are still doing this shit while they are wearing body cameras

No, it isn't.

xp It's not.

They are doing *the right thing*, doing what they're trained to do, brainwashed into what to do. So just roll the tape, let everyone see. The jury agreed, what more prove do you need that this is right behaviour?

proof even

I gather many in this thread will not need reminding but man if it's not a matter of definite life and death do *not* call the fucking cops

Think of how quickly reality show people acclimate to being constantly on camera and how they forget the cameras are there, leading to some truly ridiculous behavior. Now transfer that to someone already used to wearing communicators on their body while at work; the reminder that the recording device is there is going to fade and people will behave however they want to behave. Furthermore, the footage will be spun by the people watching it to match whatever their preconceived notions are, most of which bend heavily in the officer's favor.

There are so many possible ways for body cams to fail on top of that, and even if they were proven to make a dent in brutality, they still can't be anywhere near the only strategy

i wasn't saying they should be the only strategy

i'm wondering what it would take for a national "weinstein moment" in police violence against people of color to happen. video of men and women being murdered doesn't seem to do it. On tape white teen killed among a group of black teens?
it's a fucking cold country.

It would take white celebs getting assaulted.

the "weinstein movement" already happened when it comes to liberals. but the police and the government are controlled by republicans.

there are still people on the left who deny that police violence is a serious issue of course but the consensus seems to be pro-police reform, pro-accountability.

this event won't tip things if tamir rice didn't

none of the cameras or whatever matter as long as they're trained to say 'in fear for my life' and the law is written to permit juries to let that fly

I've never understood owning more than one belt at a given time

― Simon H., Friday, December 8, 2017 2:21 PM (thirteen seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh christ wrong c&p error

I profoundly regret watching that.

― Andrew Farrell, Friday, December 8, 2017 1:47 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

meant to quote this

ugh i feel so depressed

everything is so fucked

maybe you should just give a second belt a try

I hate how much that sequence of posts just made me laugh

On the plain-shown corruption end of the thread: several friends are among the 200 defendants on trial & facing 80 years in prison after the mass arrest of inauguration day protesters. (boy do i have stuff to say about this in a more appropriate thread)

These notes from the first days in the courtroom have several instances of cops denying things on the stand only to be immediately confronted with contradicting video or audio evidence.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9kdb3a/dystopian-sketches-from-inside-the-inauguration-protesters-trial

i laughed too thanks j

it was brilliant timing