Police Brutality in 2011… Is this how it Should be Handled?

This is a great way to start off the new year with a demonstration of what people should do when they see the police getting out of control. In a day and age where more and more unarmed civilians are being shot, beat up and brutalized we are on our way down the highway of fascism.

Here in the Bay Area 4 people shot in two days. 3 of the victims died including an unarmed woman in Oakland and a mentally challenged man in San Francisco..None of the victims had guns which begs one to question, why shoot to kill when you can use other tactics and weaponry to disarm someone?

Since this video has surfaced its sparked a lot of debate with some folks expressing concern that an eye for an eye is never right. Others have said the police are creating situations where they will one day get what they deserve..

Take alook at this video and ask yourself, why a crowd at the soccer game is not helping the officers?  Is there a disconnect between those who serve and protect and those who are in the community and don’t feel like such services are being rendered?

Here’s my response to a question along those lines…It was to a cat named Nick who felt that our personal; experiences shape how we look at the police…

Nick.. here some things to ponder..

After Oscar Grant was shot unarmed and killed face down on the subway platform in Oakland in front of scores of people… How many police officers had a press conference to apologize for what took place?  How many officers came foward to apologize to all the innocent people who were on the subway and witnesses the killing? Thats the least of what could’ve been done..It was seven days before anyone came forth to address the Oscar Grant killing and only after people rioted in the streets.

Two weeks after the incident I did a radio show in LA and a rookie cop called in and say if anyone ever talks back to him he would let them have it because the police must maintain order and control…

After Grant was killed we had people identifying themselves as police officers or friends of police officers posting some of the most vile and insensitive comments on various message boards including mine about how Oscar was a bad guy who got what he deserved. Really?

Oscar may have gotten what he deserved if he pulled out a gun and started shooting at the police or other people. He did nothing of sort that night. he didn’t come close. he was unarmed. We pay peace officers to be experts at de-escalating situations and disarming folks.  Our tax dollars did not pay for Oscar Grant to be killed.

Second point to consider..every police union in the state of California backed Johannes Mehserle the officer with a violent past who killed Grant. They sent reps to Sacrament to oppose further investigations from the Attorney general and reversals on the Policeman’s Bill of Rights which allow an officers violent past to be made public. Again we’re talking every Police union …every last one in the entire state…

Third point.. Myself and a number of activists who were upset about Oscar Grant went and paid respects at the funeral after 4 cops were shot in Oakland. We didn’t politicize our attendance. We didn’t protest. We didn’t make remarks about this is what they deserved. Take a look at my twitter time line for that occasion and you’ll see ..

What cops attended Oscar’s funeral? Who sent flowers to his mom? helped out with funeral expenses?

Johannes mehserle was a BART cop..so that means Hayward PD where Oscar was from or oakland PD who were in charge of investigating the shooting could’ve showed an ounce of humanity… Now I’ve run into officers who said they felt bad but couldn’t speak for fear of breaking ranks? Really? What kind of organization is the police department?

I personally have spoken at Congressional briefings, at FCC hearings and have written extensively about the wrong doings in my profession..why? Because I wanna see bad things disappear.. It takes a bit of courage.. I know I wont be working in a lot of places for being outspoken, but how is change gonna come? By being quiet like the other 99%?

Either you’re with the community or you’re not.. Nobody wakes up in the morning with a hard on to do harm to police or anyone else, but it certainly seems like many in law enforcement come to work with a serious chip on the soldier and sadly that overshadows the hard working good officers who wanna do their job…Sooner or later those good officers are gonna have to speak up. They’re gonna have to clean up their profession and if they can’t do it from the inside find ways to communicate with folks on the outside who can effectively agitate and advocate..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qdxh-KaSBSg

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One Response to “Police Brutality in 2011… Is this how it Should be Handled?”

1. Shingo says:

   January 3, 2011 at 1:12 pm

   If only this could take place in America where the citizen wouldn’t either get shot or prosecuted to the fullest extent by the law for attacking the officers for physically and morally defending the detained streaker who was clearly getting restrained with unecessary violence by the police. #ifonlywelivedinafantasyworldandnotinamerica
2. Music Is A Weapon: K’Naan, The Somalia Story & HIP-HOP’s Legacy As The Voice of The People « Global Fusion Productions Inc says:

   July 21, 2011 at 7:38 pm

   [...] to young people because of their hair styles & fashion choices, a heightened time where police brutality is expected with a home trained right of passage as to how to handle it when it is your turn, a [...]