A couple of chuckleheaded incompetent cops go running through a residential neighborhood, with their guns out.
Will they be fired for that recklessness? They should be. They won’t.
They were acting on a complaint that someone was breaking windows. Is that a death penalty offense? Were people in danger? No. So why did they need guns? Will they even be disciplined for that? No.
They see a black man standing in a yard. He runs from the two strangers, who did not announce that they were cops — all he knows is they are two chuckleheads with guns. Is running from guys with guns, even if he knew they were cops, a crime deserving of death? No. Will the cops suffer any consequences for terrorizing a neighborhood? No.
The asshole cops shoot an innocent man twenty times, because they think the white iPhone he holds is a gun. They murder him, because they think lethal force is an appropriate response to a property crime, to a man trying to avoid trouble, to a black man with a phone.
Will there be justice for Stephan Clark? Hell no.
Do not ever forget. The police are running amuck in this country, and are not ever, under any circumstances, to be trusted.
Clovasaurus says
…and any one who thinks their not all bad. They are. Canada cops are on some thug shit as well. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/its-not-just-the-rcmp-police-culture-is-toxic/article35014971/
tmink128 says
I’ve never felt comfortable around the police. That’s a big problem since I’m a white male I have the least to fear from cops. I can only imagine how others feel about being near cops
rietpluim says
I ran out of what-the-fucks many months ago.
So sorry for Stephan Clark and his loved ones.
howardhershey says
And keep in mind that these are “highly trained” in the use of guns. Pity the poor black male teen holding a cell phone at school where there are less highly trained armed teachers. Or the black male armed teacher when the cops arrive.
Raucous Indignation says
Fuck the police.
woozy says
The news stories I read were inconsistent about whether the cops thought the cell phone was “an object” or a gun. I actually got the impression that thought it might be a “toolbar” being used to open windows. Which, you know, thinking a guy might be a housebreaker because he has “an object” justifies deadly force.
All these stories are sad. This one hit home for me for some reason.
woozy says
The stories I read were from before the video was released.
6 minutes into into the video one cops tells the others to mute and then they talk in silence for a few minutes. That sure as shit seems like conspiracy to me.
illdoittomorrow says
Meanwhile, actual armed men in Mississippi are kindly escorted out of a Wal-Mart by police without getting shot to pieces. I’m going to go way, way out on a limb and guess that they were white.
http://time.com/5208980/walmart-men-with-weapons/
Bob Michaelson says
Some of this may be a result of neo-fascist groups infiltrating police and military in the U.S.
https://rewire.news/article/2018/03/09/leaked-message-board-shows-white-supremacists-think-police/
Gorogh, Lounging Peacromancer says
The article says his name was Stephon.
Aside from that, I really don’t give a fuck anymore. Well that’s not true, it’s mostly infuriating, parts heartbreaking, but the US really seems a lost cause and I feel a declining desire to speak up in those matters at all.
Saad says
They shot him twenty times because they wanted to murder a black person. The iPhone excuse was thought up after the fact like many of the other racist cop murders.
WMDKitty -- Survivor says
All cops are bastards. Fuck ’em.
LanceR, JSG says
#DisarmThePolice
anbheal says
Subtract the twenty most senior officers’ pensions from the police pension fund, and this would stop, tomorrow. Hit the brass, and hit them hard. The department heads forfeit their pension to pay for every unlawful death lawsuit. Simple, easy, effective. The rot starts from the top, always and everywhere. Let the top pay for the rot.