Image from the scene where an off-duty officer was shot by a fellow cop in St. Louis (image via Twitter).
Y’know, if this doesn’t drive home the endemic bigotry in this fuckin’ country, and the problem of bigoted cops shooting and murdering people on the basis of skin, I just don’t know what will drive it home. All I have here is sputter and head shaking. This truly should be unbelievable, because something like this should never, ever happen.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and local news outlet Fox2Now, a white St. Louis police officer shot a black off-duty officer from his own force after a car chase ended in a crash outside the off-duty officer’s home.
The African American officer, who has not yet been identified, came outside of his home while off-duty after hearing the commotion from a car chase that ended nearby. Despite identifying himself as a cop, the man was ordered to the ground by two officers. He complied, and soon after, they recognized him and told him to get up.
That was when a third officer entered the scene, and because he did not recognize the black off-duty cop and claimed to “fear for his safety,” shot the off-duty cop in the arm.
The Post-Dispatch reported that police are calling the incident an example of “friendly fire” due to the suspects from the car chase firing at police. The paper also reported that police initially claimed that the 38-year-old African American officer, who has been on the force for 11 years, was “caught in the crossfire.”
Obviously, this ‘incident’ is going to come with many different stories, as cops try to spin it this way and that, in an attempt to make it look like anything except what it is. When in the fuckety fuck are people going to wake the fuck up, and stop accepting this bullshit? Cops are out of control, and free to run around murdering people at will, as long as the victims have the right skin colour, then they were just askin’ for killin’, you betcha. Fucking disgusting, and even more disgusting are all the people on juries, freeing murderers. That has to stop.
This is a real problem,” Rufus J. Tate Jr., the attorney for the injured off-duty officer, told the local Fox affiliate.
“In the police report, you have so far, there is no description of threat he received. So we have a real problem with that. But this has been a national discussion for the past two years. There is this perception that a black man is automatically feared,” the attorney concluded.
I do believe that belongs in the understatement of the century category.
Via Raw Story.
Now the process of protecting the badge starts by smearing the victim:
-- the shot victim was known to police
-- He has been known to be in the presence of thugs
-- He has a police record
-- He kept irregular hours in the neighbourhood
-- His blackness caused the firing officer to “fear for his life”
-- He has not been able to explain the gun planted on his prone form
ShowMetheData
In this case the first 3 were definitely true.
In case any Canadians are feeling smug, it has been discovered that the Lethbridge*, Alberta police have been carding First Nations people (Indians) at 5 times the rate as whites and blacks at 9 times the rate of whites. The police, of course, are defending this practice.
*Lethbridge is a small city at the north end of the Morridor.
I know Lethbridge.
I haven’t been there in a few years but the hassling of First Nations people doesn’t surprise me.
We in Southern Alberta have a centuries long tradition of ‘hassling’ First Nations.
But black people?
Given the demographics in Lethbridge, the cops must be actively looking for black people to bother.
I’m wondering if there’s any connection between this and courts declaring it OK to shoot black people on sight.
I’m also wondering how big the chances are that before last night that cop always had a way to explain what the victims did wrong.
“In this case the first 3 were definitely true.”
I thought it was important to mock the standard police S.O.P. of maligning the black victim and thus poisoning the well for any justice.
“In case any Canadians are feeling smug…”
Exactly when have Americans given a rat’s ass about Canadian race policy or anything? Never. Americans only care about America.
It will take a lot of work on policy to improve the race situation in a place that matters to America -- which is America and only America.
If you take a look at the BLM10 -- a long list of POLICY SOLUTIONS -- talking about a foreign country’s faults is not on the list. One point in its favour is that it is easier to do than actual policy work that counts.
https://www.joincampaignzero.org/#vision
Canadians have done policy work on policies like healthcare & we should not have any problem in being smug on that. A Canadian being smug about progress on one subject does not preclude work by Americans to improve an American situation.
Wow, a single police officer firing a gun qualifies as a crossfire now? I can see where this is going: 1) Shoot wildly into the air. 2) You are now “caught in the crossfire”. 3) Shoot whomever you like. It’s fine: It’s self-defence and you were understandably panicked because of (2). Disclaimer: May only work if you’re a cop.
Oh, are there any bets on which cop is going to get the short end of this particular stick? The white guy who shot a cop* or the black guy who got a cop into legal trouble (but also happens to be a cop). Having given the matter careful thought (picoseconds) I think I’ll go with the black cop. Sorry you got shot, but all your colleagues hate you now, or maybe hate you even more. Who knows?**
*Reading the title I originally assumed the black cop had been killed. How would the police feel about a cop-killer-cop?
**Am I being horribly unfair to US cops, assuming they’re a bunch of racist smegheads? How will I ever live with myself?
Caine, you should realize by now the NOTHING will drive it home. The bigots will keep on bigoting, and cops will keep on shooting black people because they “fear for their lives”. I think the Black Panthers should reform and start openly toting assault rifles around just like the racist white supremacist fuckwits. Actually, now that I really think about it, that would be a terrible idea because a lot of black men legally participating in open-carry of weapons would be gunned down because they were “threatening” simply because they were black and armed. I don’t know the solution, but I am pretty sure it will not be pleasant.