Cops destroyed a medical station in Asheville NC, stabbing water bottles. The medics say they had no warnings and had agreement from the shop owners in the area, though they were unaware there was a single property owner renting to the shops who had not agreed. The cops say they are destroying possible projectiles. Medical/humanitarian facilities are sacrosant in warfare, but apparently not in Trump's America. Perhaps the Red Cross needs to run these, just to see if the jackboots will do what Syria, etcetera have done?
I see schools in some states are cancelling their contracts with the police. As a Brit, the idea of schools NEEDING a contract with police is decidedly odd but this is another sign of the breakdown in trust.
At some point there's going to be a lot of dead cops in the street. Someone, somewhere, is going to be ready for them. Ambush, most likely.
For those who cannot bring themselves to believe that this crime was the result of endemic racism (not saying this applies to any particular person) it's probably easier to understand if it's framed as a premeditated murder resulting from endemic corruption. If it proved to be a targeted hit I'm sure there would be some who would say "see, it really wasn't racism" and use that as an excuse to dismiss the entire issue of racial bias in law enforcement. For now my assessment is...interesting...if true.
Fivethirtyeight.com has an interesting article on the issue of prosecuting police officers. Fair warning: there's no raw meat for any particular agenda.
In Ameriica, a lot of schools have pretty large populations and accordingly many calls for police services -- fighs, drugs, weapons etc. So rather than hiring their own security guards, some cities have police detailed to schools. Sometimes, the school district pays those cops directly, sometimes not (as I understand it). The concept is similar to community policing -- by being around 24/7 instead of just when there is a problem, the cops will get to know students and vice versa and will get along better, be able to proactively deal with problems, etc. That doesn't always work out in practice.
I still call BS. I've never been in favor of schools having a police presence. Too many times I've seen those same police be just as abusive to the students as they are adults on the streets. There is a problem, sure. But, police in schools is not the answer.
9 times out of 10, when the shit hits the fan in a mass shooting situation, they run and hide with everyone else. They ain't gonna risk their ass for someone else's kids. They leave that to the poor fucking teachers.
I'm aware of the one situation where the onsite cops hid during a school shooting, but I don't know if I would say it is commonplace. There are counter examples I'm familiar with from the Chicago area llike a case where officers were shot at a hospital when they could have stayed out of harm's way or another one where a police commander named Bauer was shot chasing a suspect.
Schools contracting with police is also a protection in litigations should something go wobbly. Because lawyers.
In fairness, no one who's serious about that would be dumb enough to post their intentions on a message board. The Wolverines would not have had a Facebook group.
Should the time come that I feel it necessary to arm up and go join a militia group, you'll be looking back on the current situation as "the good old days."
https://ij.org/press-release/instit...able-for-destroying-idaho-home-with-grenades/ So if cops haven't destroyed a home with grenades before after getting the keys from the owner, they're immune. Peachy. How exactly is this ever supposed to become "clearly established law"? Especially for anyone who doesn't have the financial resources to take a case to SCOTUS? And how many that haven't? How many that weren't even filed because it was hopeless? As you well know, Miranda rights are not required in all cases, the right to counsel is in the Constitution, and the exclusionary rule comes straight out of the 4th and 5th amendments. In any case there's a lot more to be said for judicial inventions that protect people from the government than the other way around.
Cops are actively preventing peaceful individuals from getting off the streets before curfew, then beating, shooting, and tear gassing them. They're shooting rubber bullets directly at people's faces. They're knowingly targeting journalists and medics, and destroying medical supplies. How much worse does it need to be before you get off your ass?
eye opening story of that Idaho bullshit. So why did the cops not just use the key? Did they think it was an ambush or something? Did they think it was booby trapped? Here's oldfella thinking: if the senior ranking cop didn't have the balls to go first but he did have some brains, he could let the woman walk in first and have the cops follow in her footsteps while they clear the house in strict silence. If the woman isn't willing to do that then you know something might be ready to go down. But then I'm not a cop so I don't know how they think.
I only heard about the incident in DC. Is it happening elsewhere as well? Just got an automated call from the township my minor child lives in. There's a demonstration tomorrow along the main road going though 4 towns. But, it is supposed to be over by 4 - long before curfew.