Former British Colony in Downward Spiral of Ethnic Violence, State Security Impunity

[Montmorency]

Updates in the Atlanta shooting introduced here by Hooah:

Here's some video compilation from the scene.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/0...ng-orig-kj.cnn

The shooting officer has been detained on charges of felony murder and more. His partner is facing aggravated assault charges. In response, many Atlanta officers have walked off the job in a self-abolishing tantrum.
https://www.npr.org/sections/live-up...h-felony-murde
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/us/ra...day/index.html

The now-fired Atlanta Police officer who faces a felony murder charge for fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks last week kicked the 27-year-old man after he fell to the ground, Fulton County's district attorney said Wednesday. DA Paul Howard announced 11 charges against Garrett Rolfe, who five days ago fired three shots at Brooks, two of which hit Brooks in the back and another that hit a car with three people inside. After Rolfe shot Brooks, he exclaimed, "I got him," kicked Brooks as he struggled for his life, and failed to give timely first aid, Howard said. [...] The demeanor after the shooting "did not reflect any fear or danger of Mr. Brooks, but reflected other kinds of emotions," Howard said.

https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1273339116642537472

Fulton County DA Paul Howard: For 41 minutes and 17 seconds Rayshard Brooks followed all instructions. He was also never told he was being arrested for driving under the influence which police are required to do.

"Mr. Brooks never presented himself as a threat," Howard says.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. says one officer kicked Rayshard Brooks and another one stood on his shoulders as Brooks was fighting for his life on the ground after being shot.

Fulton County DA Paul Howard says former officer Garrett Rolfe is being charged with 11 charges including -- felony murder, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal damage to property, violation of oath, & aggravated assault (for kicking Rayshard Brooks).

A key detail: Fulton County DA Paul Howard says former officer Garrett Rolfe knew that the taser Rayshard Brooks was holding had been fired twice and didn't pose any danger to the officers when Brooks turned and tried to fire it at officers before Rolfe shot Brooks in the back.

Reminder that all cops are criminal scum until proven otherwise.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...142223872.html

Want to know why it’s so hard for #cops to be ‘good apples’...

It was 2007 and I was assisting a call with an officer I’d never met before. He was from another team working overtime. Right in front of me he broke a kids nose with a punch. The septum was clearly deviated and
blood was everywhere. The kid was handcuffed and the officer enquired of me “what should ‘we’ arrest him for?” “What did he do?” I enquired. “He called me a name.” he said. After 20 mins of him trying to persuade me we should fabricate a crime he had to let the kid go. “We need
to do notes, get our story straight” he then told me. I don’t need assistance in writing what happened. I found a quiet place and wrote the facts. As I wrote I was joined by a female A/Sgt who knew this officer. She spent 20 mins trying to convince me this kid was a “shitbag” &
my notes should ‘reflect the danger he posed’. I was disgusted. We don’t behave this way. I went to the Platoon Commander and provide a statement for the assault I’d witnessed. An investigation commenced, one which should have been forwarded to @SIUOntario. The investigator
asked me questions like “How do you know his nose was broken?” and “Where did you get your medical degree?” (seriously?) Then came the result, a phone call from the Suptintendent whilst I was home. “Paul, our investigation is complete and you’ve been found guilt of misconduct
in that you failed to communicate with a colleague. A verbal warning will be put on file. Be careful in the future.” When I got back to work I was move from my team, and away from my friends, to this officers team. Officers just point blank refused to talk to me and I went to
many calls by myself, without backup. Then a message from another officer on team to meet him. He told me how we “look after” each other on this team. “Don’t stab each other in the back.” Then for some fucked up reason, he dropped the ‘n-bomb’ out of nowhere. I just drove off
leaving him sat there. Then I was called into the Deputy Chiefs office, with the same Superintendent and my Union rep. In front of both he told me to “be careful what you say in the future or you might not get backup when you need it.” I was an A/Inspector when I left the Met in
2005 to move to #Canada, but my appraisal that year reflected incompetence and unworthiness of the position of constable. Every position or course I applied for I was refused. I continued to #whistleblow until the Chief told me “You really have no concept of brotherhood, do you?”
Then I whistleblew #anonymous. 2015ish after going off sick with #PTSD from an attempt murder I went public with everything, to be met with a ‘covert operation’ by not only senior management by member of the City council and lawyers, telling anyone who would listen I’m “nuts,
crazy and delusional.” This is how they deal with officers who tried to do the right thing. Two warrants on my home, numerous criminal investigation and one arrest later and I’ll still do the right thing no matter what they try and do to me.
The officer who broke that kids nose is now a Sergeant, probably helping others cover up their wrongdoings. Me, I’m off sick and will probably never find gainful employment again. Was it worth it. Fuck, no! Would I do the same? Fuck, yes! Would I advise other officers to break
the ‘blue wall of silence.’ Well thats for them to decide, but it will end your career.

Until you offer protection for ‘good apples’ you asking them to give up their careers b/c of someone elses wrongdoing.

#PoliceBrutality #blm #BlackLivesMatter #PoliceReform
Addition for naysayers; this is a very small story in a massive corruption scandal. I used this story b/c it showed every step of a system used to demoralize anyone who would report wrongdoing. The police have effectively stopped defending the lawsuit. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...suit-1.5289424

I've watched the whole show of force from all sides in the past month with a mixture of hope, cynicism and a good dose of reality that things will budge just a bit and won't move forwards that much.

Some of the results are definitely positive - removing statues of Leopold IInd (why is this still around????) - some results which were very questionable (defacing Churchill...uhh?), some results which were ideas with a certain intent but with a horrendously bad implementation (defunding the police).

Fact of the matter is, protesting is part of a healthy democracy and having them so lit up in the past month shows that people desperately want things to change. For good reason, mind you, but any single deviation from that mark (looting) is going to significantly hurt the desire for change for the general population. Because it often occurs that while Joe who owns a small business and heartily supports BLM is forced to shutdown because his store was defaced and looted, this is only going to bite you back.

Which is a shame because the concern of the protests is very, very valid.

The ethics or empirical effects of targeted property destruction are legitimate subjects of discussion - though I disagree, there are those who advocate for them as affirmatively good - but one who allows personal distaste at the sight of a broken storefront to displace their assessment of the underlying issues displays a weak commitment to addressing the causes of unrest.

This fellow is pretty upstanding, though he presents a rather high standard to rise to.

On Friday morning, as dawn broke through the smoke hanging over Minneapolis, the Gandhi Mahal Restaurant was severely damaged by fire. Hafsa Islam, whose father owns the Bangladeshi-Indian restaurant with members of his family, woke at 6 a.m. to hear the news. “At first, I was angry,” said Ms. Islam, 18. “This is my family’s main source of income.” But then she overheard her father, Ruhel Islam, speaking to a friend on the phone. “Let my building burn,” he said. “Justice needs to be served.” On Friday afternoon, after the fire stopped smoldering and the family came together, he repeated his support for the protests that had closed his restaurant. “We can rebuild a building, but we cannot rebuild a human,” said Mr. Islam, 42. “The community is still here, and we can work together to rebuild.”
[...]
“I understand why people did what they did,” she said of the demonstrators. “They had tried with the peaceful protesting, and it hasn’t been working.” Gandhi Mahal opened in 2008, during the Great Recession. Although Mr. Islam believes in nonviolent protest — he named his restaurant in honor of Mohandas K. Gandhi — he empathizes with the frustration of many Minneapolis residents. “I am going to continuously promote peaceful ways and nonviolent movement,” he said. “But our younger generation is angry, and there’s reason to be angry.”
[...]
“We were just trying to do what we could to help our community,” said Ms. Islam, who helped treat wounded protesters. “Sure, we had our business. Sure, we were trying to keep our kitchen open. But more than anything, we were concerned for our people.” The tension in Mr. Islam’s adopted city reminds him of his childhood in Bangladesh, when he lived through a dictatorship. Two of his fellow students were killed by the police, he said. “We grew up in a traumatic police state, so I am familiar with this type of situation,” he said.