I'm also from the area. This morning, MPR (public radio) was discussing a statement the victim's mother gave. Apparently the victim and his sister were at their mother's house earlier in the day, discussing this very thing. A black person legally carrying a weapon and the addition potential risks that went along with that because of their skin color. His sister was scared about what could happen.
I just signed on and the first thing I saw was ANOTHER fucking police shooting of yet ANOTHER innocent black person. I haven't watched the video. I don't want to. Everything I needed to know was in the article I read, where Lavish Reynolds was cuffed after watching her boyfriend of many years shot and bleeding on the ground, where Philando Castile's and her four-year-old daughter witnessed her father bleeding out and her mommy cuffed and crying, not able to comfort her baby's father or her baby. Her baby being held by a police officer, trying to comfort her, as her mommy is cuffed and screaming "for safety's sake" or whateverthefuck reason. Just reading it, without the video, makes my heart break into so many tiny pieces. Godfuckingdammit this needs to stop.
I keep thinking of my police officer friend from so many years ago, who accidentally shot a kid at a school at night, turning a corner holding what he thought was a gun, and so he shot. This was many, many years (decades) ago. He was so freaking devastated over it. I know it was an accident, I know he was on high alert, along with the other responders (it was a "shots fired" call). I don't recall his color (never asked and I don't know that it was ever reported, just that it was a 13 year old kid who was shot) and I know how it affected him. He left the force because of it.
And then I think of my friend whose husband is a sheriff, who defriended me on FB because "I don't understand a cop's life, or a cop's wife knowing her husband could get shot every time he walks out the door." because I was posting too many stories about Ferguson. Literally. That was the reason. And I think, yeah, I pretty much get it. I had similar fears as a military wife, when mine was gone for months at a time, I grew up with cops. You live with it, you deal, and YOU FUCKING ACCEPT THAT THERE'S A CULTURE OUT THERE THAT IS KILLING BLACK MEN and just because your super-nice, teddy bear of a white male police officer that works with children as a community service officer doesn't mean that Michael Brown didn't happen, that Sandra Bland didn't happen, that Tamir Rice didn't happen, that Eric Garner didn't happen, and now that Alton Sterling and Philando Castile aren't added to the list of victims of police shooting victims.
This has to stop. When I can tick off a list of victims of police shootings in moments, without a pause, THIS HAS TO STOP!
I really don't have words for this. I don't know how we fix this. If it's even something that can be fixed.
I want to hold out hope that it can be fixed in some ways. I do believe that local BLM activists and other policy makers need to have some serious reviews of current police operating procedures. Like, I am still trying to figure out what is uniform protocol for asking that passengers be taken out of vehicles (see Darrius Stewart case in Memphis). I have yet to receive a clear answer on this.
Also, what is diversity training for police? Does that need to be updated? Are cops with trigger-happy tendencies still on the force? Are there citizen review boards in operation? We can get these things placed in operation, but you have to begin the work of setting policy.
These cases are highlighting those questions. I know locally, we have BLM activists working towards new procedures. So, it's possible for there to be change. We just need the victim-blamers and the head in the sand racism is not at play her folks to take several seats and STFU.
Police training is 100% responsible for this. They are militarized, they aren't able to deescalate anything, and so that means in the case of black people, they don't stop. Because the police don't seem to see anyone other than cops as people, but at least they figure white people have the means and social capital to fight it, so they come in alive. Minorities don't.
This is disgusting.
Because folks are being murdered in front of witnesses and on camera and no one is convicted. Kinda how no one in Greece paid taxes because there were no consequences.
Because people look at this and ask for one more video. Or ask why this happened, because it CAN'T simply be racism. Because people believe no one just wakes up wanting to kill a black man. Because people don't understand that racism isn't black and white, and sometimes has shades of gray. Like, maybe he didn't wake up saying, "I'm going to kill a black man today" but instead heard a black man say he has a gun and immediately thought that meant danger. THAT is racism. It is indoctrinated, it is a problem, and it is PURE AND SIMPLE RACISM. Because even in this thread someone posted about someone STILL defending the cop shooting because this man didn't get out of the vehicle. When we ALL KNOW if he had gotten out of the vehicle, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT. Because people don't want to see it or believe it. They want to live in their cocoon of privilege and pretend there is some other REASON. There isn't. And every time someone asks why or defends this shit, another man dies.
I don't even know what to say anymore. My heart is so sad. What can I do? Donating money isn't enough anymore, I need to do something to help stop this from happening every fucking day.
WHY THE FUCK WAS SHE HANDCUFFED AND PUT IN THE BACK OF THE POLICE CAR? WHY? ANSWER THAT MOTHER FUCKERS
(sorry for going all CAPSLOCK on ya)
I keep thinking about this too. It must have been to keep up the charade that the cops felt threatened. Like how they took Alton Sterling's gun out of his pocket after he was already shot.
A black man is not a threat in and of himself by being male and black. HE IS NOT A THREAT BY JUST BEING A BLACK MAN. 'Good guys with guns' are only that if you're not a black man in this country. I'm sickened by this.
But! We must feel safe. I mean if my kid is at a school with a majority black student population, how can I guarantee his/her safety? *sarcasm*
Yeah, that's all I can come up with, too. The way this man was treated, the way all these men are treated, the way their families are treated in the aftermath... I have nothing but shame.
Because folks are being murdered in front of witnesses and on camera and no one is convicted. Kinda how no one in Greece paid taxes because there were no consequences.
Because people look at this and ask for one more video. Or ask why this happened, because it CAN'T simply be racism. Because people believe no one just wakes up wanting to kill a black man. Because people don't understand that racism isn't black and white, and sometimes has shades of gray. Like, maybe he didn't wake up saying, "I'm going to kill a black man today" but instead heard a black man say he has a gun and immediately thought that meant danger. THAT is racism. It is indoctrinated, it is a problem, and it is PURE AND SIMPLE RACISM. Because even in this thread someone posted about someone STILL defending the cop shooting because this man didn't get out of the vehicle. When we ALL KNOW if he had gotten out of the vehicle, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT. Because people don't want to see it or believe it. They want to live in their cocoon of privilege and pretend there is some other REASON. There isn't. And every time someone asks why or defends this shit, another man dies.
I really don't have words for this. I don't know how we fix this. If it's even something that can be fixed.
I want to hold out hope that it can be fixed in some ways. I do believe that local BLM activists and other policy makers need to have some serious reviews of current police operating procedures. Like, I am still trying to figure out what is uniform protocol for asking that passengers be taken out of vehicles (see Darrius Stewart case in Memphis). I have yet to receive a clear answer on this.
Also, what is diversity training for police? Does that need to be updated? Are cops with trigger-happy tendencies still on the force? Are there citizen review boards in operation? We can get these things placed in operation, but you have to begin the work of setting policy.
These cases are highlighting those questions. I know locally, we have BLM activists working towards new procedures. So, it's possible for there to be change. We just need the victim-blamers and the head in the sand racism is not at play her folks to take several seats and STFU.
i do think we need a huge over haul of the police system- the departments, teh rules, the training, the mentality, the interactions with the citizens, how we funnel people into the prisons, the accountability, the transparency, their primary tasks (minor drug offenses?), etc. I don't see how this will really change without a riot or more violence from protesting. I don't know what the answers are to getting things to shift with the police departments. It def. seems worse in smaller towns or in areas already prone to large minority populations policed by white officers- so maybe more diversity ont he police force?
Because folks are being murdered in front of witnesses and on camera and no one is convicted. Kinda how no one in Greece paid taxes because there were no consequences.
Because people look at this and ask for one more video. Or ask why this happened, because it CAN'T simply be racism. Because people believe no one just wakes up wanting to kill a black man. Because people don't understand that racism isn't black and white, and sometimes has shades of gray. Like, maybe he didn't wake up saying, "I'm going to kill a black man today" but instead heard a black man say he has a gun and immediately thought that meant danger. THAT is racism. It is indoctrinated, it is a problem, and it is PURE AND SIMPLE RACISM. Because even in this thread someone posted about someone STILL defending the cop shooting because this man didn't get out of the vehicle. When we ALL KNOW if he had gotten out of the vehicle, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT. Because people don't want to see it or believe it. They want to live in their cocoon of privilege and pretend there is some other REASON. There isn't. And every time someone asks why or defends this shit, another man dies.
I am already seeing claims that it can't be a racist shooting because the cop is Asian. -_- Fuck everyone.
I'm at such a loss and heartbroken over both shootings. How do we fix our society? I want to be optimistic that we can, but I'm having trouble believing that the underlying, systematic hatred and fear are things that can be overcome.
I remember someone posting in one of the MANY, MANY, OH SO MANY stories we've discussed that basically 10% of police officers are good, 10% are bad and the remaining 80% fall onto whichever side they happen to be with or have trained with, the "police culture" around them.
THIS is what the police needs to train. The freaking 80% that aren't GOOD cops coming in. The ones walking the line, able to go either way, depending on the partner, the officers around them, the leadership, the culture. TRAIN THEM UP RIGHT. Every cop, I think, should be a bike cop or a community cop at some point, and not some guy in a car, protected and insulated from the people around him and seeing them from out the window and othering them. Seeing them through a car window as "Those we protect" and "the criminals" and not seeing every one of them as a community of people. I think that's maybe a start?
The quotes from his mother and the way his family is being treated are just wrecking me. I feel so ashamed of the fact that I don't have to teach my son how to behave around police officers simply because he is white.
Because people look at this and ask for one more video. Or ask why this happened, because it CAN'T simply be racism. Because people believe no one just wakes up wanting to kill a black man. Because people don't understand that racism isn't black and white, and sometimes has shades of gray. Like, maybe he didn't wake up saying, "I'm going to kill a black man today" but instead heard a black man say he has a gun and immediately thought that meant danger. THAT is racism. It is indoctrinated, it is a problem, and it is PURE AND SIMPLE RACISM. Because even in this thread someone posted about someone STILL defending the cop shooting because this man didn't get out of the vehicle. When we ALL KNOW if he had gotten out of the vehicle, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOT. Because people don't want to see it or believe it. They want to live in their cocoon of privilege and pretend there is some other REASON. There isn't. And every time someone asks why or defends this shit, another man dies.
I am already seeing claims that it can't be a racist shooting because the cop is Asian. -_- Fuck everyone.
Oh God. I didn't see this thread until just now and I haven't watched or read any news today, but last night, my husband was watching this video on Facebook Live. I knew Philando had been shot several times because I heard his girlfriend saying it, but I did not think he was going to die. I didn't realize that part until reading this thread. I feel so sick right now.
Because folks are being murdered in front of witnesses and on camera and no one is convicted. Kinda how no one in Greece paid taxes because there were no consequences.
Because people look at this and ask for one more video.
I just want to comment because I know this is directed at me. I asked if there was more video because I am very confident that that video will not be enough to convict the officers who killed Alton Sterling. I asked for more that it can't be argued that it wasn't murder. I know I upset people with my posts yesterday. I think the fact that so many officers have gotten off when the video is clear as fucking day clouded my judgement. To convict an officer of murder at this moment in our society is impossible. And I have serious doubts that the officers involved in Alton Sterling's murder will be convicted of anything. I am not a "blue lives matter" kind of person. And you don't know me so you just have to take my word for it. I just know that these officers are given a wide berth when it comes to enforcing the law. I never once said it was right. These officers act within the parameters that have been set up by a system that was not designed to protect it's citizens, but to protect their officers. Again, I apologize for upsetting anyone, I am not always great at getting my point across, especially when emotions are running high.
Is his girlfriend still being held, does anybody know? And who had her FB account deleted?
I believe she is no longer in custody because I've heard she spoke to a reporter this morning, but her phone is being held. I don't know the whereabouts of her daughter though.
I made myself watch the video, as I'm making myself watch all the videos. I sort of feel like I have to so that I can't be in denial or entertain any excuses or other nonsense. I feel like there's not much else I can do except make sure that I don't become too numb to this.
I just feel so helpless and frustrated. I didn't do anything to deserve this white skin, my son didn't do anything to deserve his blonde hair and blue eyes. This narrative, this overtly racist belief, that follows these stories around about how these victims somehow deserve their fates because they're criminals or they don't listen to police or whatever other spin....It is just patently and blatantly untrue and I just don't know what I can do about it. The truth is not even criminals deserve to be gunned down in the streets and left to bleed out. And the straight up murder of innocent people by other people who hide behind their occupations, I just cannot understand how we continue to justify this as a society. Cannot.
I really do want to believe that the majority of police officers are decent human beings who want to protect and serve. I want to believe this. Maybe I'm naive or biased by privilege. I'm open to that. However, it is so undeniable at this point that there's a problem. I can hope that this problem only affects a minority of the police, maybe, but it is still an undeniable problem. Obviously there is something in the police culture that brings out the worst in some individuals, and then allows them a level of protection that they don't deserve. That HAS to stop. HAS to. We must hold the police to a higher standard. We cannot entrust this group to carry weapons, to be allowed to use their judgment, to be given power over citizens, to be given the benefit of the doubt, when there are so many within their ranks who violate that trust at the most basic and dangerous level.
Because people look at this and ask for one more video.
I just want to comment because I know this is directed at me. I asked if there was more video because I am very confident that that video will not be enough to convict the officers who killed Alton Sterling. I asked for more that it can't be argued that it wasn't murder. I know I upset people with my posts yesterday. I think the fact that so many officers have gotten off when the video is clear as fucking day clouded my judgement. To convict an officer of murder at this moment in our society is impossible. And I have serious doubts that the officers involved in Alton Sterling's murder will be convicted of anything. I am not a "blue lives matter" kind of person. And you don't know me so you just have to take my word for it. I just know that these officers are given a wide berth when it comes to enforcing the law. I never once said it was right. These officers act within the parameters that have been set up by a system that was not designed to protect it's citizens, but to protect their officers. Again, I apologize for upsetting anyone, I am not always great at getting my point across, especially when emotions are running high.
You were not the only person who said it, but I do appreciate your clarification. I think a lot of us have high emotions during this time and a lot of us communicate poorly. My go to is capslocks and saying fuck a lot. It is not always affective communication. I agree that cops rarely get prosecuted, and I agree that they will try and spin the available footage. I also agree that a video 100% proving the guy was no where near a gun would make these defenses harder (but not impossible). I personally think that no matter what the videos show, SOMEONE will find a way to defend the police actions.
I personally think a step in the right direction to solving these issues IS prosecuting cops and finding them guilty. Sending cops who do this shit to jail sends a message. And not just the shooter, but anyone who helped cover up the shooting. To the corrupt cops that simply don't give a fuck, it will send the message to be craftier, BUT, to the cops who follow this "band of brothers" theory and have each others backs even when they are racist asshats, it will open their eyes. The public won't stand for that shit anymore. And helping your corrupt brother will put your ass in jail, too.
I really don't have words for this. I don't know how we fix this. If it's even something that can be fixed.
Also, what is diversity training for police? Does that need to be updated? Are cops with trigger-happy tendencies still on the force? Are there citizen review boards in operation? We can get these things placed in operation, but you have to begin the work of setting policy.
These cases are highlighting those questions. I know locally, we have BLM activists working towards new procedures. So, it's possible for there to be change. We just need the victim-blamers and the head in the sand racism is not at play her folks to take several seats and STFU.
There are so many problems with the police force as whole. There really isn't all that much training involved to begin with. You don't need anything but a high school degree and a semester or two in the police academy. That's it. They don't receive a historical lesson on racism and law enforcement. And while I blame the officers for their racism, I blame the system that gives them the power to walk around killing everyone with little to no repercussions more.
I really don't have words for this. I don't know how we fix this. If it's even something that can be fixed.
I want to hold out hope that it can be fixed in some ways. I do believe that local BLM activists and other policy makers need to have some serious reviews of current police operating procedures. Like, I am still trying to figure out what is uniform protocol for asking that passengers be taken out of vehicles (see Darrius Stewart case in Memphis). I have yet to receive a clear answer on this.
Also, what is diversity training for police? Does that need to be updated? Are cops with trigger-happy tendencies still on the force? Are there citizen review boards in operation? We can get these things placed in operation, but you have to begin the work of setting policy.
These cases are highlighting those questions. I know locally, we have BLM activists working towards new procedures. So, it's possible for there to be change. We just need the victim-blamers and the head in the sand racism is not at play her folks to take several seats and STFU.
I am just so sad right now. I can't believe this is the world we live in but then I get pissed at myself because it's been this way for so very long. I was just processing the Alton Sterling murder and seeing his teen son crying and then this murder. Unreal.
I just don't understand what it will take for something to be done. Black people have to literally fear for their lives as they go about their everyday business, because hanging out in a park or driving with a broken light is clearly grounds for death. And even if you're one of the Blue Lives Matter people - wouldn't you think that this growing hostility will make it more dangerous for police? If my husband was a police officer and was one of what I'm sure are many honest, good police officers, I would be furious and disgusted at all of this bullshit because it would be making his job more dangerous. It just seems like no matter what angle you look at this from, it's clear that not prosecuting these officers is making life worse for everyone (well, everyone except the corrupt/racist officers who are happy with their get out of jail free cards).
I'm kind of at the point where I think we should just outlaw all guns for anyone not military, and take them away from the police force, too. Or maybe just allow weapons to be kept in house for a SWAT type situation, but not to be carried by every officer. When my kids show me that they can't handle something responsibly, I take it away. We're well past that with police. I would honestly be curious as to stats showing how many time guns have been used properly by police in the past year versus for criminal stuff like this (and stats by an unbiased source, not from the police union).
I just don't understand what it will take for something to be done. Black people have to literally fear for their lives as they go about their everyday business, because hanging out in a park or driving with a broken light is clearly grounds for death. And even if you're one of the Blue Lives Matter people - wouldn't you think that this growing hostility will make it more dangerous for police? If my husband was a police officer and was one of what I'm sure are many honest, good police officers, I would be furious and disgusted at all of this bullshit because it would be making his job more dangerous. It just seems like no matter what angle you look at this from, it's clear that not prosecuting these officers is making life worse for everyone (well, everyone except the corrupt/racist officers who are happy with their get out of jail free cards).
From what I've seen, the blame for this is being placed squarely on the shoulders of black people and the BLM movement. Ya know because if they'd just behave and comply with the officer's requests these things wouldn't happen. /s