The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
A black man was shot three times and killed by white police officers in Atlanta on Saturday. This sparked riots in the city when news about it was broadcast. No doubt for the next few days, Atlanta and now maybe other southern US cities will get a new wave of violence. Police departments may abdicate as they did in Seattle, abandoning their posts for new “autonomous zones”, run by rap stars. But in this particular situation the man was wrong – video caught it, but… it doesn’t matter. As with any successful grievance policy, the aggrieved is always right, even when he or she does something completely wrong.
Fox News has several reports and an accompanying police body-cam and external cam video that shows precisely what happened.
It is clearly seen that the man, Rayshard Brooks, at first is peaceful with the officers, and then abruptly turns and attacks the officer holding him, going for his service pistol. It is further seen that the struggle moves to the officer’s body cam being on the ground, Brooks in flight and the officers in pursuit.
It is then further seen that Rayshard is running, apparently with the officer’s Taser in hand, shooting at the officers. He missed. They fired back, and they did not miss. Rayshard is now dead.
Yet, somehow this is the fault of the police?
Some seem to think so, including Erika Shields, Atlanta’s now-former Police Chief, who resigned after this incident. Also, Atlanta’s black mayor demanded the termination of the officer who shot Brooks.
The debate will fall along the idea of “unnecessary force: taser versus firearm” as the central tenet, no doubt. The liberals will whine that it was brutal for the police to shoot dead the less armed black man.
We must be honest though. What about the fact that the Police are Police? Their work is to preserve law and order. Detaining someone for being drunk in public is a reasonable action according to the rule of law, whether a person is white or black or purple. Fighting against a police officer is a very bad idea. When a police officer tells you to stop in a lawful community, you stop.
When you fire a weapon of any kind at a police officer, by virtue of their position, they have every right to respond with force, and in the case of a person who has already physically attacked an officer, the use of deadly force is not only justified, it is practically required. Why? Because anyone insane enough to attack a cop is insane enough to try to kill the cop, and the cop has a right to defend himself or herself.
Racism is indeed tearing our country apart, but not in the way the so-called “black activists” claim it is. Rather, it is these activists who have been allowed to gain such a strong upper hand through clever activism and marketing designed to play on the sense of compassion of people who do not know what reality is. Most of us have not had violent encounters with police officers. Most of us usually encounter an officer for a speeding ticket or a traffic violation of some other kind. Maybe some of us have had to get an officer’s help in case of a robbery.
But, God forbid, many of us have had encounters with violent people, and some of us have even been lawbreakers ourselves, doing anything from mischief to real bad crimes. Any of us who are honest with ourselves know that the action the arresting officers take is professional, as dispassionate as possible… but threaten a person’s life with your actions and you take your own life in your hands in a big way, especially if that other person is armed.
I know this directly and personally, from both sides of such situations.
The thing that was wrong here is very simple. Rayshard Brooks was wrong for trying to resist arrest, and wrong for taking the officer’s Taser and then trying to shoot him with it. Rayshard showed himself to be a problem. Not because he was black, but because he got violent.
A white person would have met the exact same fate.
However, if there is anything different about black and white men in this situation, it is that for decades we have enforced grievance and identity politics. The left has told the black community that them they are victims of the system and the patriarchy, and then further kept them down through placing abortion clinics in their neighborhoods as a “compassionate measure” – those self-same clinics originating from the thoughts of one Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, who was absolutely racist. For Sanger, the abortion clinic was a method of reducing and eventually eliminating the black population. She was also a liberal. It has been the liberals who have been keeping the black people from believing in themselves, through the constant message of “you have been victimized; we will help you; just vote for us!” And, then… nothing, except maybe a lot of money for the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Al Sharpton and his ilk. They become millionaires while the ghetto remains untouched, even preserved through their efforts.
LIberalism is death. It is death for the black man or woman, it is death for the white man or woman as well. Once they get you thinking you are aggrieved, their work is accomplished. Now we see it in the fullest form yet – lawlessness supported and abetted by community leaders.
Pity kills. Rayshard knows this now. It is time for the rest of us to come to realize this while we are on this side of the veil.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
1/ A taser is a “non-lethal” weapon, designed for close quarters take down, i.e: 10 – 12 FEET MAX. Note the words “non-lethal”.Someone running away, firing said “non-lethal weapon” from a range of 30 feet, will have ZERO effect. Those cops KNOW this. 2/ he was shot 3 times in the BACK, according to news reports. Conclusion: If he was running AWAY, and the taser was out of any EFFECTIVE range, the was no lethal threat to the officers, who proceded to KILL him. LETHAL FORCE is only supposed to be used if the officer’s life is in IMMEDIATE LETHAL… Read more »
Seraphim mouths anything coming out of Trump Central and then some. We’re all used to it by now.
THANK YOU BOB!
Tried to reason with the trolls on the Townhall website about this very fact, but alas I did not get through to them. Cops aren’t always right. And going through the thread of comments, looks like they are deleted. WOW
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2020/06/13/atlanta-police-shooting-n2570603
That is true folks, cops are NOT always right. But if you fight with one and run away, that is YOUR problem, not theirs. And seriously, yes I support Trump but why would it be any different? In fact, I think Trump is being soft on this issue thus far, talking about having specially trained people to deal with drug users “in a special way” and so on. It is good politically, but the reality honestly is going to be the exact same thing. When someone misbehaves with the police, that’s all there is to be said. I… Read more »
https://todayrevolution.com/2020/06/16/need-for-speed-heat/
https://todayrevolution.com/2020/06/16/trump-at-west-point/
He snatched the cop’s tazer because the cop threatened to tazer him, then ‘shot’ him with the tazer’s laser dot while on the run, clearly in a panic.
Sure a foolish move to resist but the cop was an idiot and clearly criminally liable for shooting and killing him in the back. The police had all his info and could have easily rounded him up later. There was NO threat to the police.
What’s so hard to understand about that?
Exactly!
Yes indeed. I once took one of those ‘what you’re suited for in life’ tests as a kid. It came back scientist, engineer and cop. Go figure.
I think I’m uniquely qualified to pass judgement on the situation.
That is a point, that the police could have chosen to let him run away. That is true. But then what? Part of being a lawman is to enforce the law. I know this is possibly a weak argument, but what happens if they let people run when being fired at – even with a relatively non-lethal weapon like a Taser, or a rock. I could see the officer getting a major reprimand and as it turns out the officer did have a previous record of going over the top apparently. There are indeed questions this raises. However, the… Read more »
Shoot him in a leg? Brooks might’ve been wrong but did the cops have to kill him? They could’ve shoot him in a leg and arrest him, he’d be still alive and probably wouldn’t make the same stupid mistake ever again … but hey, they shot him 3 times while he ran!
It’s simple. Don’t resist arrest. The cops did nothing wrong. This case should be closed.immediately. End of story. Move on.
Once in NYC, I saw a cop shoot a guy dead while running away with a banana he stole from a Korean grocery. The review board said the banana looked like a gun and gave the cop a week’s paid leave.
End of story. Move on. 😉
It’s even simpler than that; don’t kill the guy! Shot him in a leg and arrest him, that way he learns not to make the same stupid mistake ever again. He was wrong resisting arrest but did the cops have to kill him?