When I heard about How to Get Away With Murder, I took to twitter to ask Shonda Rhimes if it was a TV show about police corruption. While she courteously replied, she opted not to match facetious wit. Maybe because it would come at the expense of all the actual police killings being broadcasted as if they were scheduled programming. Let’s give it up for the Secret Service… I don’t want to be too hard on those guys…cause they’re the only law enforcement agency that will get in trouble if a Black man gets shot. — Cecily Strong, White House Correspondents Dinner 2015 Though we often have at least two perspectives on criminal justice per incident and some media outlets have different ways of presenting …
When I heard about How to Get Away With Murder, I took to twitter to ask Shonda Rhimes if it was a TV show about police corruption. While she courteously replied, she opted not to match facetious wit. Maybe because it would come at the expense of all the actual police killings being broadcasted as if they were scheduled programming.
Let’s give it up for the Secret Service… I don’t want to be too hard on those guys…cause they’re the only law enforcement agency that will get in trouble if a Black man gets shot.
— Cecily Strong, White House Correspondents Dinner 2015
Though we often have at least two perspectives on criminal justice per incident and some media outlets have different ways of presenting criminals of different races, we can’t honestly proclaim to be the gold standard of democracy, the role model of “we the people” who then police the world in the name of that ideology, condemning other countries for inhumane dictatorships, while we have law enforcement that unjustly jails, abuses and kills our own citizens at the current rate. Perhaps we should engage in a foreign exchange program with the Swedish police department.
America claims justice is blind, but when it comes to police brutality and killings of black and brown people, we shouldn’t believe our lying eyes. After writing a piece entitled “White Reservation: The Justification of Breath and Those Who Take It Away,” two police videos were released that support this concept.
Dallas, Texas — A black woman calls the cops to her house to aid in dealing with her son, Jason Harrison. The mother comes to the door first, calmly forewarning the arriving police that he is “Bi-polar, schizo.” The mentally ill man is holding a screwdriver. He does not attack but he does not immediately comply. Within seconds, Jason Harrison is shot to death.
Randolph County, NC — A “concerned” white woman calls the cops to her house to aid in dealing with her relative. Though there is no audio, the woman calmly comes to the door first holding a small dog in her arm. The assaulter comes to the door, attacks the officer with a knife (slashing the cop’s bulletproof vest) and is subdued by taser within seconds.
Sgt. Bernie Maness, of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, said they are not releasing the name or mugshot of the knife-thrashing thug — I mean, individual –they arrested. Why? Is that white reservation?
Sgt. Maness went on to state:
It’s beautiful evidence. When you can show a jury or a judge exactly what happened at the scene and what the officer was faced with and why he chose whatever course of action he chose, a picture’s worth a thousand words.
That’s an interesting statement. I’m sure Jason Harrison’s mother might have said something similar when waiting for the indictment that never came.
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Originally posted here:
The Tale of Two Body Cameras: White Man Lives, Black Man Dies
