What are you doing reading me about that incident? Go read Sikivu Hutchinson.
Whenever there’s a black girl on a school campus wielding a dangerous weapon like a cell phone, white macho can always be counted on to come to civilization’s rescue with the full force of fascist violence. These days, unarmed black children rank higher than mass murderers with semi-automatic weapons as public enemy number one on American school campuses.
Now there’s an interesting contrast. We can ban cell phones, but we are somehow incapable of regulating those semi-automatic weapons even a teensy-tiny bit. A black girl takes out a cell phone and a policeman slams her to the floor and beats her up, a white boy murders nine people and the police take him to Burger King. It’s almost as if we aren’t seeing appropriate responses to the danger or severity of the crime, but instead the police are reacting to the color of their skin.
What sort of a school is it, if it has teachers and authorities who are responsible, do not know how to talk to a child?
What kinda police officer is that when he cannot negotiate and reason with a kid… I mean ‘a kid’?
Can we trust that officer to negotiate with a hostage taker? God forbid, he did not shoot that kid right in front of other kids in that class. That idiot officer’s job is to protect the kids and the school property. None of those were in peril. This is simply frustrating. Beat and shoot policy seems to taking over this nation.
Not to nitpick but according to snopes he was unlikely to have been taken to BK but was given BK.
http://www.snopes.com/2015/06/22/dylann-roof-burger-king/
Please don’t interpret this as an endorsement or condemnation of anyone’s actions but more just an effort to get the clearest version of the facts.
Cardinal Shrew @ 2
Yeah. I support giving a mass murderer food if he is hungry and if fast food is the only option, send an officer out for a burger and fries.
But it is a clear double standard. We follow the law and ethical treatment of people for Dylan Roof, but not for a high school student being a bit of a pain. It’s not just a matter of the police being brutal, it’s police making calls to use brutality against some people and not others*.
(My personal take is for cops (well, everyone, but especially authority figures) to treat people as well as they can. So that means feed Roof, and find a way to deal with teenagers being frustrating that does not involve physical assault, for fuck’s sake.)
* And in no way related to an actual threat. Neither was an active threat, and Roof had been an active threat and might still be.
Cardinal Shrew #2
That was, in fact, nitpicking.
Bless your heart.
Yes, I agree that was nitpicking Cardinal Shrew. And I’d like to explain why. It comes down to the situation we’re dealing with. We’re talking about yet another example of violence against black bodies by an agent of the state. This shit has been going on for centuries. Black people have been raped, beaten, bought, sold, traded, denied all human rights and more. This did not stop with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The United States is a country that was built for white people, on the backs of people of color (blacks and Indians). The systems and institutions that were set up were for the benefit of white people. The institutions today-socially, politically, economically-benefit white people to first and foremost. People of Color get the scraps. The entire US is built on a culture of white supremacy.
So when I see an example of an agent of the state terrorizing a black child-again-the important thing for me is to express my outrage and criticize the culture (for the bazillionth time) that allows such a horrific event to occur. The less-than-least important thing for me to do is niggle over something that is ultimately meaningless. It’s meaningless bc whether or not Roof was taken to Burger King or was brought Burger King doesn’t change the fact that he was treated better than a black girl in high school. And by “treated better”, I’m not referring to the fact that he was given food to eat (he should get that). I’m talking about the fact that a white man who killed 9 people did not face police brutality, but a teenaged black girl who had her phone out in class *did*!
Speaking of that story- THAT COP HAS BEEN FIRED.
Yes, I’m shouting. Bc this is one of the outcomes I wanted. I also want him charged and tried and convicted. I won’t hold my breath on that however, bc while there are more police officers being charged for shootings than ever before, charging an officer doesn’t equate to that officer being convicted. Plus, the number of officers who have been charged is pathetically low compared to how many have killed civilians.
And of course, sheriff Leon Lott, the teacher of the class, and the school administration support the actions of Officer Fuckface:
I haven’t seen this third video. I’ll look around for it. But even IF a 16 year old girl struck an adult police officer it does not justify his use of force. If an adult police officer cannot deal with being hit by a 16 year old girl without using excessive force, then maybe he needs to go find a different job.
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/sheriff_lott_fields
Bad post making a good point.
1) The police fed Dylan Roof argument needs to go away. Police offer food to people they’re interrogating.
2) Guns are more tightly regulated than cell phones in high school.
3) Just like Eric Garner, the underlying offense isn’t the motive for the police to attack. Failure to instantly obey is.
Also, there’s good news. “Spring Valley High Officer Ben Fields fired”
It was horrifying to read so many tweets and comments blaming the student for not obeying the cop, as if somehow that justified that amount of force. Also horrifying? How none of them were even questioning having the police called in for what is a comparatively minor school disciplinary matter.
Tony #5
I only pointed out the snopes article because I think most of the tentacled horde that frequent this blog appreciate and come to expect accuracy. It is of no consequence to the overall point of the post. My pedantic nature got the best of me and I looked at the detail rather than the bigger picture/ overall message. I did not mean to take to focus from the fact there is clearly a gigantic, centuries old, horrible double standard. If he had been a black man they would have shot him then and there. If by some miracle he had made it back to the station they would have let him starve. If the girl had been white, his actions would have been different.
It is good that he has been fired it would be better if he gets charged.
Leaving aside the racism that means that the victim of this brutality is much more likely to be non-white, how is this deemed to be an appropriate reaction? Not just in a school, not just to a child – although they clearly aggravate the situation. How can other officials and law enforcement officers look as this and not recognise the disproportionality of meeting nonviolent (or even trivially violent) disobedience with such force?
If you believe it is appropriate to beat up a child for possession of a phone and for disobeying or lashing out at the police, then it is not difficult to see how you might imagine that it is necessary to shoot adults for resisting authority. For that to be the case, the culture of policing must be rotten from bottom to top. Once again, and even with authority figures demonstrating their lack of fitness for office by showing public support for his actions, I predict that nothing good will come of this, other than for one bad apple to be fired. There will be no examination of the systemic problems which enabled him to act.
FIFY
no mention of misogyny? The policeman was hit by a 16 yo girl, who he then assaults and drags forcibly out of the classroom. Regardless of their relative skin shades, sexism and ageism are also major issues. Firing the guy is the least they could do to reprimand him.
ack
yesterday, I saw some lame retconning of his actions, [paraphrasing] “he not racist, he has a POC girlfriend”, with strong implication that a POC girlfriend absolved him of racism so the girl got violent first, and the video was just his reasonable response. [referring to Don Lemon’s recap, where he said, “video did not show the very beginning of the altercation. We need more info. I can’t make a judgement without more info, We need more of the story.”] pffft
Gotta love the way a lot of media is, like always, characterizing the victim as a violent adult and not a teenage high schooler being attacked by someone decades their senior.
After all, gotta keep up that idea that black people of any age are violent supervillains who attack cops on sight and bullrush armed police against any concept of self-preservation.
hey the cop can’t help it – he’s an authoritative racist prick doing what comes naturally to him.
She prevented teachers from teaching? SHE?
Fuck that shit. If as a teacher you can only think of having a grown man assault a teenage girl as a response to her being “disruptive”, you have failed. As a teacher, as an adult, as a human being.
slithey tove
The term you’RE looking for is Misogynoir: racialised misogyny.
Tony@8
Interestingly, it looks like Sheriff Lott has changed his tune, a little. He still blames the student, but has fired the deputy.
S.C. Sheriff’s Deputy Is Fired After Review Of High School Student’s Arrest
The student disobeyed the teacher and deserved to be removed from the classroom. After viewing the video I think the police officer used too much force. He plainly lost his cool when the student hit him while he was trying to remove her.
“But even IF a 16 year old girl struck an adult police officer it does not justify his use of force. If an adult police officer cannot deal with being hit by a 16 year old girl without using excessive force, then maybe he needs to go find a different job”
I totally agree @Tony. But the problem is the mentality of cops. Their mentality is that the moment you fail to be as submissive as they want you to be they’ve got a green light for the use of any violence they want, especially for black people who can even be submissive but not submissive *enough.* Even if the cop uses force first, the slightest resistance can give them the OK for excessive force, since I don’t think cops believe *any* level of force is excessive once they feel they are being ‘disrespected’ (note that this means cops have exactly the same mentality of the ‘thugs’ they view themselves as protecting the public from) . In an ideal world, a cop (who is far larger than a child) would take a hit and deal with it, but those aren’t the people who are cops, which is why I think that we need to more or less scrap the whole police system and start over.
@Tony
Thanks for the link. No surprise the officer feels no guilt. He’s a racist prick and quite likely a sociopath.
smrnda
I’ve written my more lengthy thoughts on this punishment mentality over at School of Doubt. I hope PZ will forgive me the self-plugging as it is relevant ot the discussion
JJ831 @16:
You probably missed it, but I did include a link to an article talking about the cop being fired in my comment @5. He’s fired the cop, yes, but he still stands by his victim blaming comments.
****
smrnda @18:
Which itself is indicative of a larger problem in society-a culture of authoritarianism.
The assaulted girl is a recent orphan living in foster care. Yes, that’s how they dealt with a kid who just lost her mum. (not that it would be justified if she hadn’t)
Of course they’ll beat anyone with a phone. Those videos made on phones have shown some cops to be liars and villains on so many occasions. Don’t you worry – they’ll be shooting any witnesses with phones before long.
Link for Gilliel’s observation @22
Speaking of phones, the student who filmed the assault was also arrested.
My words are not.
The teacher lost control of the situation. In my day it was about chewing gum or passing notes. Same level of “disruption.” Calling the administrator was a sign of petulance by the teacher. (“I’ll show her who’s boss.) Where do they get these teachers? But the administrator calling the cop is a page out of the Clock Boy book where a simple situation was blown all out of proportion.
Yes, the girl did flail around but only after the cop grabbed her. What’s the girl supposed to do, sit there and be grabbed? To suggest that the cop was in any way in danger from this girl is ludicrous. If that was really the case then Barney Fife should have resigned out of shame.
However, what isn’t being discussed is the petulant way the cop arrested a second girl in the class for being quite upset at what was going on in front of her eyes. Yes, she was upset! Then the cop allegedly threatened her, “You want some of this?” before she turned around to be handcuffed.
In my day we called them pigs and it appears that the species hasn’t evolved very much since then.
I’m also going to state that, if you have cops in a school, the students’ right to record the cops AND have the means on them to do so must be defended. After this incident, I wouldn’t be surprised if the *distraction of cell phone* becomes a big deal among people keen on making sure no evidence of officer misconduct exists in the first place.
Also, why are school resource officers cops with commando mentalities? Shouldn’t we maybe have social workers of some kind for dealing with these issues?
This is what the school to prison pipeline looks like in real time.
https://www.aclu.org/fact-sheet/what-school-prison-pipeline
Glad to know the cop was fired but he should also be prosecuted and sued. In a more just world his chain of command and the school district would be held accountable for the ineffective policies/resources/training that led to this. And the school administration and the teacher would be held accountable for the way they handled the situation.
Though this school does not seem to fit the mold of the typical failing school (at least not on the surface) this student was most definitely failed by the system.
Spring Valley Named One of America’s Most Academically Challenging High Schools (Again!)
The officer who assaulted the teenaged girl in her classroom has, apparently, battered other members of the public in the past, including an army medic in uniform at his home, and the medic’s spouse as well.
For those fascist fucktards who think that the skinny girl’s striking the cop justifies overwhelming brutality in response: Fuck off and die, asshole. I’m not nearly as large as Officer Slam, but if a 16 year-old girl who is not a star athlete were to punch me anywhere other than the nose or the nads, I would barely notice. Her hand would hurt more than I would. If a massively ‘roided officer cannot handle a little girl peacefully, he should never be allowed to wear a badge.
Well, I think the solution is clear: a Black teenaged girl must murder nine white people in a Burger King with a cell-phone for the Powers that Be to take mass shootings seriously.
Police should never be used for class discipline. There was no police matter to be dealt with here. Even entering the room and addressing the student was excessive use of police power.
Artor @30:
Do you think you could insult them without the ableism, please? You’ve been around here long enough to know that’s not cool.
Glaring racism and police brutality aside, WTF is a cop doing in a classroom?
How do you even get t that point? Is it normal in the US?
Teacher *fail*.
Are these the kind of people we entrust our children to?
Why is being a teacher the last option for those who can’t work elsewhere?
F.O. @34:
Interestingly, I read an article on just that subject earlier today. Here you go-
This article gives some backstory on your question.
(excerpt)
Thanks Tony, interesting (and disturbing) read.
Am surprised that this was pushed by Democrats.
The documentary Kids for Cash also looks at some of the mechanisms and consequences of the increased tendency to brutalise and criminalise children for relatively trivial transgressions. In that particular case, the victims shown were mainly underprivileged white families, but the point stands.
“Thanks to Cops, people feel safer with their children on the streets today,” Schumer said
Cops are the people I’m afraid of, and I’m fucking white.
Kids for Cash left me shaking in anger. I’d heard of the cases but not how far-reaching they were for those poor kids.
Strange development in the story – “Spring Valley students stage walkout in support of Ben Fields”
Man the comments there!