The Black Lives Matter movement was started after the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in Sanford FL in 2012. Mr. Martin was apparently inappropriately followed by Mr. Zimmerman who was overenthusiastic in his volunteer community watch position. However, whatever the events leading up to the fight between the two men, the immediate situation was that Zimmerman was being held down and beaten, had a concealed gun and used it. The shooting was held to have been racially motivated, and indeed NBC broadcasted a doctored version of an earlier 911 call by Zimmerman to suggest that he was following Martin because he was black. Zimmerman was tried for 2nd degree murder and manslaughter and was acquitted, interestingly by an all-female jury.
BLM came to national prominence after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson MO in 2014 by police office Darren Wilson. The reported events and a later investigation by both the FBI and the Obama Dept of Justice concluded that the shooting was in self-defense and that there was no civil rights issue. A friend of Mr. Brown stated that when the shooting occurred, he was on his knees with hands up saying, "Don't shoot". This account was later proved to be false. Nevertheless "Hands up, Don't shoot" is a persistent chant at the many rallies regarding possible racially motivated police brutality.
The death of Eric Garner in NYC in 2014, which inflamed things further, was pretty definitely a case of unnecessary force after a minor infraction. The recent killing of George Floyd by Derik Chauvin is on video for all to see and was clearly an unjustified killing worthy of a murder charge. Were the actions of this sadistic officer influenced because of Mr. Floyd's skin color? The subsequent protests and riots assume it was.
The police killing over the weekend in Atlanta of Rayshard Brooks was recorded on police video camera and can be seen on the internet. The incident was a much more complicated affair than the brief snippet usually shown on TV. I added a link. If you watch it, you can decide for yourself whether the officer can have avoided the shooting, but the events clearly suggest that racial animosity had nothing to do with the matter. Nevertheless, the inevitable rioting occurred afterward.
If you look on YouTube, you can find a whole host of recordings on police video of such incidents. Those I viewed started with the police being polite but violence ensuing after the subject resists arrest. But I'm sure it's a mixed bag, and we don't know the facts in those events which are not recorded. In fact, however a great many, maybe most, show police being murdered in such altercations.
So, is racially motivated police brutality a common fact of life? Many innocent black men have verified that they have been unnecessarily accosted. Many on the left are assuming it's the case and have turned to protesting and rioting to demand it cease. On the other hand, the cases that sparked the formation of Black Lives Matter don't come close to proving it. The involvement of police in high crime minority ghettos and the propensity of some arrested subjects to respond violently are certainly factors. Should the police be better trained to respond to such situations? Probably.
All the police I know are good people trying to do a job which is at times unusually demanding and at times dangerous. Is it too much to ask that we investigate each case on its individual merits instead of generalizing? And publicize them all, not just those that fit an agenda and make the racial agitation in our country worse than it is already. Maybe have a national commission to review them and give us a true picture.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
No comments:
Post a Comment