After the deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks at the Atlanta Wendy's my mind is a jumble with the thoughts about this. Here was a situation that never should have escalated to the point of Mr. Brooks' death, and it becomes clear that this was another case of racism.
Let's imagine that I was the sleeping person in the Wendy's line. Maybe I had too much to drink and Wendy's is so slow that yes, I fell asleep in the line. What if an employee of Wendy's saw this sleeping white woman blocking the order line in the parking lot? Would he or she have called the police on me? I imagine a Wendy's employee stepping beside my car, asking if I was okay, and then instructing me to move my car. End of story? No. They probably would have offered me a cup of water to make sure I was okay.
First off, everyone knows the way the police have treated black people. Even a nice cop will incite fear in the approached black person. There was no need to ever call the police, to begin with, on Mr. Brooks. But they did.
Mr. Brooks was found to have an alcohol level just slightly about the legal limit and placed under arrest for driving under the influence. He wasn't driving. He was parked. Maybe he knew the condition he was in and pulled into Wendy's to get food in his system to help to sober up. In other words, having been in a not great state of mind, he took precautions to fix it. I give him credit for that. He didn't continue to drive.
The argument here is that he had been driving or how would he have gotten to this spot. Fine. Would they have arrested me for the same act? I don't know, but my gut thinks, 'No.'
Although Mr. Brooks started with his "Yes, Sirs; No, Sirs" and full cooperation in the arrest, something changed. He resisted, grabbed the stun gun, and ran off. He pointed the stunner toward the policeman but never actually shot it. I read a defense from an officer stating that "IF" he had stunned the policeman, he could have taken his gun and have been a threat. But as I said, he didn't shoot it. Plus, the officer had a partner with him.
Different actions by the police were now needed.
- Let him run away. They have his car, so it would not have been hard to find him.
- Chase, at the risk of being stunned.
- Use the other officers stunner to calm him.
- Shoot the leg.
Finally, please do not take this as victim blaming, but I have to mention it. Every black parent trains their sons on how to act around the police. Everyone knows that some cops are racist and do not act as they should, so why did Rayshard Brooks resist arrest and run? Maybe he was scared. Maybe he was drunk and not thinking straight. Either way, I'm sure his mama is crying out in anguish, "Why didn't you listen to me! Why?"
Music
First up is Twisted Sister with, "We're Not Gonna Take It."
Next up, is Michael Jackson with "Black or White."
8 comments:
These recent event really highlight issues which should have be solved decades ago. We all have a long way to go before everyone will be treated equally.
If I remember correctly,the struggle didn't begin until the police started to arrest Brooks. I think he was scared at that point, and yes, a bit over the alcohol limit, enough to lose inhibitions. I think part of what has been in front of our eyes (speaking as someone who is a white senior citizen) all this time but just didn't see is that we use police for way too many things. Should the police have been involved in investigating someone falling asleep in a drive through and blocking it? I'm not for getting rid of police departments but there are functions of investigation I think can be done by other citizens, and not by men and women trained to shoot to kill (or have more than just police at the scene). I listened to your songs in my mind - good selections.
Your selections are so spot-on this week. My heart hurts so much for our country, world, and especially POC right now. I had no idea police were trained to shoot to kill. All they had to do was tap on his window and tell him to move it. This is a sketchy area for me, because I don't think they were right to arrest him for DUI, yet they couldn't legally let him drive off. Still, like you said, it NEVER should have escalated to the point he was killed. The alternatives you mentioned would have been more than enough punishment. But POC fear the police so much now, I'm not surprised he grabbed the stun gun and made a run for it. Police brutality MUST end. Cops MUST be trained differently, or more appropriately. This just can't continue.
Kim
There's a whole of anxiety going on in our world. I certainly do not support or believe one race is better than another and frankly I never got this line of thinking. We're made in God's image. In my book, that makes us all the same. Why would want to something to hurt oneself? We wouldn't, would we? Unfortunately, humans are prone to sin nature and poor attitudes. There's corruptness in our society where ever we go. There are bad cops but there are also good cops. Although, this man is not a saint and maybe not a good person but I hate that his life was taken. Yes, a mother is crying today and asking why, why, why, didn't you listen to me? I don't agree with the shoot to kill training. I think first shoot to immobilize the suspect but if the suspect is armed and this fails to stop the person then as a last resort the shoot to kill training might need executing. I'd hate to be a policeman in this situation. We need to pray for the good cops while praying for the bad cops to be brought down. There is no place for hate in law enforcement. Great mewsic!
Fitting songs
How do you know this man "may not be a good person"? He had a family and friends who speak highly of him. The only wrong he did was being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not listening to his mama's advice about how to act around cops. As for the officer, he had a history of problems yet was still on the force. I'd say it's more likely that the policeman who shot Rayshard was the bad person.
Great songs, we love Michael Jackson💗😸Pawkisses for a Happy Week ahead🐾😽💞
It is all so deeply saddening and maddening.
Police, unfortunately, have to be trained to shoot to kill because if the person being shot at is armed, that person will probably return fire and the police officer might be killed. It's an awful reality that an officer has to treat anyone s/he pulls a gun on as if that person is going to shoot back.
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