*sigh*
So in North Miami, FL, cops shot Charles Kinsey, a black man who was attempting to calm down an autistic patient who had wandered away from his assisted living facility.
Thankfully, Charles lived; he did not become a hashtag. And when he asked the cop why he shot, the cop responded “I don’t know”.
I don’t know.
I don’t know.
I don’t know.
I don’t know.
I. DON’T. KNOW.
I
.
DON’T
.
KNOW
THAT is the “reason” this cop shot Charles. I wonder if the pig (yes, I said pig) who murdered (yes, I said murdered) Philando Castille thought the same thing.
It does not help that the cop’s target was actually the autistic patient (there’s a whole other conversation, about the way the police deal with the neurodivergent, and whether they should at all), who they “thought” was “holding a gun”. Of course, he was holding a toy truck.
So now cops are terrified of toy trucks. Now, toy trucks are a good enough reason to fire a gun at someone.
I am simply unable to take anyone telling me that our police force “protects and serves”. This is not protecting and serving. This is being a bully with a gun.
We keep hearing about “good guys with guns”. Who do they mean? Because it cannot be the cops. When they are pulling out their guns to murder innocent black people and shoot at anyone who’s, say, playing with a toy trucks…
They.
Are.
Not.
The.
Good Guys.
So who are these “good guys with guns”? Because I haven’t seen them or heard about them, yet. And I would argue that if you think of yourself as a “good guy with a gun”, you might want to take a minute and remember that we don’t get to label ourselves things like “good guy” (and “ally” and so on). Others do that for us. And so far, the people who have labeled themselves “good guys with guns” (like cops, for example) have not proven to be so.
And just in case anyone needs a reminder…
Black lives matter. Period. End of subject.
Charles Kinsey posing for the camera in a green polo and black slacks. Just because he’s alive doesn’t mean I’m not going to show his picture. He’s a survivor of White Supremacy, but still a victim of it.
He couldn’t even think of a convincing lie.
If “I don’t know” is a cop’s answer to shooting someone, then the cop is, at best, incompetent and should be dismissed and should, like any other citizen who is negligent with a firearm, face criminal and civil penalties.
This is just getting SO crazy. It’s enough to make a person lose all hope.
I am really struggling to be fair here. I talked with a retired cop and he told me that in his day, you had to have a college education and a degree in *something* and I believe he told me he also had to do community service, before he was even considered for the job. This is not the case now. Now, in my state anyway, any swaggering bully who wants the job can have it. This is partly because being a cop is no longer a very high-paying job and the social status that goes with the higher wage is gone. So I can admit that it’s a complex problem. HOWEVER.
How the fuck can you even *think* it’s OK to MURDER someone? I’m not fooling myself; the cop was no doubt trained to kill effectively but screwed up and the victim survived by pure chance. This is attempted murder, plain and simple.