GUILTY
When they read the guilty verdict for the killer of George Floyd I realized that I was holding my breath. I am not a Black person, and still, this verdict was important to me in ways I had not realized before. Because the fact that police has killed more than fourteen thousand people in the last fourteen years is telling. It's telling that less than eight police officers (counting Chauvin) have been brought to justice is telling. It's also telling that an overwhelming majority of people killed by police is Black.
But this is just a first step. The media keeps using the police's point of view to report on these deaths, forgetting that the police was created to hunt down Black bodies. Failing to report the killings of hundreds of Black people who have died just like George Floyd did, puts the onus on the people whose job is to report these kinds of things. It should not be left to bystanders like Darnella Frazier, a then seventeen year old on her way to buy treats for a relative filmed the interaction.
It may be worth pointing out that the trial of the officers that looked the other way while George Floyd was killed is coming up. THEN we will see if Derek Chauvin was thrown under the bus by his colleagues to provide a scapegoat for the rest of the force. There needs to be police reform in America in order to transform the system. The killer of one Black man has been brought to justice, but that should not be a rarity, that should be the rule.
Of course, we need alternatives to the racist, bigoted institutions that police the country. Why, would you ask? Well, one example would be because while the verdict for George Floyd's killer was being read yesterday, the police shot and killed a fifteen year old Black girl in Columbus, Ohio. Four shots. And apparently the victim was the one who called the police. That's why Black parents still have to have 'the talk' with their children. That's why the police needs better training. That's why the all-powerful police unions need a reckoning. That's why 'defunding the police' is a thing. That's why Black Lives Matter.
XOXO
So far, this time justice was served. I say so far, because there will be an appeal. And in the appeal, it is all up to the judicial system. Only after the appeal can we truly say justice was served.
ReplyDeleteAnd this must be the first step in true police reform. I read the Columbus article, and it appears the young lady was trying to defend herself from a gang. But because she had a weapon, the police made assumptions and 20 seconds after they arrived, she was dead. No analyzing the situation, no communication. Just bang, bang, bang, bang and another life lost. When does it stop?
XOXO 👨❤️💋👨
And that's the key: 'so far'.
DeleteQualified immunity gives the police the chance to get away with murder. Literally. I don't think the appeal will do much. They'll file it, but he was found guilty of the three charges....
The Columbus situation was mind-blowing. The police just points and shoots when Black bodies are involved.
XOXO
Given his behavior with Floyd, filmed among other things, in a video that leaves no possible doubts, it would have been very difficult for him not to be found guilty. I believe the whole world has seen the video! a useless persistence! A thought in a selfish sense: before engaging in gratuitous violence, shouldn't one also think about the consequences for his own life? You shoot a child today and you have no consequences, but tomorrow you could have serious consequences for a lot less! It was really necessary to keep G.F. under his own knee to immobilize him and, in this way, kill him?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, many people think little and many are absolutely unable to think about the consequences of their actions.
I know!
DeleteThe was video evidence, and still, the right wing media gaslighted everybody into thinking that somehow it was the victim's fault to have died. How's that for twisted?
It was absolutely unnecessary to keep George Floyd in that position, but it gave the policeman a sense of power. That's about it.
The police has been doing this for a long time (Floyd was just the one who got on video not shoot by police bodycams) and they have killed more than one Black person this way.
XOXO
He should have thought about the consequences of his acts first. Now he should be imprisoned and sentenced to play chess at least two hours a day! so as to learn to imagine the consequences of each movement!
DeleteThe thing is, he didn't think about the consequences because there are NO consequences for the police. This was not the rule. This was the exception. from 14,000 deaths in the last 14 years only eight police officers have been brought to trial.
DeleteXOXO
I, too, felt I could finally breathe upon hearing the verdict, even though, saying that, I kinda feel disrespectful to George Floyd who will never breathe again.
ReplyDeleteI still can't rally articulate how I feel, except to say 'Yes!'
I hope those other three officers are punished for their complicity.
I hope we, as a country and a people, learn from this.
I hope this ends ... but this morning I woke up to hear about Ma’Khia Bryant being shot and killed by police.
Like you said Bob...it was pretty bad the trial of a officer was interrupted to bring us news of two more mass shootings. I don't see change happening, hence the news today. Are cops just plain stupid? They should know they are going to be watched like hawks now.
DeleteI had not realized how fucking stressed I was until they announced the verdict!
DeleteI know the right wing media was ready to pounce and talk about how Antifa was burning down the city. And they did not get that. Their talking points were all nullyfied.
I hope this is the beginning of some reform and that those officers who stood by get their due. And then there was Ma'Khia. What the fuck?
Cops do this because they KNOW they are not going to be punished. Fuck qualified immunity.
XOXO
Yesterday was a good day. Keep the momentum going. The instant we stop, we fall behind.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how we all thought it was a good day when what happened is what should ALWAYS happen.
DeleteIf anything it showed how fucked up the situation with the police is. How impunity runs rampant. Police reform is needed.
XOXO
I cried when the verdicts were read. I did. I don't know why...relief? But sad, too. Sad that Chauvin ruined so many lives...hurt so many people, including those in his own family. As for keeping it going, we have to. Kevin McCarthy proved that when he put forth the censure on Maxine Waters while he ignores the idiots in his own caucus. Every time shit like that happens in Congress, every time I hear of another mass shooting, every time I hear of another police shooting victim, I lose more faith that this country will survive. The white nationalists, nativists, supremacists, the republicans continue to promote their brand and make millions off these incidents while the rest of us weep. XOXO
ReplyDeleteI think it was relief.
DeleteI felt it, too. I was convinced he was going to get a slap on the wrist and that was it. I also think there was going to be hell to pay with protests and the such.
And nothing can be expected from the GQP. The repugs only give lip service and posture. They don't implement change. Well, they try to silence any other voices (as is the case of auntie Maxine).
The situation in the US is just so stressing. Really. As if we weren't in the middle of a fucking pandemic.
XOXO
81 Bills have been put forth in 34 states by repuglican legislatures to restrict and limit protests. FL going so far as to call 3 people a protest, making it LEGAL to run down protesters with a vehicle. That guy in SC that killed that Heather? He'd be free and clear now.
DeleteThere are currently more than 300 Bills put forth by repuglicans making their way through state legislatures to restrict and strip voting rights.
The white folks are running scared. If we don't manage to curb this, the Great Experiment is over. Pardon me while I go into a corner and cry. xoxo
The GQP strategy is voter suppression and light fascism. They have no platform and no plans. White grievance and white fear are their only talking points.
DeleteXOXO
I'm glad justice was done yesterday. We'll see how the sentencing and appeals work out though. And the 3 officers yet to be tried -- they did more than just "look the other way" -- they actively participated in the excessive use of force. That makes them parties to the offence and they should all be convicted too, if justice continues to be served.
ReplyDeleteSame!
DeleteThey'll file an appeal. I think it's common procedure. I don't think it'll go anywhere. As for the accomplices, I'm going to keep my eye on that. The police has NEVER denounced Chauvin. Never. They protect their own.
XOXO
Betty nailed it. L is for the law that "worked this time"
ReplyDeleteI was glad of the verdict. I had a feeling one juror would fuck this up. And could be me, but I thought the defense did everything wrong and drawn out to lose the jury. In cases like this you need quick simple and clear points, yet they did anything but. Makes one wonder.......
Now I of course thought whether he got off or not, he s probably a dead man. If he got cleared, where would he go? He'd be dead. And I'm not so sure he won't to killed in prison either.
Karma
We still have a long way to go. This country never seems to learn it's lesson, or move into the year 2021 where all are welcome and equal.
And that's what infuriates me.
DeleteIt worked this time because Darnella Frazier videotaped the whole thing. Otherwise, it would have been just another statistic. Many other Black people die every day at the hands of the police and they all walk.
Chauvin will get what he deserves.
And yes, there's a long way to go. The police has too much power, too much clout, too much money. Qualified immunity needs to go. Bet there'll be less Black people dead when that happens.
America never learns, Maddie. Never.
XOXO
NO APPEALS! lock him up, throw away the key, never mention the pig's name again.
ReplyDeleteOh, they'll probably fill an appeal. Probably procedure.
DeleteAnd I try not to mention him. George Floyd is important. The man who killed him is not.
XOXO
I'm relieved. For once... a form of justice was served. I want much more. Police reform is a must. It must be made law. The police union has to stop protecting bad agents. Police need to live in the communities they work and see their role, not as military interventionists, but as community builders. We have a long way to go... but this is an important step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteSame!
DeleteA form of justice. Isn't that sad? That something that should happen every time a killing happens amazes us is just sad. The police investigating their own in a crime is laughable. They always find it's the victim's fault to have died. Always.
And I agree: police needs to live where they work. And their work is not to chase slaves anymore. Too many of them forget that.
XOXO
Well written commentary.
ReplyDeleteAww
DeleteThanks, JM. I really felt I needed to write that...
XOXO