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Outlining my stances, so there can be no question.
5 years ago
George Floyd.
A man being arrested on charges of forgery, a non-violent offense. The police already had him subdued. He was not resisting. He was face-down to the ground, laying there. A police officer was kneeling on him, pinning him, with their knee against the back of his neck. Other officers were present. He was no threat to them.
George Floyd, a man with family, friends, people he cared about, and people that care about him. A Human Being.
He was laying, pinned to the ground, having a hard time breathing. He could be heard saying so. "I can't breathe." The cop didn't move. He pleaded. He couldn't breathe. There is a common misconception that if you are talking, you can still breathe. This is not true. But even if the cop tried that line of defense, it fails. There was no reason to kneel, pinning your knee to the back of a man's neck, pressing a grown man's body-weight into someone's back and neck. He Was Not Resisting. He was begging for air. The cop stayed on top of him. The other officers did not help him. The other officers did not stop the first.
George Floyd, a man who did not get to go home that day.
He stopped pleading. He stopped begging. He had no air left. George Floyd died with a cop kneeling on his back and neck, crushing the air out of him. Whether by incompetence, gross negligence, or intent, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer. Murdered.
This heinous act should have never occurred. I don't care if he was stopped for something as minor as Jay-walking, or as grievous as murder. Once a person is in custody, he is the police's charge to Protect as much as detain. As soon as the cop had him subdued, the cop should have gotten off of him. I haven't seen any reporting on what lead up to the scene we've all seen, I don't know if he'd tried to resist or run prior to that moment, but those details are Entirely Irrelevant. He was already subdued. He was no threat. And the officer stayed atop him. There is no justifying that. None.
Officials seem to agree. The officers involved were immediately fired. Not put on administrative leave for investigation, not suspended. They were Fired. The one ultimately responsible for George Floyd's death is being charged for it, on several counts. As of now, from my understanding, the other officers are not. ((Correction, they have been. All are charged with Accessory to Murder)) They should be. It happened in their presence, in their custody. They may not have been the one who killed him, but his blood is on their hands.
Those are the details as I know them, and some of my thoughts on that specific event. What follows are more opinion and conjecture.
Based on reporting, Officials investigating the event have said that they believe race played a role in how George Floyd was treated by those officers. I have seen some reporting that the officer may have known George Floyd. That they worked together at a club of some sort and even had overlapping shifts. Was it an intentional murder, motivated by race, or some personal offense? I don't know. Until all the investigations are done, we won't know. But as it stands right now, it looks like his race did play a part.
I do actually support the Death-Penalty, but only for the most egregious and heinous of crimes. The officer who killed George Floyd is one I would say deserves it. Murdering a man. Abuse of power. Callous disregard. And more that I don't have the right words to express. The other officers involved... They deserve to never feel freedom again. It won't bring George Floyd back to life. It won't make it right. But it would at least be some semblance of justice. I will be paying close attention to that investigation, trial, and hopefully, sentencing. Police forces across the country need more oversight, better training, and far more strict regulations on the use of force, and harsher penalties when they are broken.
I wish that was were I could leave this one. I wish that was all there was to be said about it.
Sadly, those events don't exist in a vacuum. Covid-19 is still a real danger. hundreds of thousands dead world-wide, even in First-world countries. If you're going to go out and protest, or engage in civil-disobedience, PLEASE, wear your masks, don't bunch up shoulder to shoulder, Please Protect Yourselves and stay safe. You are the only person who can protect you. You can not trust other people to be smart about it.
And here comes the part I really dread saying, because without fail, people will twist the meaning, and use it to attack. I save this part for last, because I want it very, VERY clear that what I have already said is what I view as the Far more important message.
There are people out there using this tragic, heinous crime as cover for doing abhorrent things. Using George Floyd's murder to justify hurting others. And worse, there are people intentionally trying to spark further violence and loss of life. A quote has been making the rounds "Riots are the language of the unheard" -Martin Luther King Jr. There is something to that. There is truth in it. But take care that innocent people aren't made to pay the price. Communities are being destroyed. People are being hurt and killed. Local stores and businesses are being smashed, looted, destroyed. Homes are being destroyed. Take care that in trying to slay a monster, you do not become a monster. Remember that you are a human being, whether you are a protester, rioter, bystander or a cop. And remember that they are all human beings too. There can not be healing while new wounds are still being caused. This needs to de-escalate, we need to stop the flow of blood before it drowns us all.
We are all human. We all bleed red. There needs to be more love in the world. There needs to be less hate. We all need more empathy.
*edit-note Edited journal to include more information involving the officers involved. They all have been charged as accessory to murder, and the officer that killed George Floyd has had his charge increased.
A man being arrested on charges of forgery, a non-violent offense. The police already had him subdued. He was not resisting. He was face-down to the ground, laying there. A police officer was kneeling on him, pinning him, with their knee against the back of his neck. Other officers were present. He was no threat to them.
George Floyd, a man with family, friends, people he cared about, and people that care about him. A Human Being.
He was laying, pinned to the ground, having a hard time breathing. He could be heard saying so. "I can't breathe." The cop didn't move. He pleaded. He couldn't breathe. There is a common misconception that if you are talking, you can still breathe. This is not true. But even if the cop tried that line of defense, it fails. There was no reason to kneel, pinning your knee to the back of a man's neck, pressing a grown man's body-weight into someone's back and neck. He Was Not Resisting. He was begging for air. The cop stayed on top of him. The other officers did not help him. The other officers did not stop the first.
George Floyd, a man who did not get to go home that day.
He stopped pleading. He stopped begging. He had no air left. George Floyd died with a cop kneeling on his back and neck, crushing the air out of him. Whether by incompetence, gross negligence, or intent, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer. Murdered.
This heinous act should have never occurred. I don't care if he was stopped for something as minor as Jay-walking, or as grievous as murder. Once a person is in custody, he is the police's charge to Protect as much as detain. As soon as the cop had him subdued, the cop should have gotten off of him. I haven't seen any reporting on what lead up to the scene we've all seen, I don't know if he'd tried to resist or run prior to that moment, but those details are Entirely Irrelevant. He was already subdued. He was no threat. And the officer stayed atop him. There is no justifying that. None.
Officials seem to agree. The officers involved were immediately fired. Not put on administrative leave for investigation, not suspended. They were Fired. The one ultimately responsible for George Floyd's death is being charged for it, on several counts. As of now, from my understanding, the other officers are not. ((Correction, they have been. All are charged with Accessory to Murder)) They should be. It happened in their presence, in their custody. They may not have been the one who killed him, but his blood is on their hands.
Those are the details as I know them, and some of my thoughts on that specific event. What follows are more opinion and conjecture.
Based on reporting, Officials investigating the event have said that they believe race played a role in how George Floyd was treated by those officers. I have seen some reporting that the officer may have known George Floyd. That they worked together at a club of some sort and even had overlapping shifts. Was it an intentional murder, motivated by race, or some personal offense? I don't know. Until all the investigations are done, we won't know. But as it stands right now, it looks like his race did play a part.
I do actually support the Death-Penalty, but only for the most egregious and heinous of crimes. The officer who killed George Floyd is one I would say deserves it. Murdering a man. Abuse of power. Callous disregard. And more that I don't have the right words to express. The other officers involved... They deserve to never feel freedom again. It won't bring George Floyd back to life. It won't make it right. But it would at least be some semblance of justice. I will be paying close attention to that investigation, trial, and hopefully, sentencing. Police forces across the country need more oversight, better training, and far more strict regulations on the use of force, and harsher penalties when they are broken.
I wish that was were I could leave this one. I wish that was all there was to be said about it.
Sadly, those events don't exist in a vacuum. Covid-19 is still a real danger. hundreds of thousands dead world-wide, even in First-world countries. If you're going to go out and protest, or engage in civil-disobedience, PLEASE, wear your masks, don't bunch up shoulder to shoulder, Please Protect Yourselves and stay safe. You are the only person who can protect you. You can not trust other people to be smart about it.
And here comes the part I really dread saying, because without fail, people will twist the meaning, and use it to attack. I save this part for last, because I want it very, VERY clear that what I have already said is what I view as the Far more important message.
There are people out there using this tragic, heinous crime as cover for doing abhorrent things. Using George Floyd's murder to justify hurting others. And worse, there are people intentionally trying to spark further violence and loss of life. A quote has been making the rounds "Riots are the language of the unheard" -Martin Luther King Jr. There is something to that. There is truth in it. But take care that innocent people aren't made to pay the price. Communities are being destroyed. People are being hurt and killed. Local stores and businesses are being smashed, looted, destroyed. Homes are being destroyed. Take care that in trying to slay a monster, you do not become a monster. Remember that you are a human being, whether you are a protester, rioter, bystander or a cop. And remember that they are all human beings too. There can not be healing while new wounds are still being caused. This needs to de-escalate, we need to stop the flow of blood before it drowns us all.
We are all human. We all bleed red. There needs to be more love in the world. There needs to be less hate. We all need more empathy.
*edit-note Edited journal to include more information involving the officers involved. They all have been charged as accessory to murder, and the officer that killed George Floyd has had his charge increased.
As for what the officers have done, they have finally gone off the deep end this time and they should have been more weary of the consequences their actions would have merited.