I would hope that if there's one thing liberals and conservatives can agree on, it's that Rand Paul fucking suuuuucks.
Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Chauvin was a training officer for two of the rookie cops who stood by and watched as he killed George Floyd. If true that raises several questions. For one, what is a guy with his background doing as a training officer? For another was he demonstrating the proper way to apply a knee choke? Pay attention boys, you might want to kill someone like this later. If true, this reinforces my belief that they need to fire the entire police department, with the allowance that those with clean records can reapply with the understanding that they will have to pass new, much stricter screening standards and go through an entirely new training process from scratch. Edited to replace Chris O'Donnel attribution with a more credible source.
My initial reaction (along with fury) was that even during The Surge my infantry unit treated the civilians in Iraq better than these American Security Forces treat their own people. On FB someone pointed out that while all the pigs just walk on by, it is a National Guard soldier that stops to check on the guy and give aid.
I just saw this on the news! I can't believe none of the other cops broke ranks and helped the guy -it's a fucking HEAD INJURY! Oh I see one guy tried to check on the guy, but another cop wouldn't let him. And there were some National Guard soldiers in the rear of the group. I can't imagine any of them not saying "fuck this! The guy is seriously injured!" and helping him. Sorry but my training would kick in and I'd stand by my decision on this situation.
Hmm, you'd think there'd be a catchy phrase for this kind of situation. You know, something like Seemingly Every Police Officer is Not a Nice Person, but more succinct, maybe.
Minneapolis city council president is proposing "dismantling" the Minneapolis Police Department and replacing it with a new type of public safety department. Speaking only for herself and not for the council as whole, [council president Lisa] Bender said she would support shifting from a traditional police department to a wider public safety department oriented toward prevention and community-based services. In that kind of scenario, it’s possible that social workers or medics could respond to some calls now being handled by police. Major reforms of that kind would not happen immediately, she said, but are more likely to be discussed later this year or next. And, she said, they would involve opportunities for community input. “To do this kind of big work, we need a deeper, broader conversation than we’ve ever had before,” Bender said. “We need white people like me and my neighbors to show up in a different way.” The mayor says he is not for abolishing the department, but is committed to deep changes. It's been a long time comin...but a change is gonna come...
How long will it be before a unit of militarized police or deputized soldiers throws down their weapons on mass and joins the protests?
