Get A Clue, Really
The union for Broward County sheriff’s office wants police to stop their protection for Dolphins players after Foster, Stills and Thomas chose to kneel for the national anthem last week – linebacker Jelani Jenkins opted to stand on Sunday. The president of the union, Jeff Bell, also said that NFL players should forfeit their right to free speech while representing their team.
Perhaps Mr. Bell should be told that the big problem that the players are protesting is police officers shooting unarmed black men, so the absence of police officers is not much of a threat. Second, the military and other public servants take an oath to defend and support the Constitution and accept certain restrictions as part of their employment. There is no justification for adults who are paid large sums of money to play children’s games to agree to any reduction in their civil rights. In fact their protest is about their concern that they are already being deprived of civil rights because of the color of their skin.
12 comments
The same thing is happening in Santa Clara. My attitude is: Fire Them!
They have a very secure job with excellent benefits. (albeit with some dangers but not as many as they’d like you to believe) Society has chosen this method to protect itself not to be managed by them: It is not their job. Very reminiscent of the 60’s, “four legs good, two legs better”.
Let me guess, these are entirely non-racist cops, just like the national Fraternal Order of Police, a totaly non-racist group of cops that only accidentally endorsed a noted bigot and proven racist for President, yeah sure, right, uh huhn…. and they totally have utmost respect for the Constitution and would never violate people’s Constitutional rights or threaten people for exercising their Constitutional rights, and …. oh look! A wookie humping ewoks! Right over there! Oh wait, nothing to see here, move along.
– Badtux the Totally Snarking Penguin
It’ll be even worse if Trumpet or any Rethug wingnut wins the election. There is already one Supreme Court Judicial vacancy, with another three likely during the next 4 years. Obama has been continuously blocked in filling the current vacancy, Clinton certainly would be also. With another four right-wing SC Judges, it’ll be all over rover!
As for the above… Gee… What a surprise. 🙄
Shirt, been there, done that, and it beats the hell out of night clerk at a convenience store.
Right, Badtux. He can’t figure out that his department is one of the causes of these protests.
I don’t see any new judges appointed no matter who becomes President unless the Senate stops with their 60-vote rule to get anything done.
Perhaps Mr. Bell should be told that the big problem that the players are protesting is police officers shooting unarmed black men, so the absence of police officers is not much of a threat.
😈 this is why I read your blog.
And I thought it was for the sleddog racing and Tour de France 😉
cats and sleddogs, for sure!
😆
Brian, I know you’ve been there and done that but from opinions you expressed in the past I don’t believe you would dismiss the requirements of duty simply because of a silly-ass reason such as kneeling during the national anthem. Nor do I believe that you’d express your political opinion anywhere but the ballot box (and this site).
What is your opinion of the Tulsa incident: I can’t understand the why it happened. To me, all police officer should be angry about this because it gives merit to an argument that a preemptive shooting by suspect is self-defense. That can’t be good.
Shirt
If you take ‘the king’s shilling’, you do the king’s job. You do your duty or you quit. In the military you do your duty or accept that you are going to prison. Law enforcement and the military aren’t “menu” jobs, where you get to select what you have to do.
From the helicopter footage it seems that Crutcher was following the standard police procedure of spreading his legs and leaning against his vehicle so he could be searched. I don’t see anything that would justify the taser, much less shooting him. With 4 officers at the scene and only one officer firing one shot, there is nothing to suggest this was a righteous use of force. It looks like the single officer panicked.
I just watched the helicopter footage again. It does look like he dropped his hands to his sides immediately before being tasered, and immediately before being shot. He might have even been reaching for the door handle to open the car door. But he definitely did not reach into the car, because the car windows were *up*. You can see the tint on the back window, and the reflection of the sun off the driver’s window, and after the shooting, you can see the smear of blood on the driver’s window, also shown in a photograph taken after the shooting.
In short, the little cop lied, and got caught out in a blatant lie by saying he was reaching into the car through the window and she thought he was reaching for a gun, and that’s why she’s being indicted.
It was a reflex shot – the taser fired, the suspect jerked, andthe second cop pulled the trigger. He never turned to face the police so there was no imminent use of deadly force and no justification for police use of deadly force.