The Beat Goes On… And On, And On….

 OK, I have to make the observation.

Again.

I initially posted this in April; I repost it now, updated with more recent examples.

A black man in Ohio is recently pulled over for a routine traffic stop.  Whether he fired a single shot from his vehicle before fleeing is in question.  The chief of police for that department, who readily acknowledges that the driver was unarmed when he fled, after viewing video from THIRTEEN body cams admits he did not see the movement that put his officers in fear for their lives as they chased the driver.  At least 90 shots are fired, 60 of which hit Jayland Walker; officers continued firing after he was down.  He was unarmed.  What appears to be an unloaded glock 43x is recovered from the front seat of the  vehicle; the loaded magazine is on the seat next to the gun, not inserted in the gun.  It is impossible to determine from the police photo if the gun had actually been fired.

On July 4, a white man with a long history posting violent content on social media and in the music videos he produces as a rapper shoots into an Independence Day parade in Chicago, killing 6 (so far) and injuring dozens more.  He also runs from police, but is apprehended without a single shot being fired.  He will face trial with all of his Constitutional rights in tact and protected.

I get it - different law enforcement agencies, different policies, different cultures.  That may factor in to some small degree, but nationally this is a reality that is beyond disturbing: white suspects, even obviously dangerous ones, apprehended safely while black suspects, even unarmed, are assumed to be a threat to life and limb and injured or killed outright.  I wish I could say that such disparate outcomes are rare, but they aren’t, and I am tired and angry that they continue.  

I back the Blue; I also expect the Blue to do better - to police THEMSELVES for problem officers.

End the war on crime.

Return to Serve and Protect.