Police in the US also know how to plant incriminating evidence, use their authority to intimidate civilians, and turn a blind eye to the crimes committed by their fraternal brothers.

The US is turning into a police state. At this rate, it probably will get to be as bad as things were in Northern Ireland, as you described.

It is incredible how restrained the black community is considering all of what happens to them on a regular basis. I would guess that it is the result of 300 years of constant oppression. But they have been standing up for themselves and more power to them. This brutality has got to stop and now that people are recording the police so much more, we might actually be able to do something about it.

@RoboGraham I hope you are right. Everyone needs to get angry. Not just Black people. You know the saying...if you tolerate this then your children will be next.

@dermot235

So true. But the thing is, it's not just black people. The police treat immigrants and all minorities this way. And even poor whites suffer police brutality. The right wingers love to point out the fact that the police kill more unarmed white people than black people and I'm like yeah, that ain't good, that's even more people that the police are murdering. It's a very very big problem.

@RoboGraham It took 30 years in Ireland to hold people to account. I hope it does not take much longer in the US. The Civil rights movement in the US is now 60 years old already.

@dermot235

What a tragedy

I think the difference between then and now is that we have the internet and smart phones. The actions of the authorities will be recorded and distributed all over the world and they can't stop that. They can use their propaganda wing to create a counter narrative but the truth has a way of eventually cutting through the bull shit.

@RoboGraham
Your comment
"The police treat immigrants and all minorities this way.". I truly believe this. Do you perhaps have some stats or write-up on this. I mentioned this before to a USA citizen living here in SA who denies this and says the stats don't prove that. I said because it's not exposed and it's covered up.
Any info on this. I'd appreciate it..

@TimeOutForMe

Certainly, here are some links.

[mappingpoliceviolence.org]
[en.wikipedia.org]
[statista.com]

@RoboGraham
Thank you so very much for your response and the links. The American here is a pro capitalist and love using exerpts from Ayn Rand from time to time, much of which I don't understand.

Very true.

Their standards are too low and they don't provide enough de-escalation training.

I think most cops shouldn't be allowed to carry firearms on regular duty.

I'm saying all of it is disturbing. I don't like the violence on either side but I can surely understand why they are so angry. I'm angry too when I see things like this.

We desperately need police reform. I think the rioting is counterproductive to achieving it. It gives credence to the right wing narrative that BLM and the whole movement is just a bunch of violent thugs. That being said, if the authorities refuse to enact necessary reform, I think burning shit down is justified.

@RoboGraham considering what we are now seeing on social media is the result of 60+ years of civil rights reforms, i understand why many protesters have given up on anything "civil"

@Burner

That's understandable. I'm sure I would too if in their position.

@RoboGraham its a good thing that some of the people who are part of the reason the systemic issues are so entrenched, are willing to be part of the attempts to take it down. Its literally mind boggling that its seen as the responsibility of the most powerless people in this situation, to be agents of change.

I spoke to a veteran who told me that, when he was in Iraq, soldiers who shot fleeing enemies in the back would end up in military prison. So, based on what he said, soldiers in occupied territory are held to higher standers and face harsher punishments than cops policing American citizens. Is there truth to what he told me?

@RoboGraham
I can't speak for my sandbox brothers.
In jungle warfare.... it was basically kill everything in the Landing Zone (LZ)

@bigpawbullets

Perhaps they learned from Vietnam that killing everything in sight is not the best way to win over the people.

@RoboGraham
I'm not sure "winning over the people" is applicable in our current situation.

I completely agree. Both sides of the aisle is in favor of a police state designed to enforce compliance with immoral policies. They do not have our interests in mind and they must have a strong police force to keep us in line as they ruin our country.

Yes, this certainly is not new. But what is new is the outpouring of outrage each time it happens.

These things used to be largely ignored but now the country is really waking up to the brutality and injustice.

I think that the police reform which we so desperately need may actually happen. But we must keep the pressure on them. We must demand it constantly. And we must film the police always because we can't trust them to hold themselves accountable.

That's messed up. They should not have control of the footage that they produce.

The cops in the video above do not even use body cams.

So you think that an impromptu death sentence is reasonable for the crime of not obeying a police officer?

@RoboGraham If they are going for a weapon or not listening and reaching under the seat or in a door where they may be pulling a weapon, absolutely.
They were called for a domestic violence dispute. If he killed the cops, he likely could have gone after his wife/gf and the people that called the police on him.
A lot of what ifs, but I have a few officers in my family. Even if they get charged, based on that video, (still have to see the body cams) they won’t be convicted.

@CourtJester

Was he going for a weapon? No, he was trying to get into his car with his kids. This idea that it's okay for cops to shoot people because they might be "reaching" is absurd. It gives them permission to shoot anyone who puts their hand anywhere.

This guy was not the subject of the domestic violence call. He was breaking up a fight. So what if he didn't obey the cops demand. That does not give them permission to execute him. There were at least three of them. There were many other options besides shooting him in the back.

Yes, there are a lot of "ifs". You are making many assumptions about if he was reaching or whatever. That still doesn't justify 7 bullets in the back with kids right there in the car, it's insane what they did.

This police department doesn't even use body cameras. It's extremely fortunate that someone filmed it because those cops were not going to hold themselves accountable.

This is an obvious case of attempted murder. If the cop does not face justice, there will be pandemonium on the streets. If they let him walk, I hope they burn down that police station too. It would be justified.

@RoboGraham I’m positive neither of us know the facts. Based on the video; him climbing into the vehicle and placing his hands into a location that they couldn’t see is a 100% acceptable reason to eliminate a threat.

If you were a cop, would you just hang out to get shot? Or would you just let him kill you and go to kill others?

You and I do agree on one thing though. For different reasons, but we do agree.

When they charge the cops for political reasons and they are found not guilty, I hope they burn down the police station too. If that is what those cities want; I genuinely hope that they get it. Those police officers will leave and go to communities that respect the law and law enforcement. Those cities will be left with gangs, no business, no economic support (except to the democrats running the locations), and I hope they have to pick up the phone to call for help from the people that they ran off.... and won’t come. They will have gotten everything they wanted and I hope in my heart that they get it.

That is one thing that we both completely agree on.

@CourtJester

If the police need to "eliminate threats" rather than de-escalate and restrain, they are unprofessional, immoral, brutal, and incapable. They are meant to protect and serve the public, not slaughter civilians at the slightest notion of a possible threat.

If I were a cop, I would have communicated with him reasonably, or tackled him, or tazed him, or if the situation was really out of hand and I actually was afraid, I would have shot once, in a nonlethal area. This coward cop did none of that and instead shot the man 7 times in the back. He deserves prison.

It would be fantastic if these officers were to leave these communities. That we agree on and yes, we agree for very different reasons. You seem to think that the only way for a community to enforce order is through our current agencies of law enforcement. If they were to leave, that would be an opportunity to build new forms of law enforcement on different principles, such as, de-escalation, community out-reach, and appropriate mental health response. It would make it very easy to purge the force of all the undesirable characteristics which currently dominate like aggressive violence, racism, and the us versus them attitude that cops feel toward their fraternal brothers versus the communities which they serve.

Regardless of your attempts to defend their despicable behavior, change and reform is coming. The cops cannot continue this aggressive and corrupt style of policing much longer. The people have had enough, they are pissed and they will engage in civil disobedience until appropriate reforms are made.

@RoboGraham Good luck with that. There is A very very small minority that is ready to convict the police from a single video without the full set of Facts.

The vast majority look at the big picture and at least what details they can pick out and are open to waiting for the full set of facts to come out in court.

@CourtJester

Even if it were to somehow turn out to be justified in this particular case, there have been so many others, it wouldn't matter.

People have grown accustomed to police committing obvious crimes and then no repercussions come of it. They don't hold themselves accountable and on the rare occasion that it does go to court, they almost always walk, no matter how guilty they are. The people have seen it time and again so they put no stock in the justice system holding these thugs accountable. They will now take matters into their own hands. Reform should have come a long time ago. This is what happens when they don't fix what is broken.

@RoboGraham “Even if it was justified, it wouldn’t matter”.

That’s stupid.

Ever notice that this stuff only happens in Democrat cities though???? Just odd I think.

@CourtJester

Stupid how? It has happened so much that this particular case doesn't matter. There will be another coming along shortly and the cycle will continue until we force them to make the necessary reforms.

You ever notice how almost all cities are democrat cities????

That's how the political breakdown works in America. Just look at an electoral map. Nearly all of the urban areas and most of the suburban areas are blue and the rural areas are red. When something happens in a city, it's almost definitely a democrat run city because people in cities overwhelmingly vote democrat. So to try and blame this on democrat run cities is foolish, dishonest and shows a fundamental lack of understanding of American political science.

@RoboGraham Audio was released today Where we fought the police, was tased, and went to the door of the vehicle JUST AFTER telling the police he was going to get a gun and kill them.

No charges for the police now.

But....
“‘He was a good boy just coming back from Sunday school”

Amazing how those that don’t break the law tend to survive. Happens thousands of times a day.

@CourtJester

Where is this audio? I search for it but haven't seen it. You'd think something like that would be all over. Have you heard this newly released audio?

Who are you quoting? Who said that he is a nice sunday school boy?

@RoboGraham released within police lines.
The officers won’t be charged. It’ll come out in a bit.

@CourtJester

You said it was released and now you say it will come out later. Released in police lines, what does that mean? It sounds like you don't know what you're talking about.

Have you heard this audio? If not, how do you know what he said?

@RoboGraham I’ve heard it. Haven’t seen the body cam yet. Keep watching the news.
Police will get off.

@CourtJester

Body cam? This department doesn't use body cam. That's a major problem. You are a dishonest poser.

@RoboGraham Do you think ow anything?
The body cam will be released after it’s presented in court or after it’s announced that they won’t be charged.
I’m betting that they won’t be charged at all.

@CourtJester

That photo is far too blurring to make any determination on what it is.

For the 3rd, maybe 4th time, this department does not use body camera's. You can see that from the video, no camera's on their chests. It's one of the major complaints people have against them. They say they can't afford body cams but somehow they can afford military grade armored cars. Every police officer should have a body cam while on duty.

Yes, it's becoming quite common for rioting to follow the shooting of an unarmed black man.

@RoboGraham Ah, you were referring to the rioting, not the shooting itself.

@dkp93

Yeah, I'm aware that this sort of thing has been going on for a long, long time. The part about rioting following is the new aspect of it. And I'm glad to see it although I don't care for the violence. It seems necessary in such circumstances.

Yes, this same scenario continues to repeat itself over and over.

We must change the way policing is done in America.

Stupid people destroy their own community without facts. Kinda beautiful to watch on tv.

He hasn't died. So attempted murder, at this point.

He is in serious condition and it isn't known if he will survive.

That would be a step in the right direction.

agreed

It should be the law in 'merca for all gun purchases to be single shot only. Everyone still can buy as many guns as they like and would have no affect/effect on 2nd amendment rights.

@jlynn37

What about all the guns already out there which aren't single shot? Would you round them all up?

@RoboGraham No but I would require they be modified to be single shot.

@jlynn37

That would be nice but it would be very difficult.

There are more guns than people and many of the people will not cooperate with this. If something like this were to be passed into law, I think it would cause a thriving black market for repeating guns.

@RoboGraham This is just my attempt at some sort of solution to 'merca's gun issues. It ain't gonna happen.

@jlynn37

It's a sensible solution, but I think you're right, thanks to the very intense gun culture here, it ain't guna happen.