Yesterday, at about 2:00 in the afternoon, a white police officer in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, shot and killed 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, after what seems to have been a routine traffic stop turned up an arrest warrant.
What concerns me regarding these killings - and others - is the use of deadly force by police on trivial legal matters. A traffic tickets should not result in death. Passing a fake $20 bill should not result in death. Selling a cigarette outside a store should not result in death. These are trivial matters. Police officers should direct their energy to serious matters.
I disagree. Many of these crimes deserve only a ticket. There is no need to arrest these folks. It doesn't call for police to strong arm people. Give them a ticket. Move on to serious issues.
That'd be great! Except for the original sin: How many cars did those cops pull over - that day - for having danglies on their rearview mirror? A thousand?
I don't think there's much doubt about why this stop happened. This is authority trolling for "perps." And knowing just who might fit the profile.
Cops make choices. They should be accountable for the choices.
If you read Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Talking to Strangers, you will get an in-depth look at the interaction between Sandra Bland and the officer who arrested her. He not only stopped her for a minor traffic violation (pulling over without using her turn signal), he forced her to do it by pulling up close behind her, making her think he needed to get by. I wanted so badly to go back in time and go to her, to fight for her. I felt like I got to know her a little. And then she was gone.
Once I was driving in my city and I was in a neighborhood that had a "slow school" sign so I slowed down to 25 mph. I did not see a "end slow school" sign so kept crawling, then I saw a police car behind me....saw another "slow school" sign --this continued for about 2 blocks (I passed the school but assumed that perhaps, there was another school which is not unusual because there are religious schools and public schools often close by each other). I did not want to get pulled over for speeding. Then finally I saw a parking lot of a cafe and pulled in. The police pulled in after me, got out and asked me if I was ok, why was I driving so slowly. I told them I saw the slow school signs and the police were behind me and not passing me. This was on the South Side which is in a higher crime area.
Is it me or Monday or is that another young black man ( just a boy at 20) was killed yesterday by police at a traffic stop in MN, or that a black Army Officer was also brutally assaulted in another traffic stop in VA, or because there was another school shooting in Knoxville today, all the while 100 of our most populated cities are 50% to 100% hospital’s ICUs are full of Covid; that I need a letter from a American to explain how bat shit crazy things have become. I’ve come to the conclusion that I hope our generals realize, We have climbed the wrong mountain. In the Information Age, our country’s survival depends less on missiles, stealth bombers, air craft carriers, and ageis warships, but more on protecting the health of our citizens, insuring the health of our planet, and the quality of information that guides our behavior to either our destruction or salvation. 🙏 Dr Richardson, this Monday I needed another letter.
I think they were all related to Austin - East HS, too. It's like a mass shooting in slow motion and very tragic for the community. And in these cases, folks are not being victimized by police, but by their peers.
Yes, another school shooting, how tragic. And this particular High School in sleepy Knoxville has had 5 children of color killed by gun violence this calendar year, alone!
I blame the police for not doing enough to keep guns out of young people's hands - oh wait...
I have a whole lot of thoughts, feelings, emotions, and opinions about the situation in which law enforcement finds itself in today. I spent the better part of yesterday grappling with conversations with friends regarding Daunte Wright's killing and the course of the trial in George Floyd's murder when I wasn't trying to unstick (unsuccessfully) a stuck rotor in my tuba in preparation for resuming rehearsals in a small ensemble that I play in (and this particular issue wraps around to the pandemic, but I digress).
When I read about Kim Potter, the third officer on scene of this traffic stop who was a 26 year veteran of the agency, and how she made the decision to use her taser on a man who had pulled away from the officer handcuffing him, and ended up shooting him instead, my thought was "that could have been me." I retired after 28 years with my agency, 26.5 years on patrol. I'm that particular demographic (or was nearly 8 years ago). The thing is, that would have never been me, for any number of reasons (training, experience, disposition are the ones I can come up with on this sleepless morning.)
Elsewhere in the comments, there are some things that stand out for me in this regard. One commenter said (paraphrased) "well, just do what they say, and there's no problem" and another said (again paraphrased) "just handle your traffic tickets and you don't get warrants." There was also the "failure to comply with lawful order/respect authority" rationale. What many people don't understand is that the two new situations in the news today (Daunte Wright and Caron Nazario) are archetypes of Black people's experience with law enforcement officers. Both vehicle stops were initiated for infractions that are minor violations of vehicle code (registration issues which have been impacted by the pandemic). In both cases, the police response was enhanced due to the officer's "perception of risk/danger", particularly in Nazario's case. Stopped for a minor traffic violation, and the event escalates. In one case, a warrant is discovered for another traffic violation, and when the subject pulls away (from a poorly performed attempt at custody, but I again digress) a negligent use of force leads to death. In the other, a communicated concern of the driver "I'm scared to get out of the car" is met with "you should be" and physical force is used to extricate the driver from the vehicle.
I guess what I am stumbling around to is this: white people have no flipping clue what the experience of Black people is with law enforcement. None. Stop to think for a minute; Daunte Wright was 20. How many times do you suppose he had been stopped by law enforcement? At least one, that we know of (hence the traffic warrant). What about his friends? What was his social group's experience with the predominantly white officers of the PD? How about Caron Nazario? His event took place in December, and yet it is only coming to light 4 months later. His conduct at the stop leads me to believe that this was not the first time he had been contacted by law enforcement while operating a motor vehicle. There are so many more.
I have gotten to an uncomfortable place with my former profession. It is not the honorable service that I thought it was; the service of community. It has become something else, something that I really don't recognize any more.
Ally, it’s impossible to imagine how torn you must feel. No doubt many honorable people join the force with good intentions. But a department that permits racism and disrespect ultimately taints even the good cops. Once you see every person of color as a potential threat, all reason is lost.
When multiple cruisers arrive at a traffic stop, the danger only escalates. When officers shout and threaten suspects they increase fear in the suspect, adrenaline in themselves and bad behavior follows.
Thanks for your post...lots to consider. I also think that the more these things keep happening, the more it ramps up the feelings, fear, anxiety, etc. of a Black person if they're stopped by police. It creates a kind of snowball effect. I know were I Black I'd be scared sh!tless right now if I was driving and saw flashing blue lights. Imagine being Black and being stopped, especially with all that has happened recently, and you have to think and hope to yourself the police-person stopping you isn't some white supremacist or something. If a White person was being stopped, such thoughts wouldn't even be considered and you wouldn't need to fear for your life. I've talked about a lot of these things with my Black students over the years and I have learned a lot by just talking and listening. Hearing them describe what they felt like when they've been stopped is eye-opening. I have some Black colleagues that I am very close to and we also discuss this stuff. It's important, IMO, to communicate. Exchange and gain perspectives. Like CNN's Don Lemon said: "Got any Black friends? No?? Then go out and find some."
Thanks for sharing this study. I wonder if this practice is literally TAUGHT in training academies? The individuals in my town who drive too fast, who tailgate, and whose boom boxes disrupt the neighborhoods for the most part are young WHITE men or WHITE soccer moms in a hurry to get somewhere. Why are they not the ones being pulled over?
I have a question in regard to HCR's comment about an individual becoming "judge, jury and executioner" and in regard to the nature of those "stops." Is it common practice these days for law enforcement officers (THREE, in the case of the young man who was murdered) to pull over people just because they are driving new vehicles with paper plates, or because they have air fresheners hanging on their rear view mirrors? Since when did this because such a serious CRIME, that teams of two or three, with guns drawn and handcuffs at the ready must apprehend people...and is it common practice these days to literally TARGET people of color? Surely, with real crime going on, there's plenty of protecting and defending that could be done without going after innocent people and then creating a conflict in which harm (or death) will result? I begin to wonder what is being taught these days in police training academies.
Ally House, Your experience, deep feeling and understanding always standout. If you have time, I would appreciate your reply to the comment I dropped just about a half hour ago, I'm the first new comment now, but that was at least 6 hrs., after your this one of yours. You are busy, so, of course, this is a favor that I understand may be inconvenient. I wrote about police enforcement, which I do not know much about. Please excuse my forwardness in this regard.
Better late than never. Talk is cheap. Review my comment on two charities. Spread the word: we will match those that donate to either up to $50,000 each from Substack readers: identify yourself to either Black lady as a Letters from an American loyalist, give to honor Heather Cox Richardson... to honor her wish to educate. We will ask her to speak at the college of choice. Judith Berry will respond.
First, this is an inexcusable accident that occurred.
We do know Mr Wright had been stopped previously and charged with illegally carrying a pistol and then failed to show up to court, hence the outstanding warrant.
How are the police supposed to prevent crime and deadly events if they cannot detain folks who have outstanding warrants for weapons crime?
Stop escalating the situation for starters. These were misdemeanors, was arresting him the best response? Black people know arrests are often violent, using excessive force that injures or kills the suspect. They could have given him a warning or citation. No one was in danger, none of this was necessary.
William, please seriously consider the words of a (white) friend of mine:
"I got pulled over yesterday by the police and here's what went through my mind: 'Oh, shit! I was speeding again. I'm going to be late for my meeting now! Damn it, where's my license?...Good morning, officer.' Not for a second did I think, is this how I will die? That's white privelege."
Several years ago, I was having problems with my car and decided to just sell it on Craigslist. I was contacted by a mechanic who offered to come look at it to see if he could fix it. When the guy arrived, I may have been mildly surprised that he was Black, but proceeded to show him the car and we decided to see what he could do. While he was working, a police car slowly went by, and the mechanic looked up, smiled wryly, and said, "There's the po-po," as though he had been expecting them. I remarked that it was the first time I'd seen a patrol car on my street. Mr. S. then told me that he had been stopped in his car or approached on the street on average of twice a month his entire life since his teens - and he had never committed even the smallest of infractions, not even speeding.
Since that day, although I've always been aware to some extent that being Black in this country is no picnic, I cannot get it out of my mind that every Black person in this country has reason to fear the police in ways no white person can truly understand, because we have not experienced this constant surveillance. Yes, police in the U.S. kill more white people than Black people, if statistics are at all reliable, but a Black person is much more likely to be met with deadly police force than is a white person. https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/
William, if you are a white man, I would argue that you have no idea what you are talking about and that, regardless of your income or social level, you are writing purely out of an experience that cannot compare to that of any Black person or other person of color in America.
Hi, William. Bill here...but you can call me Mr. Willis. I’m guessing you have a surname as well and I would use it if I knew it.
I don’t know if you saw my earlier my earlier post but if you did you know I am an American of African descent; I’m NOT writing fiction.
One of the reason we still have lethal levels of anti-blackness in this country is that white citizens have traditionally downplayed the plight of their black, brown and Asian neighbors. Complaints of mistreatment have been diluted by rationalizations and comforting tropes, and excuses and re-explanations.
But today, because of the camera/cell phone/micro computer, we can see in vivid and horrifying detail many of the atrocities these discounted citizens suffer almost daily. It has become more difficult to explain away the abuse POC experience.
And yet, too many try.
We will never solve this horrendous dilemma until a sizable majority of the nation’s residents sign on to this untenable reality. We must finally reach the conclusion that we are all part of this global human family and become the keepers of our brothers.
William, since you think that Mr Wright must be responsible for his actions, surely you also are totally infuriated that the police are not responsible for their far more serious, and lethal actions, right? But perhaps you feel that police should never be accountable. Perhaps you have forgotten who is alive now -- and who is DEAD??
Regardless of what you think or feel, saving all your consideration for the police, with no empathy for their victims, is disgraceful. So is mocking people who reply with compassion, which no doubt you'll do again. For shame.
Let’s imagine your daughter used to date an abusive man who is a cop in her town. He stops her frequently to harass her over inconsequential things. She’s terrified of him. She buys a gun, but, doesn’t register it. He finds out and tries to arrest her, but, she panics and tries to run. Should he tase her?
The warrant on Mr Wright was a misdemeanor for failing to register his gun. They tried to arrest him; he panicked and ran. Was a taser really the best way to convince him to comply?
History sets the table for all of this. We cannot keep repeating the same mistakes. Black have been victims of abusive policing since slavery. It has to end.
Of course I’m not suggesting we ignore background checks or gun registration. The warrant for Mr Wright was for a misdemeanor not a felony. My criticism was for the quick escalation to force which led to his death.
This isn't about gun registration. It's about an underaged person carrying a concealed weapon. They were caught, charged, issued a summons and failed to appear to Court.
The warrant was, as I understand, based upon failure to appear for a summons he did not receive for a scrivener's error when entering his email address.
Police do not prevent crime and deadly events. They respond to them.
I find it impossible to avoid a sarcastic comment, having to do with the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Perhaps we should have an investigation into how the police utility belt is arranged, and more standardization and training, to avoid this kind of "human error." Perfectly understandable, of course: I never know whether I put my car keys in my right pocket or my left. I understand how embarrassing it would be if I kept something lethal in the other pocket, like a nuclear detonation fob, and accidentally ... well, you know. </sarcasm>
Having gotten that out of my system, what astonishes and saddens me is the barefaced arrogance of this police action, on the very same stage as the Chauvin murder trial, atop the dry powderkeg that is Minneapolis. You'd think the police would have the plain animal good sense to go to ground under these circumstances: to stop picking at the scab with dirty fingernails, to stop poking the bear with a stick, to stop ... oh, make up any Posthumous Darwin Award behavior.
It's almost like they WANT to provoke a race war. Nah. Couldn't be that. (Dang, I guess the sarcasm wasn't entirely out of my system.)
My first thought when an officer uses a gun by mistake instead of a taser: how could taser designers, manufacturers and police departments be so reckless & stupid not to make them noticeably different in shape, feel, color & method/location for carrying them. Then again, maybe guns should be kept in police cars & not carried where they can discharge under all kinds of unintended circumstances.
As per my comment on this thread if she did intend to use her gun it was an unconscionable act. I believe that if such a horrid act were intended that one would find evidence of racism in that person’s social media accounts. Again do we really think this person intended to start a race war? Is this not a stopping point before we add to the conflagration? Where are we going with this thread?
I think they are inter-related. As Paul said, would a white driver have been pulled over for having an air-freshener hanging from his or her rear view mirror? Much less likely. The racism was in the initial stop. Then the militarization of our police forces is a related issue. Why are they outfitted for combat? Why do their tasers look and feel like their Glocks? I’m sure she didn’t consciously decide to start a race war. That war is waging all the time. She added to the conflagration, unintentionally with her deadly mistake, and (perhaps) subconsciously with the initial stop.
Though I often agree with you David, I think you are off the mark here. The question you are asking is not the relevant one; her intent is not in question here. The real questions are: would this have happened if he were white? What possible justification could there be for the use of ANY violence in such a situation? What part did wholly rational fear on the part of this young, black man play in his decision to flee the situation? What part does systemic, consistent, hyperviolent racist policing play in instilling that fear?
Reid my understanding is that driving while black is a danger to everyone, of color. I am appalled to hear that guns were drawn in any simple traffic stop. I just worry that the implication that this woman intended to kill this man will bring us to real conflagration.
I really get that we live in a society of flagrant racists. I understand I have biases hidden from others and probably myself. I live in SC for God’s sake. I see every day examples of bias every day in my E. R. I see the real possibility of this situation exploding. I don’t want to see that happen in our country. Why in the world can we not grow up and just get along?
Yes, I see where you're coming from. I do feel a great deal of compassion for this dedicated officer and the horror of having unintentionally taken this young man's life with which she must live. She, too, is caught up in the jaws of the vicious, voracious beast of white supremacy.
The issue is reducing and eliminating unnecessary & unreasonable gun deaths, certainly by law enforcement. Commercial airplanes have been designed to reduce crashes to almost zero in proportion to planes & miles flown. Pilot training is also intense. Medication errors causing death have been a problem which has been worked on, realizing that bottle & pill color, shape, size and then location in medicine case or drawers can correct this. Meds should not be mistaken for one a other. These race based solutions. Clearly certain groups fly more, other groups need meds more. Those groups can also reduce their risks in some cases by additional measures. But the high frequency of police killings of blacks engaged in activities where whites are not killed requires attention to race bias.
David'sinSC... your denial is showing... lie down and free associate. Say what ever comes into your mind when you think about the Blacks, all the Blacks you have ever met, of what ever age... young first.
Some tasers are neon yellow, but the one she was carrying was gun metal grey and from the body camera that she was wearing looked very much like a semi automatic service weapon. As I understand it she was a senior officer not given to making fatal mistakes, the video makes clear the intense chaos that was taking place just before she fired. She warned him over and over that she was going to tase him if he didn’t stop resisting arrest which would have been a non lethal solution. I feel bad for all concerned, first for the family that lost a loved one and secondly for the officer who when she got up that day had no intention of taking someone’s life and will have to live with that as long as the family of the dead man. It sucks all around
You're correct about the taser being gun metal grey. What I find odd and horrifying is the fact that, according to protocol in that department, the service revolver is worn on an officer's dominant side, the taser on the non-dominant side. The chief claims this is how the officers on that force are trained. What reality shows us is that she automatically chose to grab the weapon on her dominant side, the pistol, and was brandishing it while repeatedly warning Wright. I cannot believe that she was unaware of the fact that she was holding a pistol not a taser. The fact that she has 26 years on the job and is, allegedly, not given to making fatal errors makes me question the "mistake" aspect of the shooting even further. Her response immediately following the shooting: "Oh, shit, I shot him". Indeed, she shot him because she was holding a gun and knew it.
So let's be clear. The first priority of the police is quite clearly their own safety, and that of their fellow officers, against all threats, real or imagined. That's why the lethal weapon would be worn on the dominant side.
The SECOND priority appears to be to enforce absolute submission to arbitrary authority, on pain of death. "I told you to get out of the car, never mind that you are afraid, you SHOULD be afraid, and you are about to 'ride the lightning' by disobeying my direct order."
The safety of the public is a distant third, if not lower. Discharging a firearm in a city is DANGEROUS. If you miss -- even if you don't -- you endanger anyone in the line of fire on the other side of your target.
Compare this to firefighters, or ER physicians, where the first priority is the health and safety of the public. Firefighters lose their lives. ER physicians, during a crisis, go without sleep. Nurses ... let's not even talk about nurses, it put the police in an even worse light.
I would agree. The chaos of the moment?? Are you serious. It sure looks like they already had him in handcuffs. And how was he a threat to anyone at that point? Hard for me to not have a foul mouth right now. But people’s minds surely are in need of a major paradigm shift when it comes to this 💩💩
No, I'd say it "sucks" a bit for the cop - who will go on living, will probably not even lose her job. For Duante Wright and for his family, I think "sucks" is extremely inadequate and completely lacking in respect.
The white, European Jesus saves at the first national bank. The real, Jewish Jesus from Nazareth does not. Most people have never met the the real, Jewish Jesus from Nazareth. Then again, neither did (has) the papacy or Luther or Calvin. Had any of them met the Jewish Jesus of Nazareth, or understood his message, we would not be awash with the ugly, greedy merchants of the prosperity gospel and their followers.
I come away asking, "If this killing was a 'mistake', why do these 'mistakes' keep happening over and over, and so disproportionately to POC??" I think we might be able to come up with an answer if we REALLY think about it.
Exactly...carrying the metaphor further...good luck trying to fix that "tree". Firstly, everybody needs to be made aware that the "tree" is diseased. Ignoring it means the rot in it will spread. For more reasons than I can count, the people that are most responsible for tending the "tree" have too often closed their eyes to what is wrong. Culpability has to start at the top. I, for one, am sick of it. Try as I might, I cannot imagine what someone of colour must feel. This HAS to stop.
Your comment reminds me of a story from many years ago. Although the situation here is deadly serious, I will share an amusing story. My family lived on a tree lined street. One day the city workers came by and marked the trees that they thought should come down with a large yellow X. My dad didn't want our lovely tree to be removed so he went out with a scraper and took the yellow X off. Later, thinking about it he tried to figure out why they had marked the tree, so he inspected it at close range. Lo and behold, he saw that it was indeed rotting inside. He had to go out with a can of yellow paint and re-paint the X. I'm not making light of this situation, but it goes to show that there is often rot that is not seen at first, but by looking closely you can see it.
It might be something they do want, actually. There would be nothing Murdoch and Trump would celebrate more than blacks rioting in cities--their dream come true. They would make hay out of that, for sure.
Scary to think about. I will not defend the officer’s idiocy. But do you really think she intended to provoke a race war? Absolutely unconscionable if she did.
I don’t believe it was deliberate, it was reactive. An automatic response to resistance. Aggressive police behavior has become so ingrained and commonplace that habit has replaced critical thinking. Once you’ve become a hammer, everything is a nail.
Out of your system? Joseph Memeth (CA) - this is systemic... and deep. Yet, it will be quite easily exorcised... if we can just manage to dig a bit and find out where it starts, in each one of us.
Two thoughts. In any other job, an employee would be fired & might permanently lose their license or reputation to practice that job if their mistake made in their profession or trade led to the injury or death of another person.
CPAC's 2021 meeting stage ceiling depicted in lights a Confederare flag with cross and stars. NRA's Wayne LaPierre rallied his mostly white audience with advocacy of gun ownership and use to take laws into your own hands.
Heather's historical review of pre Civil War words and events captures the foundation of today's political, racial & professional situation. However, then the words and actions were fundamentally clear and to the point. Today, tools like tasers & guns, and stage sets & speakers indirectly carry the message and are the excuses.
Our nation & humanity have and continue to pay a high price for not learning & living the essence of our religions & democratic ideals.
I have broken just about every law & infraction that black men may break & pay with their lives. But A) I seldom get stopped in traffic & never have been confronted in my home by police and B) I mostly get warnings or on occasion a ticket. No police ever held as gun on me, pepper sprayed me, cuffed me, pushed me to the ground or knelt on me though I have sometimes questioned the officer about his/her reason for stopping me, and did not always have all requested documentation with me.
White people get a free pass. Black people are judged & found guilty before they are ever confronted. We have trained this into our white dominated society, and the Great Mandala keeps on turning as Peter, Paul & Mary once sang.
If we look at the warrants for arrest that lead to yesterday’s shooting, I wonder what percentage of young males have warrants out. And I wonder what the percentages are if broken out by race, and by poverty. Oh and how about we look at gender also. I would bet that a far greater percentage of poor males of color already have a warrant wrapped around their (figurative)necks.
Can I just say you’re amazing? To pull these together in such a well-wrapped package, six days a week, throughout all that has occurred since you started your letters awes me. Every time. Thank you.
Jeez, is any police department worth saving? I'm horrified by the power we've allowed police to have because we've not held them to account for shooting people in the back, shooting them during a no-knock warrant, killing people by handcuffing and depriving those same people of oxygen, killing people by handcuffing and throwing them into the back of a van with no way to protect themselves and on, and on. We've allowed them to be dressed in their warfare outfits, given them rubber bullets and pepper balls to attack protesters. I'm beyond mad. There is something wrong here. Doctor Richardson is right, the police have removed the rights of some people to have a fair trial...what's more, they've determined they are entitled to dole out the death penalty for traffic stops or a fake $20. bill.
Also, 76 years ago today, FDR died. For the majority of Americans fighting in World War II, he was the only president they could remember. The average age of Americans fighting at that point of the war was 22; for the majority, the first time they had been able to vote for president was the previous November, when the absentee vote of servicemen gave him the strongest personal majority he got in all four elections. 76 years ago today, the president whose acts created the world most of us grew up in, died.
We were blessed and lucky to have chosen such leaders. I count the next 3 Presidents to follow great as well. Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. How did we then assume we were on the wrong path? We chose Johnson, whose error wasn’t Viet Nam, it was social justice, it was equality for People, equality for People Of Color. We appear to live in a society of unapologetic racists.
Has HCR written on FDR and Eleanor? I’d like to hear more. I believe he made some unconscionable political horse trades with Southern Democrats to pass the GI and FHA housing bills on the backs of Blacks. And she was amazing, especially given his philandering. How did she escape being racist when none of the rest of us did, in your analysis? By the way, I agree with it - no white person has a chance to escape the deeply rooted perceptual biases about Blacks in our culture, or perhaps any culture where Whites are predominant, although I think the next couple generations have a much better shot at it.
I used to do homecare nursing and in one of my visits, a lady who was prominent in the black community of the city -- she had a newspaper picture in her entry way of Eleanor Roosevelt and her as a young girl during the First Lady's visit to her school. I think it was a seminal moment in her young life and gave her an inspiration for public service and leadership.
According to Richard Rothstein, in The Color of Law, Eleanor brought it to FDR's attention that a housing development for American workers was preparing to sell homes in the development to both white and Black families. The administration brought pressure to bear on the developer and the tracts became white-buyers only because Eleanor did not want white workers to have to live in close proximity to Black workers. "Separate, but equal?" Or just outright racism? Since no development for Black workers as well-situated for work and school was then proposed and built, I'd say it was the latter.
This is gross stupidity. A routine traffic stop turned into a homicide because four cops didn't try to deescalate a volatile situation, and acted like a gang of stormtroopers with a black teenager. Whatever started this thing had nonlethal exit ramps all along the way, and all of which were ignored. Stupidity and stubbornness are no excuses. The kid who got shot might have been stupid and stubborn, but he's a kid, not a cop. The cops, all four of them, were expected to act professionally and not lower themselves to the level of a scared and angry kid. Worse yet, there was a senior officer on scene, and she was the one who shot and killed the kid by mistake. This was Mayberry from the depths of Hell.
Then, this female officer added to the mayhem by pulling her firearm and shooting the kid under the misapprehension that she was entitled to use a taser to subdue him after the cops escalated the quantum of fear and anger. He's dead. She's distraught. The world knows about it. And we now have 'George Floyd 2.0'. The officer who did this is said to be a 26 year veteran of the Brooklyn Center PD. Really?(!) She couldn't distinguish between a taser and a Glock semi-automatic pistol? She's carried that pistol or one like it on her hip for all those years, and she cannot distinguish between a handgun that weighs about two pounds (1 kilogram) and an electrical device that weighs maybe a bit more than a large cell phone. C'mon. Get real!
The taser is holstered on her nondominant side, typically the left handed side of her waist. Interviews with experts say confusion is rare; but there's no reason whatsoever that requires a taser to have a pistol grip. I have several TV remotes that would fill the bill nicely, like a flashlight.
Tasers have an effective range of only a few yards. Unlike a pistol, it's designed for close combat within a meter or two of arms length. Certainly not much more distance. It's not a device you can aim with any degree of precision; and if you do need to aim it, they can easily be equipped with a laser pointer, a technology we've had for decades.
Instances of confusion have occurred, a recent example of which occurred in Oakland California within the past two years. An officer with the Bay Area Rapid Transit System mistook his sidearm for a taser electric dart projector and shot and killed someone he was attempting to subdue. The officer was tried and convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and he served a prison sentence.
Now that we know that misidentification is possible, an entirely different design is called for, possibly equipped with an audible signal that alerts the user (and the intended target) to either chill out or take the consequences. We're going to find out more about this officer in the days ahead, and my prediction is that little if any of those disclosures will be flattering to her, or to her employer.
I highly recommend "Fruitvale Station," a feature film on the killing of Oscar Grant, which does not focus on the incident. Instead, it highlights Mr Grant's normal, mundane, yet infinitely valuable life. The result is a triumph of humane and humanist art.
One final point that is worth noting is that tasing itself is a form of torture. It will be just as easy to grab Mr. Wright by his left arm and the scruff of his neck and haul him out of the vehicle, and without subjecting him to a 50,000 volt shock that would have sent his nervous system into temporary collapse. Put aside the rhetorical 'What were they thinking?', when the answer is so obvious. Tasers of the new cop-toy of choice. For someone giving the cop a hard time, it is a logical step to suspect that schadenfreude is taking place when the one resisting is made to collapse in a quivering mound of pain. Video clips that I saw late yesterday evening show Mr. Wright as a skinny kid with no potential to cause harm to any law enforcement officer; he was refusing to remove his seatbelt and exit the car. If one of those officers were to grab Mr. Wright by the ear or by the neck and physically pull him from the vehicle, he would be alive today, sore but still breathing. Instead, the senior officer present chose to go high-tech, and she botched it badly.
And what was all this about? News reports suggest it might have been an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror; or an expired license registration on a car that Mr. Wright's family had given him the previous week or two; or any of a half dozen unarticulated reasons for stopping somebody 'driving while black'. When the kid gets a new car from his family, the last thing he is thinking about is whether the license and registration are up to date. At least from the news reports, none of the usual reasons, i.e. running a red light or stop sign, illegal left turn, failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk, and so on, would seem to apply. The pettiness of the offense precipitating the traffic stop would seem to suggest harassment as the operative motivation. And now, look where that got us.
This is, unfortunately, one of the most timely, moving and compelling posts you've written. Every American should reflect on the juxtaposition, as you described it, of police acting as "judge, jury, and executioner" and "the fundamental American principle of equality before the law and their right to due legal process... Mr. Floyd and Mr. Wright had the right to due legal process... [if] police officers could condemn them to death without the due process of the law, we need to revisit exactly what sort of government we have." I tweeted excerpts here https://bit.ly/3wZwxLx
The issue here is that the police are domestic terrorists. As a young gay man in sf I was routinely harassed and humiliated by them. In Oregon I had equally nightmarish experiences. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be black in this environment. My heart breaks anew every day.
I read that the Democrats had to back off of requiring a background check on gun sales and transfers between family members because Joe Manchin said, “Law-abiding gun owners aren’t going to sell their guns to strangers. That’s how we’re taught. We’re not going to loan guns to strangers or even to family members who aren’t responsible. We’re not doing that, so don’t take all my rights away.”
That is so ridiculous to me.
Somehow, our lack of movement on gun safety measures is related to all these killings of Black men and women by law enforcement. We have so far to go in our race to become human.
To a large extent Joe Manchin is the Democratic Party in WV. His long, successful career there is due to that party. He is not wanted by WV Repugs, who lust to take his seat themselves, not welcome him among them.
I was thinking about Richard Engel’s special on the January 6th insurrection which aired Sunday night on MSNBC and was surprised by the three women among the insurrectionists he featured. Two of the women had served in the military as had a lot of the male insurrectionists. I found this article on the role of women in white supremacy. It talked about women in the KKK and there is a photo of them circa 1920 in Lancaster County!! A friend of mine, definitely not a white supremacist, who grew up in Lancaster County had just told me her grandfather had been a Grand Dragon of the KKK. She watched a program on the Klan Sunday evening. Seeing these women in Klan garb is rather startling to me. Twisting my mind, I'd say. We the People, All of Us This Time!
Keep going... Richard is on camera, he cannot and will not serve up the dynamics of racial prejudice.. but he is spot on... without touching the "why" of it.
Can’t sleep either. Great passionate, clear write up. In Alabama, our racist state govt will not accept Medicaid (& 12-13 hospitals have closed over the years). They discriminate equally against poor whites in this case. A small black group in Montgomery (capitol) got 12 to 13,OOO signatures on petitions for Medicaid some 10 yrs ago....nothing!! They more recently put body bags on steps of capitol. I just asked my (radical) young Unitarian minister if she & other spiritual leaders would MEET with our woman governor (need her signature alone) to, as the “Christians” these Alabamians claim to be, PLEASE finally grant healthcare to her constituents. We’ll see... Thank you again for YOUR passion as well!
Alabama does have a Medicaid program. The issue appears to be disproportionality by race of deaths from Covid-19. In May 2020, "Alabama Save Ourselves Movement for Justice and Democracy rallied on the capitol steps Thursday, to bring awareness to the lives lost due to the virus. 'It makes no sense for people to be dying in Alabama. Black people, in particular, more so than any other group of people,' said Johnny Ford. Body bags were laid out on the capitol steps to represent a person in Alabama who has died from coronavirus."
Alabama, along with South Carolina and other southern states, has refused to implement the Medicaid expansion contained in the ACA (Obamacare) because of a) who signed the bill, and b) who might benefit the most from the expansion.
TN too. Even after a well-respected Repub governor asked the legislature to reconsider after he was able to make changes to make it more palatable, the legislature refused. Would rather see ppl die than accept “Obama”care.
And also Florida. We have Medicaid for seniors with Medicare and for low or no income disabled residents. It’s the gap between traditional Medicaid and the ACA Medicaid expansion we lack. It abandons all low income workers who don’t make enough to qualify for ACA subsidies and too much for Medicaid. Catch 22.
Uhmm, that is not their nose they are cutting off. Most politicians have access to decent health care. It is my nose and every other worker’s nose, in SC and similar states in which health care is not provided as a retirement benefit, that is being amputated. It is the raise that every low paid health care worker doesn’t get because we provide mandated care and our hospital systems don’t get reimbursed.
Let's not mention the hospitals in Bamberg, Barnwell, Bennettsville, and Winnsboro that closed for lack of patients because SC didn't take the expansion.
My patience and conscience are equally tried. I know the 17,985 police departments in the USA cannot pay huge salaries. My town and the town closest to it have fewer than half the number of personnel they are authorized to have. Caught between Scylla and Charybdis, most police departments do what they can do to protect their citizens by hiring as many people as possible.
Do we have to settle for someone with 26 years experience who mistakes their firearm for their Taser? Do we have to have multiple officers in multiple vehicles, emerging from said vehicles with weapons drawn to arrest someone for a misdemeanor, and after to execute a warrant for failing to appear in court?
What is so deeply disturbing is that a huge percentage of these deaths at the hands of police are (a) Black (b) for trivial offences (c) non life threatening (d) people suffering from mental illness. The Police do not shoot to disable, they shoot to kill (or they are terrible shots). Defunding is one answer - ie taking away responsibility for the approach to mental health issues, etc. Overall, training seems to be seriously at fault. As a White man, I have no fear of being pulled over by a traffic cop. Other races are trained from childhood how to respond - submit, don't antagonise, don't talk back, do *exactly* as they say...If ever there were a definition of White privilege...
Exactly. Why should black people be told to do that? I know black moms who have to teach their young sons what you just wrote. I do not know any white women that have to do that with their white sons. The answer lies in why you, as a white man, feel no fear in being pulled over.
What concerns me regarding these killings - and others - is the use of deadly force by police on trivial legal matters. A traffic tickets should not result in death. Passing a fake $20 bill should not result in death. Selling a cigarette outside a store should not result in death. These are trivial matters. Police officers should direct their energy to serious matters.
The crime isn't the issue, and hardly ever is in these circumstances.
I disagree. Many of these crimes deserve only a ticket. There is no need to arrest these folks. It doesn't call for police to strong arm people. Give them a ticket. Move on to serious issues.
That'd be great! Except for the original sin: How many cars did those cops pull over - that day - for having danglies on their rearview mirror? A thousand?
I don't think there's much doubt about why this stop happened. This is authority trolling for "perps." And knowing just who might fit the profile.
Cops make choices. They should be accountable for the choices.
If you read Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Talking to Strangers, you will get an in-depth look at the interaction between Sandra Bland and the officer who arrested her. He not only stopped her for a minor traffic violation (pulling over without using her turn signal), he forced her to do it by pulling up close behind her, making her think he needed to get by. I wanted so badly to go back in time and go to her, to fight for her. I felt like I got to know her a little. And then she was gone.
Jeanne, it is crazy making is it not?
Yes. And so, so sad.
You're fighting for her now, Jeanne.
Sandra Bland, say her name. Remember them all.
Thanks, TPJ.
Sandra Bland.
Duante Wright.
George Floyd.
Philando Castile.
Once I was driving in my city and I was in a neighborhood that had a "slow school" sign so I slowed down to 25 mph. I did not see a "end slow school" sign so kept crawling, then I saw a police car behind me....saw another "slow school" sign --this continued for about 2 blocks (I passed the school but assumed that perhaps, there was another school which is not unusual because there are religious schools and public schools often close by each other). I did not want to get pulled over for speeding. Then finally I saw a parking lot of a cafe and pulled in. The police pulled in after me, got out and asked me if I was ok, why was I driving so slowly. I told them I saw the slow school signs and the police were behind me and not passing me. This was on the South Side which is in a higher crime area.
Good start.
But it reveals...
Dear Patricia Kvill... try thinking, you are not even close. Denial is not where this is going.
Is it me or Monday or is that another young black man ( just a boy at 20) was killed yesterday by police at a traffic stop in MN, or that a black Army Officer was also brutally assaulted in another traffic stop in VA, or because there was another school shooting in Knoxville today, all the while 100 of our most populated cities are 50% to 100% hospital’s ICUs are full of Covid; that I need a letter from a American to explain how bat shit crazy things have become. I’ve come to the conclusion that I hope our generals realize, We have climbed the wrong mountain. In the Information Age, our country’s survival depends less on missiles, stealth bombers, air craft carriers, and ageis warships, but more on protecting the health of our citizens, insuring the health of our planet, and the quality of information that guides our behavior to either our destruction or salvation. 🙏 Dr Richardson, this Monday I needed another letter.
Climbed the wrong mountain indeed. Nailed it Ted
Correction. 100 of the most populated metro areas are 75 to 100% of ICU capacity.
Stay masked. Avoid Crowds. Get vax.
https://covidactnow.org/?s=1752673
The Knoxville shooting claimed a FIFTH young life since the first of the year.
I think they were all related to Austin - East HS, too. It's like a mass shooting in slow motion and very tragic for the community. And in these cases, folks are not being victimized by police, but by their peers.
Good on you & all these other responses. Feel more hopeful
Yes, another school shooting, how tragic. And this particular High School in sleepy Knoxville has had 5 children of color killed by gun violence this calendar year, alone!
I blame the police for not doing enough to keep guns out of young people's hands - oh wait...
No, you need help. Another letter like this will only piss you off...
I have a whole lot of thoughts, feelings, emotions, and opinions about the situation in which law enforcement finds itself in today. I spent the better part of yesterday grappling with conversations with friends regarding Daunte Wright's killing and the course of the trial in George Floyd's murder when I wasn't trying to unstick (unsuccessfully) a stuck rotor in my tuba in preparation for resuming rehearsals in a small ensemble that I play in (and this particular issue wraps around to the pandemic, but I digress).
When I read about Kim Potter, the third officer on scene of this traffic stop who was a 26 year veteran of the agency, and how she made the decision to use her taser on a man who had pulled away from the officer handcuffing him, and ended up shooting him instead, my thought was "that could have been me." I retired after 28 years with my agency, 26.5 years on patrol. I'm that particular demographic (or was nearly 8 years ago). The thing is, that would have never been me, for any number of reasons (training, experience, disposition are the ones I can come up with on this sleepless morning.)
Elsewhere in the comments, there are some things that stand out for me in this regard. One commenter said (paraphrased) "well, just do what they say, and there's no problem" and another said (again paraphrased) "just handle your traffic tickets and you don't get warrants." There was also the "failure to comply with lawful order/respect authority" rationale. What many people don't understand is that the two new situations in the news today (Daunte Wright and Caron Nazario) are archetypes of Black people's experience with law enforcement officers. Both vehicle stops were initiated for infractions that are minor violations of vehicle code (registration issues which have been impacted by the pandemic). In both cases, the police response was enhanced due to the officer's "perception of risk/danger", particularly in Nazario's case. Stopped for a minor traffic violation, and the event escalates. In one case, a warrant is discovered for another traffic violation, and when the subject pulls away (from a poorly performed attempt at custody, but I again digress) a negligent use of force leads to death. In the other, a communicated concern of the driver "I'm scared to get out of the car" is met with "you should be" and physical force is used to extricate the driver from the vehicle.
I guess what I am stumbling around to is this: white people have no flipping clue what the experience of Black people is with law enforcement. None. Stop to think for a minute; Daunte Wright was 20. How many times do you suppose he had been stopped by law enforcement? At least one, that we know of (hence the traffic warrant). What about his friends? What was his social group's experience with the predominantly white officers of the PD? How about Caron Nazario? His event took place in December, and yet it is only coming to light 4 months later. His conduct at the stop leads me to believe that this was not the first time he had been contacted by law enforcement while operating a motor vehicle. There are so many more.
I have gotten to an uncomfortable place with my former profession. It is not the honorable service that I thought it was; the service of community. It has become something else, something that I really don't recognize any more.
Ally, it’s impossible to imagine how torn you must feel. No doubt many honorable people join the force with good intentions. But a department that permits racism and disrespect ultimately taints even the good cops. Once you see every person of color as a potential threat, all reason is lost.
When multiple cruisers arrive at a traffic stop, the danger only escalates. When officers shout and threaten suspects they increase fear in the suspect, adrenaline in themselves and bad behavior follows.
Until we find a better way, no one is safe.
Ally thank you for this.
Thanks for your post...lots to consider. I also think that the more these things keep happening, the more it ramps up the feelings, fear, anxiety, etc. of a Black person if they're stopped by police. It creates a kind of snowball effect. I know were I Black I'd be scared sh!tless right now if I was driving and saw flashing blue lights. Imagine being Black and being stopped, especially with all that has happened recently, and you have to think and hope to yourself the police-person stopping you isn't some white supremacist or something. If a White person was being stopped, such thoughts wouldn't even be considered and you wouldn't need to fear for your life. I've talked about a lot of these things with my Black students over the years and I have learned a lot by just talking and listening. Hearing them describe what they felt like when they've been stopped is eye-opening. I have some Black colleagues that I am very close to and we also discuss this stuff. It's important, IMO, to communicate. Exchange and gain perspectives. Like CNN's Don Lemon said: "Got any Black friends? No?? Then go out and find some."
Newsflash! Like anyone is surprised:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/21/us/police-stops-race-stanford-study-trnd
Thanks for sharing this study. I wonder if this practice is literally TAUGHT in training academies? The individuals in my town who drive too fast, who tailgate, and whose boom boxes disrupt the neighborhoods for the most part are young WHITE men or WHITE soccer moms in a hurry to get somewhere. Why are they not the ones being pulled over?
I have a question in regard to HCR's comment about an individual becoming "judge, jury and executioner" and in regard to the nature of those "stops." Is it common practice these days for law enforcement officers (THREE, in the case of the young man who was murdered) to pull over people just because they are driving new vehicles with paper plates, or because they have air fresheners hanging on their rear view mirrors? Since when did this because such a serious CRIME, that teams of two or three, with guns drawn and handcuffs at the ready must apprehend people...and is it common practice these days to literally TARGET people of color? Surely, with real crime going on, there's plenty of protecting and defending that could be done without going after innocent people and then creating a conflict in which harm (or death) will result? I begin to wonder what is being taught these days in police training academies.
Thanks, Ally. I have the same lack of recognition for "health care."
Ally House, Your experience, deep feeling and understanding always standout. If you have time, I would appreciate your reply to the comment I dropped just about a half hour ago, I'm the first new comment now, but that was at least 6 hrs., after your this one of yours. You are busy, so, of course, this is a favor that I understand may be inconvenient. I wrote about police enforcement, which I do not know much about. Please excuse my forwardness in this regard.
Better late than never. Talk is cheap. Review my comment on two charities. Spread the word: we will match those that donate to either up to $50,000 each from Substack readers: identify yourself to either Black lady as a Letters from an American loyalist, give to honor Heather Cox Richardson... to honor her wish to educate. We will ask her to speak at the college of choice. Judith Berry will respond.
First, this is an inexcusable accident that occurred.
We do know Mr Wright had been stopped previously and charged with illegally carrying a pistol and then failed to show up to court, hence the outstanding warrant.
How are the police supposed to prevent crime and deadly events if they cannot detain folks who have outstanding warrants for weapons crime?
Stop escalating the situation for starters. These were misdemeanors, was arresting him the best response? Black people know arrests are often violent, using excessive force that injures or kills the suspect. They could have given him a warning or citation. No one was in danger, none of this was necessary.
I think gun crimes are pretty serious.
The police obvious gave him a summons the first time when he was cited for illegally carrying a pistol and apparently he failed to show up for court.
This time he refused to accept his detainment and ignored clear orders. Maybe he should have been put in jail the first time?
Sometimes, folks need to accept responsibility for their actions. Mr Wright, apparently, was not interested in this.
The cop was wrong and made a huge mistake and will pay for her actions - or do you think it is allowable that she should attempt to run away, too?
William, please seriously consider the words of a (white) friend of mine:
"I got pulled over yesterday by the police and here's what went through my mind: 'Oh, shit! I was speeding again. I'm going to be late for my meeting now! Damn it, where's my license?...Good morning, officer.' Not for a second did I think, is this how I will die? That's white privelege."
Several years ago, I was having problems with my car and decided to just sell it on Craigslist. I was contacted by a mechanic who offered to come look at it to see if he could fix it. When the guy arrived, I may have been mildly surprised that he was Black, but proceeded to show him the car and we decided to see what he could do. While he was working, a police car slowly went by, and the mechanic looked up, smiled wryly, and said, "There's the po-po," as though he had been expecting them. I remarked that it was the first time I'd seen a patrol car on my street. Mr. S. then told me that he had been stopped in his car or approached on the street on average of twice a month his entire life since his teens - and he had never committed even the smallest of infractions, not even speeding.
Since that day, although I've always been aware to some extent that being Black in this country is no picnic, I cannot get it out of my mind that every Black person in this country has reason to fear the police in ways no white person can truly understand, because we have not experienced this constant surveillance. Yes, police in the U.S. kill more white people than Black people, if statistics are at all reliable, but a Black person is much more likely to be met with deadly police force than is a white person. https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/
William, if you are a white man, I would argue that you have no idea what you are talking about and that, regardless of your income or social level, you are writing purely out of an experience that cannot compare to that of any Black person or other person of color in America.
You are writing from the fiction of your mind.
Hi, William. Bill here...but you can call me Mr. Willis. I’m guessing you have a surname as well and I would use it if I knew it.
I don’t know if you saw my earlier my earlier post but if you did you know I am an American of African descent; I’m NOT writing fiction.
One of the reason we still have lethal levels of anti-blackness in this country is that white citizens have traditionally downplayed the plight of their black, brown and Asian neighbors. Complaints of mistreatment have been diluted by rationalizations and comforting tropes, and excuses and re-explanations.
But today, because of the camera/cell phone/micro computer, we can see in vivid and horrifying detail many of the atrocities these discounted citizens suffer almost daily. It has become more difficult to explain away the abuse POC experience.
And yet, too many try.
We will never solve this horrendous dilemma until a sizable majority of the nation’s residents sign on to this untenable reality. We must finally reach the conclusion that we are all part of this global human family and become the keepers of our brothers.
William, since you think that Mr Wright must be responsible for his actions, surely you also are totally infuriated that the police are not responsible for their far more serious, and lethal actions, right? But perhaps you feel that police should never be accountable. Perhaps you have forgotten who is alive now -- and who is DEAD??
Regardless of what you think or feel, saving all your consideration for the police, with no empathy for their victims, is disgraceful. So is mocking people who reply with compassion, which no doubt you'll do again. For shame.
William, let’s try this scenario:
Let’s imagine your daughter used to date an abusive man who is a cop in her town. He stops her frequently to harass her over inconsequential things. She’s terrified of him. She buys a gun, but, doesn’t register it. He finds out and tries to arrest her, but, she panics and tries to run. Should he tase her?
The warrant on Mr Wright was a misdemeanor for failing to register his gun. They tried to arrest him; he panicked and ran. Was a taser really the best way to convince him to comply?
History sets the table for all of this. We cannot keep repeating the same mistakes. Black have been victims of abusive policing since slavery. It has to end.
And, should I assume that you feel folks should be able to possess and carry handguns without background checks, permits and training?
And that gun crimes are not serious and should not result in punishment?
I am flabbergasted by these indirect suggestions from your post.
HOW ABOUT GUN CRIMES COMMITTED BY POLICE???
Of course I’m not suggesting we ignore background checks or gun registration. The warrant for Mr Wright was for a misdemeanor not a felony. My criticism was for the quick escalation to force which led to his death.
Your scenario is poor.
This isn't about gun registration. It's about an underaged person carrying a concealed weapon. They were caught, charged, issued a summons and failed to appear to Court.
Failed to appear because of a scrivener's error in the email sent advising of the court date.
so the cops can be executioners?
so she ran away by resigning, keeping her pension and other benefits. You think that is "allowable"?
Officer Who Shot Daunte Wright Arrested, To Be Charged With 2nd-Degree Manslaughter
NPR, breaking news
Ya, this is an unfolding story
The warrant was, as I understand, based upon failure to appear for a summons he did not receive for a scrivener's error when entering his email address.
Police do not prevent crime and deadly events. They respond to them.
I find it impossible to avoid a sarcastic comment, having to do with the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Perhaps we should have an investigation into how the police utility belt is arranged, and more standardization and training, to avoid this kind of "human error." Perfectly understandable, of course: I never know whether I put my car keys in my right pocket or my left. I understand how embarrassing it would be if I kept something lethal in the other pocket, like a nuclear detonation fob, and accidentally ... well, you know. </sarcasm>
Having gotten that out of my system, what astonishes and saddens me is the barefaced arrogance of this police action, on the very same stage as the Chauvin murder trial, atop the dry powderkeg that is Minneapolis. You'd think the police would have the plain animal good sense to go to ground under these circumstances: to stop picking at the scab with dirty fingernails, to stop poking the bear with a stick, to stop ... oh, make up any Posthumous Darwin Award behavior.
It's almost like they WANT to provoke a race war. Nah. Couldn't be that. (Dang, I guess the sarcasm wasn't entirely out of my system.)
My first thought when an officer uses a gun by mistake instead of a taser: how could taser designers, manufacturers and police departments be so reckless & stupid not to make them noticeably different in shape, feel, color & method/location for carrying them. Then again, maybe guns should be kept in police cars & not carried where they can discharge under all kinds of unintended circumstances.
My thoughts exactly. If the taser were neon yellow, she couldn’t have made this deadly error.
As per my comment on this thread if she did intend to use her gun it was an unconscionable act. I believe that if such a horrid act were intended that one would find evidence of racism in that person’s social media accounts. Again do we really think this person intended to start a race war? Is this not a stopping point before we add to the conflagration? Where are we going with this thread?
I think they are inter-related. As Paul said, would a white driver have been pulled over for having an air-freshener hanging from his or her rear view mirror? Much less likely. The racism was in the initial stop. Then the militarization of our police forces is a related issue. Why are they outfitted for combat? Why do their tasers look and feel like their Glocks? I’m sure she didn’t consciously decide to start a race war. That war is waging all the time. She added to the conflagration, unintentionally with her deadly mistake, and (perhaps) subconsciously with the initial stop.
Color, color, color... hair, hair, hair... location, location, location..
Net worth by the drop.
Though I often agree with you David, I think you are off the mark here. The question you are asking is not the relevant one; her intent is not in question here. The real questions are: would this have happened if he were white? What possible justification could there be for the use of ANY violence in such a situation? What part did wholly rational fear on the part of this young, black man play in his decision to flee the situation? What part does systemic, consistent, hyperviolent racist policing play in instilling that fear?
Reid my understanding is that driving while black is a danger to everyone, of color. I am appalled to hear that guns were drawn in any simple traffic stop. I just worry that the implication that this woman intended to kill this man will bring us to real conflagration.
I really get that we live in a society of flagrant racists. I understand I have biases hidden from others and probably myself. I live in SC for God’s sake. I see every day examples of bias every day in my E. R. I see the real possibility of this situation exploding. I don’t want to see that happen in our country. Why in the world can we not grow up and just get along?
Yes, I see where you're coming from. I do feel a great deal of compassion for this dedicated officer and the horror of having unintentionally taken this young man's life with which she must live. She, too, is caught up in the jaws of the vicious, voracious beast of white supremacy.
Exactly!!!
The issue is reducing and eliminating unnecessary & unreasonable gun deaths, certainly by law enforcement. Commercial airplanes have been designed to reduce crashes to almost zero in proportion to planes & miles flown. Pilot training is also intense. Medication errors causing death have been a problem which has been worked on, realizing that bottle & pill color, shape, size and then location in medicine case or drawers can correct this. Meds should not be mistaken for one a other. These race based solutions. Clearly certain groups fly more, other groups need meds more. Those groups can also reduce their risks in some cases by additional measures. But the high frequency of police killings of blacks engaged in activities where whites are not killed requires attention to race bias.
David'sinSC... your denial is showing... lie down and free associate. Say what ever comes into your mind when you think about the Blacks, all the Blacks you have ever met, of what ever age... young first.
What makes you the adult in the room?
Some tasers are neon yellow, but the one she was carrying was gun metal grey and from the body camera that she was wearing looked very much like a semi automatic service weapon. As I understand it she was a senior officer not given to making fatal mistakes, the video makes clear the intense chaos that was taking place just before she fired. She warned him over and over that she was going to tase him if he didn’t stop resisting arrest which would have been a non lethal solution. I feel bad for all concerned, first for the family that lost a loved one and secondly for the officer who when she got up that day had no intention of taking someone’s life and will have to live with that as long as the family of the dead man. It sucks all around
You're correct about the taser being gun metal grey. What I find odd and horrifying is the fact that, according to protocol in that department, the service revolver is worn on an officer's dominant side, the taser on the non-dominant side. The chief claims this is how the officers on that force are trained. What reality shows us is that she automatically chose to grab the weapon on her dominant side, the pistol, and was brandishing it while repeatedly warning Wright. I cannot believe that she was unaware of the fact that she was holding a pistol not a taser. The fact that she has 26 years on the job and is, allegedly, not given to making fatal errors makes me question the "mistake" aspect of the shooting even further. Her response immediately following the shooting: "Oh, shit, I shot him". Indeed, she shot him because she was holding a gun and knew it.
So let's be clear. The first priority of the police is quite clearly their own safety, and that of their fellow officers, against all threats, real or imagined. That's why the lethal weapon would be worn on the dominant side.
The SECOND priority appears to be to enforce absolute submission to arbitrary authority, on pain of death. "I told you to get out of the car, never mind that you are afraid, you SHOULD be afraid, and you are about to 'ride the lightning' by disobeying my direct order."
The safety of the public is a distant third, if not lower. Discharging a firearm in a city is DANGEROUS. If you miss -- even if you don't -- you endanger anyone in the line of fire on the other side of your target.
Compare this to firefighters, or ER physicians, where the first priority is the health and safety of the public. Firefighters lose their lives. ER physicians, during a crisis, go without sleep. Nurses ... let's not even talk about nurses, it put the police in an even worse light.
I would agree. The chaos of the moment?? Are you serious. It sure looks like they already had him in handcuffs. And how was he a threat to anyone at that point? Hard for me to not have a foul mouth right now. But people’s minds surely are in need of a major paradigm shift when it comes to this 💩💩
I question the “mistake” also. And if it was a mistake, it still proves she’s highly incompetent and should leave the force.
No, I'd say it "sucks" a bit for the cop - who will go on living, will probably not even lose her job. For Duante Wright and for his family, I think "sucks" is extremely inadequate and completely lacking in respect.
yes, what up with that chaos? WHY? No apparent rationale for folks to be so hyped up. Not situationally appropriate.
They ARE neon yellow. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/13/us/daunte-wright-taser-gun.html?smid=em-share
Jesus saves at the first national bank.
The white, European Jesus saves at the first national bank. The real, Jewish Jesus from Nazareth does not. Most people have never met the the real, Jewish Jesus from Nazareth. Then again, neither did (has) the papacy or Luther or Calvin. Had any of them met the Jewish Jesus of Nazareth, or understood his message, we would not be awash with the ugly, greedy merchants of the prosperity gospel and their followers.
Jesus of Nazareth was simply put a “person of color” he would have asked us all to (politely put) “get behind me”
Well said....
My first thought is that the officer is lying.
Exactly. De-gun these situations.
That would be a good start.
Please...
I come away asking, "If this killing was a 'mistake', why do these 'mistakes' keep happening over and over, and so disproportionately to POC??" I think we might be able to come up with an answer if we REALLY think about it.
I’m not sure who said this but “if there are so many bad apples, it’s time to look at the tree”.
Exactly...carrying the metaphor further...good luck trying to fix that "tree". Firstly, everybody needs to be made aware that the "tree" is diseased. Ignoring it means the rot in it will spread. For more reasons than I can count, the people that are most responsible for tending the "tree" have too often closed their eyes to what is wrong. Culpability has to start at the top. I, for one, am sick of it. Try as I might, I cannot imagine what someone of colour must feel. This HAS to stop.
Your comment reminds me of a story from many years ago. Although the situation here is deadly serious, I will share an amusing story. My family lived on a tree lined street. One day the city workers came by and marked the trees that they thought should come down with a large yellow X. My dad didn't want our lovely tree to be removed so he went out with a scraper and took the yellow X off. Later, thinking about it he tried to figure out why they had marked the tree, so he inspected it at close range. Lo and behold, he saw that it was indeed rotting inside. He had to go out with a can of yellow paint and re-paint the X. I'm not making light of this situation, but it goes to show that there is often rot that is not seen at first, but by looking closely you can see it.
It might be something they do want, actually. There would be nothing Murdoch and Trump would celebrate more than blacks rioting in cities--their dream come true. They would make hay out of that, for sure.
Scary to think about. I will not defend the officer’s idiocy. But do you really think she intended to provoke a race war? Absolutely unconscionable if she did.
I don’t believe it was deliberate, it was reactive. An automatic response to resistance. Aggressive police behavior has become so ingrained and commonplace that habit has replaced critical thinking. Once you’ve become a hammer, everything is a nail.
Whew.
Out of your system? Joseph Memeth (CA) - this is systemic... and deep. Yet, it will be quite easily exorcised... if we can just manage to dig a bit and find out where it starts, in each one of us.
Yeah....
Two thoughts. In any other job, an employee would be fired & might permanently lose their license or reputation to practice that job if their mistake made in their profession or trade led to the injury or death of another person.
CPAC's 2021 meeting stage ceiling depicted in lights a Confederare flag with cross and stars. NRA's Wayne LaPierre rallied his mostly white audience with advocacy of gun ownership and use to take laws into your own hands.
Heather's historical review of pre Civil War words and events captures the foundation of today's political, racial & professional situation. However, then the words and actions were fundamentally clear and to the point. Today, tools like tasers & guns, and stage sets & speakers indirectly carry the message and are the excuses.
Our nation & humanity have and continue to pay a high price for not learning & living the essence of our religions & democratic ideals.
I have broken just about every law & infraction that black men may break & pay with their lives. But A) I seldom get stopped in traffic & never have been confronted in my home by police and B) I mostly get warnings or on occasion a ticket. No police ever held as gun on me, pepper sprayed me, cuffed me, pushed me to the ground or knelt on me though I have sometimes questioned the officer about his/her reason for stopping me, and did not always have all requested documentation with me.
White people get a free pass. Black people are judged & found guilty before they are ever confronted. We have trained this into our white dominated society, and the Great Mandala keeps on turning as Peter, Paul & Mary once sang.
If we look at the warrants for arrest that lead to yesterday’s shooting, I wonder what percentage of young males have warrants out. And I wonder what the percentages are if broken out by race, and by poverty. Oh and how about we look at gender also. I would bet that a far greater percentage of poor males of color already have a warrant wrapped around their (figurative)necks.
The whole "traffic warrants" situation was one which was in full force and effect in Ferguson, MO in 2014. It has not improved.
BRAVO... now, what are the Dynamics of Prejudice? Start with your own...
Poetry helps...
Can I just say you’re amazing? To pull these together in such a well-wrapped package, six days a week, throughout all that has occurred since you started your letters awes me. Every time. Thank you.
Jeez, is any police department worth saving? I'm horrified by the power we've allowed police to have because we've not held them to account for shooting people in the back, shooting them during a no-knock warrant, killing people by handcuffing and depriving those same people of oxygen, killing people by handcuffing and throwing them into the back of a van with no way to protect themselves and on, and on. We've allowed them to be dressed in their warfare outfits, given them rubber bullets and pepper balls to attack protesters. I'm beyond mad. There is something wrong here. Doctor Richardson is right, the police have removed the rights of some people to have a fair trial...what's more, they've determined they are entitled to dole out the death penalty for traffic stops or a fake $20. bill.
Yes, dear... and why? What feelings are inspired by Negro features? Free associate... it's free.
Also, 76 years ago today, FDR died. For the majority of Americans fighting in World War II, he was the only president they could remember. The average age of Americans fighting at that point of the war was 22; for the majority, the first time they had been able to vote for president was the previous November, when the absentee vote of servicemen gave him the strongest personal majority he got in all four elections. 76 years ago today, the president whose acts created the world most of us grew up in, died.
We were blessed and lucky to have chosen such leaders. I count the next 3 Presidents to follow great as well. Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. How did we then assume we were on the wrong path? We chose Johnson, whose error wasn’t Viet Nam, it was social justice, it was equality for People, equality for People Of Color. We appear to live in a society of unapologetic racists.
Indeed... we do.
Yes, and FDR was a racist... his wife was anything but.
Has HCR written on FDR and Eleanor? I’d like to hear more. I believe he made some unconscionable political horse trades with Southern Democrats to pass the GI and FHA housing bills on the backs of Blacks. And she was amazing, especially given his philandering. How did she escape being racist when none of the rest of us did, in your analysis? By the way, I agree with it - no white person has a chance to escape the deeply rooted perceptual biases about Blacks in our culture, or perhaps any culture where Whites are predominant, although I think the next couple generations have a much better shot at it.
I used to do homecare nursing and in one of my visits, a lady who was prominent in the black community of the city -- she had a newspaper picture in her entry way of Eleanor Roosevelt and her as a young girl during the First Lady's visit to her school. I think it was a seminal moment in her young life and gave her an inspiration for public service and leadership.
or even an ovular moment...;-)
Touche, Kim!
LOL.
An excellent biography about Eleanor R is the 3 volume biography by Blanche Weisen Cook "Eleanor Roosevelt" Volumes 1, 2 and 3.
I am still on Vol. 2.
I agree about the younger generations. My kids have introduced me to my only black friends.
According to Richard Rothstein, in The Color of Law, Eleanor brought it to FDR's attention that a housing development for American workers was preparing to sell homes in the development to both white and Black families. The administration brought pressure to bear on the developer and the tracts became white-buyers only because Eleanor did not want white workers to have to live in close proximity to Black workers. "Separate, but equal?" Or just outright racism? Since no development for Black workers as well-situated for work and school was then proposed and built, I'd say it was the latter.
Please read "Eleanor Roosevelt" by Blanche Weisen Cooke, it's a 3 volume biography and gives more info re her stance on racism and much more.
This is gross stupidity. A routine traffic stop turned into a homicide because four cops didn't try to deescalate a volatile situation, and acted like a gang of stormtroopers with a black teenager. Whatever started this thing had nonlethal exit ramps all along the way, and all of which were ignored. Stupidity and stubbornness are no excuses. The kid who got shot might have been stupid and stubborn, but he's a kid, not a cop. The cops, all four of them, were expected to act professionally and not lower themselves to the level of a scared and angry kid. Worse yet, there was a senior officer on scene, and she was the one who shot and killed the kid by mistake. This was Mayberry from the depths of Hell.
Then, this female officer added to the mayhem by pulling her firearm and shooting the kid under the misapprehension that she was entitled to use a taser to subdue him after the cops escalated the quantum of fear and anger. He's dead. She's distraught. The world knows about it. And we now have 'George Floyd 2.0'. The officer who did this is said to be a 26 year veteran of the Brooklyn Center PD. Really?(!) She couldn't distinguish between a taser and a Glock semi-automatic pistol? She's carried that pistol or one like it on her hip for all those years, and she cannot distinguish between a handgun that weighs about two pounds (1 kilogram) and an electrical device that weighs maybe a bit more than a large cell phone. C'mon. Get real!
The taser is holstered on her nondominant side, typically the left handed side of her waist. Interviews with experts say confusion is rare; but there's no reason whatsoever that requires a taser to have a pistol grip. I have several TV remotes that would fill the bill nicely, like a flashlight.
Tasers have an effective range of only a few yards. Unlike a pistol, it's designed for close combat within a meter or two of arms length. Certainly not much more distance. It's not a device you can aim with any degree of precision; and if you do need to aim it, they can easily be equipped with a laser pointer, a technology we've had for decades.
Instances of confusion have occurred, a recent example of which occurred in Oakland California within the past two years. An officer with the Bay Area Rapid Transit System mistook his sidearm for a taser electric dart projector and shot and killed someone he was attempting to subdue. The officer was tried and convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and he served a prison sentence.
Now that we know that misidentification is possible, an entirely different design is called for, possibly equipped with an audible signal that alerts the user (and the intended target) to either chill out or take the consequences. We're going to find out more about this officer in the days ahead, and my prediction is that little if any of those disclosures will be flattering to her, or to her employer.
Oscar Grant was a Black man killed by transit police in 2009.
I highly recommend "Fruitvale Station," a feature film on the killing of Oscar Grant, which does not focus on the incident. Instead, it highlights Mr Grant's normal, mundane, yet infinitely valuable life. The result is a triumph of humane and humanist art.
Fruitvale Station, Oakland
One final point that is worth noting is that tasing itself is a form of torture. It will be just as easy to grab Mr. Wright by his left arm and the scruff of his neck and haul him out of the vehicle, and without subjecting him to a 50,000 volt shock that would have sent his nervous system into temporary collapse. Put aside the rhetorical 'What were they thinking?', when the answer is so obvious. Tasers of the new cop-toy of choice. For someone giving the cop a hard time, it is a logical step to suspect that schadenfreude is taking place when the one resisting is made to collapse in a quivering mound of pain. Video clips that I saw late yesterday evening show Mr. Wright as a skinny kid with no potential to cause harm to any law enforcement officer; he was refusing to remove his seatbelt and exit the car. If one of those officers were to grab Mr. Wright by the ear or by the neck and physically pull him from the vehicle, he would be alive today, sore but still breathing. Instead, the senior officer present chose to go high-tech, and she botched it badly.
And what was all this about? News reports suggest it might have been an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror; or an expired license registration on a car that Mr. Wright's family had given him the previous week or two; or any of a half dozen unarticulated reasons for stopping somebody 'driving while black'. When the kid gets a new car from his family, the last thing he is thinking about is whether the license and registration are up to date. At least from the news reports, none of the usual reasons, i.e. running a red light or stop sign, illegal left turn, failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk, and so on, would seem to apply. The pettiness of the offense precipitating the traffic stop would seem to suggest harassment as the operative motivation. And now, look where that got us.
This is, unfortunately, one of the most timely, moving and compelling posts you've written. Every American should reflect on the juxtaposition, as you described it, of police acting as "judge, jury, and executioner" and "the fundamental American principle of equality before the law and their right to due legal process... Mr. Floyd and Mr. Wright had the right to due legal process... [if] police officers could condemn them to death without the due process of the law, we need to revisit exactly what sort of government we have." I tweeted excerpts here https://bit.ly/3wZwxLx
Yes. My first response to a post
Keep the comments coming, Wynne!
This is, unfortunately, one of the most timely, moving and compelling posts you've written.
The issue here is that the police are domestic terrorists. As a young gay man in sf I was routinely harassed and humiliated by them. In Oregon I had equally nightmarish experiences. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be black in this environment. My heart breaks anew every day.
Thank you, Ted, and sorry for the ongoing ordeal. Please comment again soon; your perspective is helpful.
I read that the Democrats had to back off of requiring a background check on gun sales and transfers between family members because Joe Manchin said, “Law-abiding gun owners aren’t going to sell their guns to strangers. That’s how we’re taught. We’re not going to loan guns to strangers or even to family members who aren’t responsible. We’re not doing that, so don’t take all my rights away.”
That is so ridiculous to me.
Somehow, our lack of movement on gun safety measures is related to all these killings of Black men and women by law enforcement. We have so far to go in our race to become human.
Joe Manchin is a DINO (to posit another possible argumentum ad hominem for OlRedhair). I'm not sure why he bothers to run as a Democrat.
To a large extent Joe Manchin is the Democratic Party in WV. His long, successful career there is due to that party. He is not wanted by WV Repugs, who lust to take his seat themselves, not welcome him among them.
I was thinking about Richard Engel’s special on the January 6th insurrection which aired Sunday night on MSNBC and was surprised by the three women among the insurrectionists he featured. Two of the women had served in the military as had a lot of the male insurrectionists. I found this article on the role of women in white supremacy. It talked about women in the KKK and there is a photo of them circa 1920 in Lancaster County!! A friend of mine, definitely not a white supremacist, who grew up in Lancaster County had just told me her grandfather had been a Grand Dragon of the KKK. She watched a program on the Klan Sunday evening. Seeing these women in Klan garb is rather startling to me. Twisting my mind, I'd say. We the People, All of Us This Time!
https://www.vox.com/2021/1/15/22231079/capitol-riot-women-qanon-white-supremacy
Hard truths Cathy.
Oh, the white supremacist women are 10x worse than the men. They've got more to lose in their minds.
I call them honorary males.
Keep going... Richard is on camera, he cannot and will not serve up the dynamics of racial prejudice.. but he is spot on... without touching the "why" of it.
Can’t sleep either. Great passionate, clear write up. In Alabama, our racist state govt will not accept Medicaid (& 12-13 hospitals have closed over the years). They discriminate equally against poor whites in this case. A small black group in Montgomery (capitol) got 12 to 13,OOO signatures on petitions for Medicaid some 10 yrs ago....nothing!! They more recently put body bags on steps of capitol. I just asked my (radical) young Unitarian minister if she & other spiritual leaders would MEET with our woman governor (need her signature alone) to, as the “Christians” these Alabamians claim to be, PLEASE finally grant healthcare to her constituents. We’ll see... Thank you again for YOUR passion as well!
Alabama does have a Medicaid program. The issue appears to be disproportionality by race of deaths from Covid-19. In May 2020, "Alabama Save Ourselves Movement for Justice and Democracy rallied on the capitol steps Thursday, to bring awareness to the lives lost due to the virus. 'It makes no sense for people to be dying in Alabama. Black people, in particular, more so than any other group of people,' said Johnny Ford. Body bags were laid out on the capitol steps to represent a person in Alabama who has died from coronavirus."
https://www.cbs42.com/news/health/coronavirus/group-holds-body-bag-memorial-on-capitol-steps-in-response-to-covid-19-pandemic/
Wishing you equitable access to healthcare, and sleep.
Alabama, along with South Carolina and other southern states, has refused to implement the Medicaid expansion contained in the ACA (Obamacare) because of a) who signed the bill, and b) who might benefit the most from the expansion.
TN too. Even after a well-respected Repub governor asked the legislature to reconsider after he was able to make changes to make it more palatable, the legislature refused. Would rather see ppl die than accept “Obama”care.
And also Florida. We have Medicaid for seniors with Medicare and for low or no income disabled residents. It’s the gap between traditional Medicaid and the ACA Medicaid expansion we lack. It abandons all low income workers who don’t make enough to qualify for ACA subsidies and too much for Medicaid. Catch 22.
It doesn't even COST them anything! They will cut off their nose to spite their face, as the saying goes.
Uhmm, that is not their nose they are cutting off. Most politicians have access to decent health care. It is my nose and every other worker’s nose, in SC and similar states in which health care is not provided as a retirement benefit, that is being amputated. It is the raise that every low paid health care worker doesn’t get because we provide mandated care and our hospital systems don’t get reimbursed.
David 100%. They cut off other noses to spite other faces, not their own.
Let's not mention the hospitals in Bamberg, Barnwell, Bennettsville, and Winnsboro that closed for lack of patients because SC didn't take the expansion.
And also South Dakota.
Thank you for clarifying.
My patience and conscience are equally tried. I know the 17,985 police departments in the USA cannot pay huge salaries. My town and the town closest to it have fewer than half the number of personnel they are authorized to have. Caught between Scylla and Charybdis, most police departments do what they can do to protect their citizens by hiring as many people as possible.
Do we have to settle for someone with 26 years experience who mistakes their firearm for their Taser? Do we have to have multiple officers in multiple vehicles, emerging from said vehicles with weapons drawn to arrest someone for a misdemeanor, and after to execute a warrant for failing to appear in court?
What is so deeply disturbing is that a huge percentage of these deaths at the hands of police are (a) Black (b) for trivial offences (c) non life threatening (d) people suffering from mental illness. The Police do not shoot to disable, they shoot to kill (or they are terrible shots). Defunding is one answer - ie taking away responsibility for the approach to mental health issues, etc. Overall, training seems to be seriously at fault. As a White man, I have no fear of being pulled over by a traffic cop. Other races are trained from childhood how to respond - submit, don't antagonise, don't talk back, do *exactly* as they say...If ever there were a definition of White privilege...
Exactly. Why should black people be told to do that? I know black moms who have to teach their young sons what you just wrote. I do not know any white women that have to do that with their white sons. The answer lies in why you, as a white man, feel no fear in being pulled over.