That the Chauvin verdict was the correct one doesn't make the sort of fears I outlined illegitimate. Granted, I care about them far less than, say, the fears that Black people still have to worry about disproportionate policing and systemic racism, and think people should too. But I don't think it is fair to extract from people might have legitimate fears stemming from the verdict that they (or I, or the public at large) think that there should have been a different verdict. My only meaning is that there are some fears that a police officer could have arising out of the verdict that would not signal IMO that they should not be police officers any longer.
Since it has been around a while, let us find an example where that is a problem and see where we can fix it from there. I think it would be much easier to find a fix for such a problem if we knew the exact course it took. Since it seems to not be an issue because of many factors perhaps we are imagining problems that need to be fixed because we wanted this to be a problem.
For @Raoul the Red Shirt maybe you ought to check yourself a bit. We see an obvious case that got the proper verdict. Now all of a sudden people want to question the system based on that verdict because they think the police might be getting an unfair verdict when there really was no indication at all that any of that happened. It seems to me that for some reason you are worried. It seems to me that things did not work out in a way that was comfortable for you. Now we have got to look into things because you are uncomfortable with an obvious good verdict. I am just saying maybe your uncomfortability is with cops being held to the proper standards of not killing black people. Maybe that is why you are uncomfortable. Looking at the evidence we have seen it is obviously murder. The jury saw that too. Why is there a problem here?
Man! This thread is moving fast! Trying to catch up. It's natural for us to sympathize with the kid that was killed here and I do... but as a father, I have to try to put myself in the position of the kid about to be stabbed. Without knowing anything else about the situation, what if the girl in pink were my daughter? What if she were your daughter? What happened was terrible. I wish there were other tools cops had to do their jobs, I can't see any reason to fault this cop in this situation.
Something about the whole "it was a home invasion and she was defending herself" story really doesn't make sense. The other girls were invading her home so she called the police, then she waited for them to show up, then, while there was a guy with a gun standing there and nobody was immediately threatening her, she decided to rush one of the other girls with a knife? Maybe the cop could have found a different solution. Maybe if she'd been white he would have; there is plenty of evidence that a lot of white cops -- indeed, a lot of white people period -- go immediately to Threat Condition Alpha when there's a Black person around. But "she was just defending herself" doesn't track with what we can see on video, and the other girl's life was clearly in immediate danger.
I don't know if you are trolling or if you just don't understand what I am and have been saying. I personally think that it was right to convict Chauvin of third-degree murder based on what I understand of the evidence. I think that reasonable people could have found first-degree and second-degree. I probably wouldn't have voted for either if I were a juror based on what I believe the evidence is, but then I obviously did not watch all the evidence come in. In short, I approve of the verdict and am not worried about the verdict. I can, however, picture police officers who are worried about the verdict; They could be worried about the verdict for reasons that are wrong and suggest that they should get another line of work, like "Chauvin did nothing wrong." They could be worried about for reasons that are probably also wrong, but do not suggest they should no longer be police officers like, "Now officers who are put in the difficult choice of using lethal force justifiably are going to get railroaded." I personally don't worry that is true, but it is not an unreasonable fear.
Sorry, but a leather jacket is the Wordforgers weapon of choice when confronted by someone with a knife
I think our measure of unreasonable is different. I totally understand what you are saying, but this is things working as intended. The reality is that they have been off in the opposite direction for a long time. If you are just asking have we gone too far I would say no. I would also say that idea has some residue of societal racism behind it.
I don't think @Raoul the Red Shirt is suggesting the verdict went too far at all. The point is that some cops aren't going to learn the right lesson from this. They'll look at themselves as potential victims of "unfairness" if they "do their jobs." And even cops who aren't overtly racist and aggressive may feel a little apprehensive. I can imagine literally ANY cop thinking, "well, if I shoot a black person--no matter what they're doing--I'm probably going to jail." That's not correct, but I can see them feeling that way.
It's a bummer they had to make the main mugger in that scene a Black Michael Jackson type, but at least his gang is refreshingly diverse.
Watch the Crocodile Dundee clip above when Linda Kozlowski sees the mugger walk up to them. Look at her facial expression and body movement, and imagine this isn't a movie. She's scared from the get-go. Now, maybe it's because she lives in a city, or because she's a woman, or because he's dressed like a Cobra Kai reject. Maybe it's all three. But if a white kid had come up to them asking for a light, would she have reacted the way she did? That fear of Black men is real, and it's culturally instilled. People, ESPECIALLY cops, need education and training to get past that fear. It's literally killing people.
Yea, I always assumed it was the knife. But, maybe it is because he's black that instilled so much fear in her - or maybe she was just over-acting. I mean, fear of the knife, sure. But, she does seem absolutely terrified.
Turns out the "home invasion" angle is all made up. There were two 911 calls. The first call said "someone is trying to stab me". The second call was a hang up. Then cops show up and someone is getting all stabby. Huh. https://www.dispatch.com/story/news...iscuss-shooting-body-camera-video/7318569002/
Just heard the guy across the street got the whole thing on his garage security camera. He says he saw no other way it could have ended.
A short snippet of the neighbor's garage cam footage is here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...o-choice-shoot-her.html#v-6322435158134994468
