Ongoing U.S Police Brutality and Corruption Discussion Thread

Bouie was a fantastic hire for the NYT -- he's probably their best columnist these days.

just got threatened by an ex-military guy who lives here for calling out his racism when he infiltrated a friend's thread with his racist shit. FB profile is a treasure trove of anti-black protester sentiment, and he went after my friends with sexist barbs

it's because the PUSSIES in the GOVERNMENT wouldn't let us FIGHT to WIN

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQqd5fBXhIe8rGOYSUBzjTJvPVFZcaD-PJcADeSwB-nkkA9bPmr&usqp=CAU

Zbellion

This is an even more stupid neologism when you're British, btw. Took me a while.

Zedbel Without a Cause

Or Canadian.

xp

My enemy, from a google search, lives 3 miles from me. He sent me this PM. He flirting with me?

https://i.ibb.co/z4PjYFL/FB-IMG-1591397360575.jpg

yeah he wants to bone

discreet

Tell him to hog out or log out

time to have the cops he loves so much pay him a visit.

That'd be irony!

they'll probably just hang out and high fives over their mutual love of stepping on people's necks, but still...

Seattle's mayor announced a 30 day moratorium on the use of tear gas as a crowd control tactic to uh…give…someone…time to…study the issue?

"Study: Tear Gas is good for u!"

people listening to scanners there saying there was indications they...ran out of tear gas

she sucks, incidentally

Someone I know just posted video of what definitely appears to be US military staging in Chicago. Not national guard.

what i like about all these considerations for study and more rules constraining police is when bad things happen the bad actors can point to the rule book and say they have followed all the proper procedures so why are you whining

xpost Seems like something that would not happen here, but ... who knows.

Wait actually I’m not sure it’s army. I guess I just didn’t realize National guard would be outfitted/armed so similarly to army?

They look exactly like the army tbh

Yeah so prob nat guard. Still they look more heavily armed than what I’ve seen previously.

The worst right wing argument I've read: COVID must not be as dangerous as you told us if you can protest surrounded by hundreds of strangers.."

I worry about that as a rebuttal to all of our concerns tbh

Possibly the Salvation Army??

Oh, nifty

https://www.twitter.com/AldermanLaSpata/status/1269059755659624449

would be outfitted/armed so similarly to army

they are army (or air force) in many practical respects, no? they just have part-time jobs and a dual mission w/ different command structure

Fuji’s core values have always been rooted in supporting communities and organizations that are making real change at home and abroad.

To hear that there are instances where bicycles have been used as a weapon against those who are vulnerable, those speaking out against the unjust treatment of people of color, and those standing alongside them advocating change, has deeply upset our community, our company and the heart of the Fuji brand. We support many diverse organizations and athletes--not for marketing stories, but because we truly want to make a difference in our community. To have these efforts overshadowed by cases of violence with bicycles is unacceptable.

We have seen instances in the last week where police have used bicycles in violent tactics, which we did not intend or design our bicycles for. We had always viewed the use of our bicycles by police, fire, security and EMS as one of the better forms of community outreach. Community police on bikes can better connect with and understand the neighborhood, facilitating positive relationships between law enforcement and the citizens they are sworn to serve and protect.

In an effort to make real change, we are beginning a dialogue with police departments nationwide to address how bikes are used in police activity and to ensure that police’s on-bike training reinforces that bicycles are not a weapon against our community. At this time, we are suspending the sale of Fuji police bikes until a conversation with these departments has occurred and we are confident that real change is being made.

We also must stand together against the mistreatment and abuse of the Black and Brown community. We will continue to look within our company and our core values to do better because our Fuji family deserves better. We stand with you and look forward to doing our part to do better.

BikeCo,LLC: North American distributor of Fuji Bicycles.

Dumb Racist Cop 2: Supporting Boogaloo

ladies and gentlemen, Joey Baloney. fuck him.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/philly-police-inspector-charged-beating-protester

What will you do now that you’ve asked for the public’s help and found out he was a cop? Hi, retired Deputy Chief John Damskey! Did I mention his son, Michael, is a cop? pic.twitter.com/uBoOBSYW7P

— Alex (@anywayalexx) June 5, 2020

I'm shocked!! Shocked, I tell you!!

― frogbs, Friday, June 5, 2020 2:14 PM bookmarkflaglink

others were saying it was some other guy, so i'm not sure which one is true yet

― contorted filbert (harbl), Friday, June 5, 2020 2:19 PM bookmarkflaglink

Wasn't a cop. I wish Twitter sleuths would quit peddling bullshit.

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protests-06-06-20/h_e4a64a9f87dee241b0145ecf722cf4ed

and that's even a different name from the "some other guy" i had seen, lol

I thought it was Steve Carrell at first glance

There's rightful furor in Orlando over one of our commissioners now. Patty Sheehan was the city's first openly gay commissioner, has been lauded in the past in the Orlando Weekly, and been awarded Best Local Leader by LGBTQ publication Watermark. She was a highly loved frequent guest of the Orlando International Fringe Festival, which features thousands of progressive artists of all races and backgrounds.

My friend, a playwright, used to write her into his scripts. She is a huge voice in the LGBTQ community.

She was completely silent on George Floyd. Social media on her personal and public pages went dark. No public statements either. Whereas she had been posting publicly on COVID-19 on a daily basis.

Someone texted her asking her why she was silent, and she said his killing was a murder, she felt it was unsafe to protest, and "an eye for an eye makes a whole world blind", and made a snarky remark about how her leadership didn't seem to be wanted, so she was listening.

Then, a few days later, she made an angry post on another site saying "WE GET IT, you're angry", and repeated the "eye for an eye" quote, defending law enforcement.

Last night, she posted on FB an explanation of her silence, saying she couldn't protest due to being high risk (which, ok, but that doesn't explain the public silence).

She offered a weak show of support but again, said she'd be refusing to make any sweeping statements about law enforcement.

Orlando is lighting her up on her post. I think her re-election is doomed. It's sad....but she's lost trust

It’s really disappointing when leaders don’t understand that silence is a signal. There’s also plenty of ways to communicate the significance of this moment without attacking any group specifically. Police retraining on de-escalation and racial bias is an easy win. Just legislate that shit.

Man who trains San Jose police about bias severely injured by riot gun during George Floyd protest: https://abc7news.com/san-jose-police-george-floyd-protest-bay-area-shot-by-during/6234212

They shot him in the groin and he might not be able to have kids. Damn.

unsurprising fact about the president of the Minneapolis police union:

A few days after prosecutors in Minneapolis charged an officer with murder in the death of George Floyd, the president of the city’s police union denounced political leaders, accusing them of selling out his members and firing four officers without due process.

“It is despicable behavior,” the union president, Lt. Bob Kroll, wrote in a letter to union members obtained by a local reporter. He also referred to protesters as a “terrorist movement.”

Mr. Kroll, who is himself the subject of at least 29 complaints, has also chided the Obama administration for its “oppression of police,” and praised President Trump as someone who “put the handcuffs on the criminals instead of us.”

Police retraining on de-escalation and racial bias is an easy win.

I think it's pretty clear that retraining gets you nowhere if there are no serious repercussions for ignoring your training and taking actions that are against the stated policies of the department. It just tells cops that whatever the trainer says can be forgotten as soon as you walk out of the room.

It’s really disappointing when leaders don’t understand that silence is a signal. There’s also plenty of ways to communicate the significance of this moment without attacking any group specifically. Police retraining on de-escalation and racial bias is an easy win. Just legislate that shit.

yup

Join our statement, #8CantWait is a toothless set of demands that doesn't target fundamental ways & racist underpinnings that govern policing. It serves as a valve to release pressure & distracts from the movement to #Defundthepolice & end the violence and killings of Black ppl pic.twitter.com/zWsiobr9Kk

— LA CAN (@LACANetwork) June 6, 2020

So which one of the million dork-ass elite-approved tweaks would have stopped this? Training? An oversight board? Open forums about race?

The problem is so far beyond that and if you can’t see it, that’s on you. pic.twitter.com/kQQGPbBItr

— Mass for Shut-ins (is a podcast) (@edburmila) June 5, 2020

I thought it was Steve Carrell at first glance

Carrell is definitely rich and powerful enough to set up somebody else to take the fall

The crowd in Philly is...unfathomable? I can’t even guess. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/02ZIcyTXW5

— Bradford Pearson (@BradfordPearson) June 6, 2020

Union Park today (site of the Pitchfork Festival):

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EZ18KC-WsAUyLcs?format=jpg&name=large

Conflicted. Amazing to see solidarity. Terrified because of the likely Covid outbreak.

Better for this cause than for, like, Surfer Blood.

Some 150-200 people at a BLM rally in Vidor, an East Texas town that’s infamously associated with racism and the Klan pic.twitter.com/Txf9iqvwOs

— Christopher Hooks (@cd_hooks) June 6, 2020

Dang @ Vidor