Dark America: Protect and Serve…whom? Another unarmed American slain by police
In the most recent tragedy to visit an unarmed and non-combative Black man, Tulsa, OK police officer Officer Betty Shelby fatally shot one Terrance Crutcher whose vehicle had stalled and was blocking traffic. Mr. Crutcher had his hands up high in the air as he returned to his stalled SUV after making contact with police who’d arrived on the scene. Multiple video angles from police vehicles and an overhead police helicopter, show Mr. Crutcher’s murder to be inarguably unjust.
Before the murder, police cruiser and helicopter video show Crutcher returning to his vehicle with his hands up and his back to officers following closely behind with weapons drawn, an officer in the police helicopter commented over the airwaves “He LOOKS like one bad dude.” WTF?! This guy’s vehicle had only stalled in the roadway; there was no crime to which the cops were responding.
Aside from the unjustified murder, the radio comment by an officer speaks VOLUMES as to the mindset of many white cops, hey it probably speaks to the mindset of many naive white people in general; big and Black equals DANGEROUS so let’s just kill them. Hmmm…I guess that would be a significant misstatement because Trayvon wasn’t big and Black, nor was Aiyana Stanley-Jones a sleeping 7-year-old little girl shot in the head during a no-knock police raid on the wrong home. The culprit in THAT instance, a controversial officer named Joseph Weekly was charged but ultimately let off the hook after two mistrials and deadlocked juries. Another crazy example of legal fluckery in this instance is that AFTER this little girl was murdered by SRT officers (Swat), police went and got a RETROACTIVE search warrant for the residence in which she was killed…isn’t that insane?! The correct house, which police had a proper search warrant for, was next door and the duplex building was CLEARLY MARKED with the street addresses. These cops just didn’t care and the judge who issued the post-murder warrant proved by his actions that he and his courtroom are in collusion with police to keep officers safe from misconduct charges or actual prosecution for misconduct; or so it would appear to any reasonable person.
In this story, we HAVE to talk about the 22 Black women who have died after contact with on-duty or off-duty police officers as well as those that have died in police custody in recent times. Somehow, some way, the police never seem to be held accountable or get punished. COME ON NOW!!! Of particular note is the case of Rekia Boyd, killed by an off-duty Chicago police detective who directed shots at Boyd and her friends from over his shoulder as the group was walking away, hitting one in the hand and striking Boyd in the back of the head, killing her. The trickeration came when prosecutors decided only to charge the culprit, Detective Dante Servin with involuntary manslaughter which caused the Judge handling the case, Dennis Porter to issue a directed verdict indicating that the appropriate charge should have been 1st-degree murder causing the rendering of a not-guilty verdict on the lesser charge. Double jeopardy prevented the prosecutor from levying the 1st-degree murder charge in the same case. The detective was allowed to resign from the department two days before the investigative review board appearance which could have cost him his job. The City of Chicago paid Boyd’s family $4.5 Million dollars.
According to the overwatch site Killedbypolice.net, there have been 837 fatal police-involved shootings in the United States since January 1, 2016. That’s pretty serious data, and while the site doesn’t include full details on each and I’m certain all of those fatalities weren’t unjustified, it’s still a staggering amount of death at the hands of police.
The hostile climate between police and citizens in this country is drawing attention. When…I ask, does the data draw the ire of our citizens, lawmakers, and judicial system? I KNOW the justice system has to be tired of telling lies, executing dark machinations to sweep the violence under the rug and answering the questions about the lack of accountability for American paramilitary organizations and their actions against select segments of our citizenry.
In a telephone conversation today (Sept 20, 2016) with Texas State Representative (District 120), the Honorable Laura Thompson, she indicated that the protests should continue but we must also actively engage in the political structure and force accountability and punishment of the badge holders, abusing their position. Representative Thompson also related a recent non-fatal interaction between police and two young ladies sitting in a Whataburger restaurant wherein, the police, responding to an altercation outside of the location came inside and demanded the two young girls leave. Though the proprietor indicated to police that they were welcome to stay inside, one of the police officers took it upon themselves to knock the hat from one of the patron’s head and swept their food tray onto the floor. As things escalated, the young lady who was assaulted by the police officer was arrested and physically abused to the point she began screaming in pain…officers only told her to shut up and stop screaming.
My response to Representative Thompson and her views is that protests and marches don’t seem to be working the way they did in the early years. The collective victim communities today are displaying cowardice and are too afraid of direct response actions like taking over city council meetings, invading state legislative sessions to get their point across. To me, by far the best solution is to impact the nation’s economy by taking our money and closing out those who don’t belong to our communities.
Minority-owned banks and businesses who would benefit from our unity, and in turn, those economic choices would buttress the solidarity movements and protests; If the cops don’t get paid, they won’t work if they don’t work, they aren’t going to be a daily threat. If our tax dollars only circulate through our communities and businesses, it will be difficult for the paramilitary groups to maintain their numbers, thus lowering the odds of a fatal confrontation with one or more of their members.
A hilarious moment in economic history during my lifetime was when the California State Prison employees were getting paid by vouchers instead of paychecks…Banks began refusing to cash the vouchers, and the enemy was put in a bad way financially. Today we can effect this type of consequence city by city, state by state until the federal government finally decides enough is enough and stands by its citizens over injustice and human rights violations by those acting under color of authority.
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Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
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