The police fascism in New York is still ongoing. Yesterday at the funeral of Rafael Ramos it was on display again.
While mourners inside the church applauded politely as Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke, hundreds of officers outside turned their backs on him to protest what they see as his support for demonstrators angry over killings by police.
They’re “protesting” against civilian and democratic authority over the police, and that’s fascism. When the police get to call the shots, that’s a police state.
Sgt. Myron Joseph of the New Rochelle Police Department said he and fellow officers turned their backs spontaneously to “support our brothers in the NYPD.”
They need to stop doing that.
A block from the church, retired NYPD Officer John Mangan held a sign that read: “God Bless the NYPD. Dump de Blasio.”
No police department can or should be treated as beyond criticism. Cops can screw up. Individual cops can be flawed. Whole police departments can be infected with bad attitudes toward the people they work among. The self-pity and tribalism need to stop.
Whatever happened to “To Protect and Serve”? Have the cops forgotten they’re supposed to work for us and we’re not beholden to them?
I think many of them have. I can think of all kinds of interlocking reasons why they would, but I find it a little harder to understand why people higher up the chain of command don’t deal with the problem. Many of them seem to be encouraging it instead.
If they’re so angry, why don’t they quit their job?
Sili at 3- what, and give up the power of being in a state-sponsored gang, not to mention side benefits like that sweet civil forfeiture loot?
If they’re so angry, why don’t they quit their job?
Just what I was thinking. “If your back is turned to me, right now – just start walking and we’ll process your resignation immediately.”
That said, I approve of dissent, even when it’s not dissent I agree with. Obviously, the police feel that they’re a law unto themselves. A massive budget cut would encourage them to trim waste, clean up their management, and re-assess how they are doing policing. It would do nicely. After all, the NY cops appear to be so over-staffed they can “stop and frisk” and do covert operations against muslim businesses and mosques – clearly, there’s a lot of waste that’s ripe for a chainsawing..
Seems also not very respectful to the two officers being buried, to bring your personal feud with the Mayor into a funeral.
Protesting at a funeral?? Even if they were quiet, that’s headed towards Westboro Baptist Church territory.
The first amendment:
They are explicitly protesting against the first amendment of the constitution of the United States! This directly violates their oaths as police officers, since all laws are drawn from the authority of the government, which gets its ‘authority’ from the Constitution itself.
And that’s the best thing that can be said about their actions. That last clause is important. The people of NY (in this case) have a very good reason to have a grievance against the government, and the right to petition for a redress of that grievance. The police are claiming they are above the law of the land, not just the local laws.
For that, every single one of them should be fired immediately.