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[Herbs]

Now with a kid I ask myself what should I do? Teach my kid the truth and break their spirits with the notion that they live in a society where 'mainstream' America don't give a fuck about them? Or let them live in their happy bubble until life pops it for them with possibly fatal consequences?

Man, that just sucks. I wouldn't even know how to begin to address that with a kid and that's the problem. I wouldn't have to. Fuck

 

[Jag]

Now with a kid I ask myself what should I do? Teach my kid the truth and break their spirits with the notion that they live in a society where 'mainstream' America don't give a fuck about them? Or let them live in their happy bubble until life pops it for them with possibly fatal consequences?

I think you teach them that it's the same as it always was. Life isn't fair and the cards are stacked against you. You will need to work harder and be more careful, but you still have a strong chance to live well and be successful. There are good and bad people out there. Some will judge you solely based on your race, name, clothes, music, etc. They are the bad people and the best you can do is try to avoid them.

I would say electing Obama as President should be held as a shining moment, but I'm not sure how he is currently perceived by black Americans.

 

[Averon]

Horrible (and all too familiar) story.

I think the problem isn't this grand jury in particular but the whole grand jury system. From the sounds of it the 'prosecutor' was basically acting as a defence attorney. If you look at the stats of how often grand juries convict for all cases and how often they do for police officers it's insane.

I think having the prosecutors make the decision on whether to press charges (and then justify why they did or didn't rather than just pass the decision off onto an anonymous grand jury which just does whatever they want anyway) is a much better system. There's no accountability for the prosecution with a grand jury.

The whole system involving prosecutors investigating police needs to change.

Why a local prosecutor is able to investigate and bring charges (or not bring charges) to local cops makes no sense. That is blatant conflicts-of-interest. In essence, we currently have a system in place where friendly co-workers investigate one another. Even if you have an honest prosecutor that would want to bring charges to officers, they are dissuaded to do so because they would face being ostracized by the police force for taking down one of their own. Given that the prosecutor's office and the police force work hand-in-hand virtually everyday, having a friendly relationship between the office and the police force is essential.

It should be a requirement that all police investigations be made by outside prosecutors that have no connections to the police force under investigation.

 

[Exile20]

The whole system involving prosecutors investigating and police needs to change.
Why a local prosecutors is able to investigate and bring charges (or not bring charges) to local cops makes no sense. That is blatant conflicts-of-interest. In essence, we currently have a system in place where friendly co-workers investigate one another. Even if you have an honest prosecutor that would want to bring charges to officers, they are dissuaded to do so because they would face being ostracized by the police force for taking down one of their own. Given that the prosecutors' office and the police work hand-in-hand virtually everyday, having friendly relationship between the office and the police is essential.

It should be a requirement that all police investigations be made by outside prosecutors that have no connections to the police force under investigation.

This is my thoughts exactly. It just doesn't make any sense.

 

[Garlador]

This is my thoughts exactly. It just doesn't make any sense.

Makes sense.

I wanted to look up just how high up the food chain these sort of problems go.

... All the way to the top.

In the decision of District Attorney's Office v. Osborne (2009), US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts wrote that post-conviction challenge "poses questions to our criminal justice systems and our traditional notions of finality better left to elected officials than federal judges." In a court opinion, another justice wrote that forensic science has "serious deficiencies". Roberts expressed an opinion that post-conviction DNA testing risks "unnecessarily overthrowing the established system of criminal justice." The law professor Kevin Jon Heller wrote: "It might lead to a reasonably accurate one."

The idea that it's better to have "finality" than "justice". It's better to "accept" than "question". That logic and mindset goes all the way up to the Supreme Court.

 

[ApharmdX]

The whole system involving prosecutors investigating police needs to change.

Why a local prosecutor is able to investigate and bring charges (or not bring charges) to local cops makes no sense. That is blatant conflicts-of-interest. In essence, we currently have a system in place where friendly co-workers investigate one another. Even if you have an honest prosecutor that would want to bring charges to officers, they are dissuaded to do so because they would face being ostracized by the police force for taking down one of their own. Given that the prosecutor's office and the police force work hand-in-hand virtually everyday, having a friendly relationship between the office and the police force is essential.

It should be a requirement that all police investigations be made by outside prosecutors that have no connections to the police force under investigation.

It makes perfect sense. This incestuous system exists in this way by intentional design. You're right on the money though re: using outside prosecutors.

I think we do understand the fear even if we don't live it. It is fucking terrifying. I have a 12 year old son too. I know he's safer from the cops than your kid, but it doesn't make it any less horrible. I think we're all 100% apathetic when it comes to change. We just don't know what to do.

No, we aren't all apathetic. It's just that people in positions of power to effect change are invested in the current way of doing business. No one wants to be seen as "soft on crime". Dems have been nearly as bad as the GOP on this.

 

[Enzom21]

This person summed it up for me:
Where is the outrage?

"No, that's not fair," he returned. "I know your son," not realizing he was sending a message that every black boy needed to personally get his stamp of approval to not be presumed guilty.

I then asked if it was OK to profile white boys like his son because of the awful things other white boys had done. That's when he first erupted in outrage. He felt nothing about a 17-year-old kid walking home from the store being shot to death in his neighborhood; his rage only ignited when I pointed out his hypocrisy.

This right here is what happens during every discussion on race and racism happens on this board and this country. So fucking infuriating.

 

[freeofgreed]

You're trying to speak for other people. Stop. As Grizzly's post makes it clear, there are people who are earnestly painting America with a broad brush in this thread. That people take offense to that is a personal issue you have, noted. But your opinion isn't ubiquitous.

I'm black, and American. Yet another grand jury farce pisses me off even if it isn't surprising. But I can also objectively say there aren't many other countries that, as a person of color, I would have rather been born in. Coming into this thread to discuss the topic and seeing hyperbolic posts from foreigners proclaiming my entire country a disgusting shit hole is an annoying distraction that only leads to silly conversations like the one we're having now.

Saying "The US media would have a propaganda feeding frenzy if some enemy country was treating its citizens the way blacks are treated in America." isn't painting the US in a broad strock. It's a fairly accurate assumption to make. Also what leads to stupid discussions like the one we're having now are people who feel the need to make a big deal out of innocuous posts of people venting. But go on, keep tap dancing for this country and it's justice system that wouldn't give to shits if you were killed unjustly. Just because other countries may treat black people like shit doesn't give America a pass for treating black people like shit.

 

[Pollux]

Horrible (and all too familiar) story.

I think the problem isn't this grand jury in particular but the whole grand jury system. From the sounds of it the 'prosecutor' was basically acting as a defence attorney. If you look at the stats of how often grand juries convict for all cases and how often they do for police officers it's insane.

I think having the prosecutors make the decision on whether to press charges (and then justify why they did or didn't rather than just pass the decision off onto an anonymous grand jury which just does whatever they want anyway) is a much better system. There's no accountability for the prosecution with a grand jury.

And how would you decide which crimes the prosecutor would make the decision on vs the grand jury? Who decides whether the prosecutors justification is "good enough". Your idea is impractical and from first hand experience I can tell you it would never work.

 

[InfiniDragon]

You're trying to speak for other people. Stop. As Grizzly's post makes it clear, there are people who are earnestly painting America with a broad brush in this thread. That people take offense to that is a personal issue you have, noted. But your opinion isn't ubiquitous.

I'm black, and American. Yet another grand jury farce pisses me off even if it isn't surprising. But I can also objectively say there aren't many other countries that, as a person of color, I would have rather been born in. Coming into this thread to discuss the topic and seeing hyperbolic posts from foreigners proclaiming my entire country a disgusting shit hole is an annoying distraction that only leads to silly conversations like the one we're having now.

Exactly. I agree that this behavior in our country is unacceptable but posts like that detract from what are usually otherwise valid points (emphasis on usually), and have no place in the conversation because the extra hyperbole adds absolutely nothing.

It's fine and perfectly logical to be offended by these events but when people start making the broad assumptions about every single person living in a country, it begs the question of what the point is. Getting a rise out of people online, offending them to invoke action or change? Not going to happen, so best to keep this sort of talk out of it.

 

[Jag]

So protesters are asking Lebron to sit a game in protest.

Lebron says he doesn't really know much about the Tamir Rice issue.

"For me, I've always been a guy who's took pride in the knowledge of every situation I've ever spoke on," James said. "To be completely honest, I haven't really been on top of this issue. So it's hard for me to comment on it."

Lebron doesn't owe anyone anything. He's under no obligation to comment or to act. But his answer is an absolute cop-out. He's protested before. He's made statements before. For Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner.

Tamir Rice happened in his backyard. He's proclaimed himself the savior of Cleveland and he's done a tremendous amount to support kids in need. But I think this issue deserves more than "I'm not on top of it".

I'm not saying he should do anything or that he has any obligation, but I do think he has the ability to generate headlines more than almost anyone else in the world and that his actions would absolutely have an impact.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

So protesters are asking Lebron to sit a game in protest.

Lebron says he doesn't really know much about the Tamir Rice issue.



Lebron doesn't owe anyone anything. He's under no obligation to comment or to act. But his answer is an absolute cop-out. He's protested before. He's made statements before. For Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner.

Tamir Rice happened in his backyard. He's proclaimed himself the savior of Cleveland and he's done a tremendous amount to support kids in need. But I think this issue deserves more than "I'm not on top of it".

I'm not saying he should do anything or that he has any obligation, but I do think he has the ability to generate headlines more than almost anyone else in the world and that his actions would absolutely have an impact.

While it would be easy to say Lebron will take the Jordan angle (ie "Cops buy sneakers too"), wasn't he one of the people who spearheaded the "I can't breathe" t-shirt wearing in the NBA, as well as threatening to walk out over Donald Sterling?

I think in the latter case his single tweet got Sterling removed as owner of a multibillion dollar franchise. For him to say "I'm not on top of it" might actually mean he hasn't read enough to form a strong opinion.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

So protesters are asking Lebron to sit a game in protest.

Lebron says he doesn't really know much about the Tamir Rice issue.



Lebron doesn't owe anyone anything. He's under no obligation to comment or to act. But his answer is an absolute cop-out. He's protested before. He's made statements before. For Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner.

Tamir Rice happened in his backyard. He's proclaimed himself the savior of Cleveland and he's done a tremendous amount to support kids in need. But I think this issue deserves more than "I'm not on top of it".

I'm not saying he should do anything or that he has any obligation, but I do think he has the ability to generate headlines more than almost anyone else in the world and that his actions would absolutely have an impact.

If Lebron wants to do something in protest it should be because he wanted to do it. Not due to pressure. That's not how protesting works.

 

[RedShift]

And how would you decide which crimes the prosecutor would make the decision on vs the grand jury? Who decides whether the prosecutors justification is "good enough". Your idea is impractical and from first hand experience I can tell you it would never work.

I live in a country that got rid of Grand Juries over 80 years ago, so I'm not sure it's that impractical.

It works pretty well in the UK, Australia, Canada, NZ, and plenty of other places.

 

[SyenceLabb]

So protesters are asking Lebron to sit a game in protest.

Lebron says he doesn't really know much about the Tamir Rice issue.



Lebron doesn't owe anyone anything. He's under no obligation to comment or to act. But his answer is an absolute cop-out. He's protested before. He's made statements before. For Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner.

Tamir Rice happened in his backyard. He's proclaimed himself the savior of Cleveland and he's done a tremendous amount to support kids in need. But I think this issue deserves more than "I'm not on top of it".

I'm not saying he should do anything or that he has any obligation, but I do think he has the ability to generate headlines more than almost anyone else in the world and that his actions would absolutely have an impact.

You start of making a claim, then you spend the rest of the time refuting that claim.

 

[Exile20]

Makes sense.

I wanted to look up just how high up the food chain these sort of problems go.

... All the way to the top.


The idea that it's better to have "finality" than "justice". It's better to "accept" than "question". That logic and mindset goes all the way up to the Supreme Court.

These same prosecutors work with the police everyday. They depend on the police to help with convictions of other criminals. How can you ask a prosecutor to indict the same people they depend on to get their work done? They work side by side eachother.

Then you factor in that district attorneys depend on the police union for election. The conflict of interest is far too big.

Then the prosecutor has TOTAL control of the proceedings.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

So protesters are asking Lebron to sit a game in protest.

Lebron says he doesn't really know much about the Tamir Rice issue.



Lebron doesn't owe anyone anything. He's under no obligation to comment or to act. But his answer is an absolute cop-out. He's protested before. He's made statements before. For Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner.

Tamir Rice happened in his backyard. He's proclaimed himself the savior of Cleveland and he's done a tremendous amount to support kids in need. But I think this issue deserves more than "I'm not on top of it".

I'm not saying he should do anything or that he has any obligation, but I do think he has the ability to generate headlines more than almost anyone else in the world and that his actions would absolutely have an impact.

He shouldn't do anything without being knowledgable about the event. That's how you get yourself in trouble. Don't band wagon.

Aside from that, I don't see why he needs to sit out a game. Would it draw a billion headlines? Sure. Are we going to see the grand jury decision over ruled? Naw.

I do think in general, a lot of these NBA players really should be more vocal on this stuff. Cause you know they were in the hood getting harassed by the police.

 

[commedieu]

He shouldn't do anything without being knowledgable about the event. That's how you get yourself in trouble. Don't band wagon.

Aside from that, I don't see why he needs to sit out a game. Would it draw a billion headlines? Sure. Are we going to see the grand jury decision over ruled? Naw.

I do think in general, a lot of these NBA players really should be more vocal on this stuff. Cause you know they were in the hood getting harassed by the police.

a lot of black celebrities are mum on this. sad to see. I mean, I remember seeing entertainers interact with civil rights movements in the past.

 

[Garlador]

a lot of black celebrities are mum on this. sad to see. I mean, I remember seeing entertainers interact with civil rights movements in the past.

Has ANY big-name celebrity commented on this issue and taken a stand?

If they have, it's been sorely overlooked.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

a lot of black celebrities are mum on this. sad to see. I mean, I remember seeing entertainers interact with civil rights movements in the past.

You and I both know in "post racial" America they are just gonna look like complainers and police haters if they say anything. And they know commenting on it is bad for business. So they are gonna shut up on it. I don't particularly blame them.

 

[Exile20]

He shouldn't do anything without being knowledgable about the event. That's how you get yourself in trouble. Don't band wagon.

Aside from that, I don't see why he needs to sit out a game. Would it draw a billion headlines? Sure. Are we going to see the grand jury decision over ruled? Naw.

I do think in general, a lot of these NBA players really should be more vocal on this stuff. Cause you know they were in the hood getting harassed by the police.

Do I?

Seriously tho, would be nice to see people talk about it.

 

[Jag]

a lot of black celebrities are mum on this. sad to see. I mean, I remember seeing entertainers interact with civil rights movements in the past.

That's my point. He's not under an obligation. But he does have the ability to make a tremendous impact and he's done it before.

 

[The Kree]

Has ANY big-name celebrity commented on this issue and taken a stand?

If they have, it's been sorely overlooked.

Margaret Cho is the biggest name I've seen make any comment.

 

[Chie Satonaka]

Has ANY big-name celebrity commented on this issue and taken a stand?

If they have, it's been sorely overlooked.

I haven't seen anything from anybody outside of high profile social media activists. Jesse Williams and Ava DuVerney wear both hats, but I expected that from them.

 

[commedieu]

You and I both know in "post racial" America they are just gonna look like complainers and police haters if they say anything. And they know commenting on it is bad for business. So they are gonna shut up on it. I don't particularly blame them.

Yep. You're right, but fuck them. They've got plenty of money, their people are dying in the streets. All it takes is for some cop to not recognize one of them, and they will get the same outcome. Its not like a hot-button political issue, this is to the detriment of living beings.

I understand the need to be one of the good ones (TM) and keep the money rolling in, but I have more respect for folks like Immortal Technique than I would for Kanye any day of the week, however, Kayne will make more money always.

Its just sad to see because as others have mentioned, it would be significant. The world needs to be bothered by this daily, and annoyed by it. Interrupting sports and everything else under the sun, in combination with other civil rights tactics, is essential.

George Takai is calling more shit out, you know? Again, much respect there. But OUR black celebrities, use our community, and use our image more so than any other group. So when the black community is getting raked over coals, I do expect a little out of them, but yea...

can't make a dollar less than you did yesterday. Just make sure you've got your demo-reel to let cops know who you are.

That's my point. He's not under an obligation. But he does have the ability to make a tremendous impact and he's done it before.

Yep, fuck being begged to do it.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Yep. You're right, but fuck them. They've got plenty of money, their people are dying in the streets. All it takes is for some cop to not recognize one of them, and they will get the same outcome. Its not like a hot-button political issue, this is to the detriment of living beings.

I understand the need to be one of the good ones (TM) and keep the money rolling in, but I have more respect for folks like Immortal Technique than I would for Kanye any day of the week, however, Kayne will make more money always.

Its just sad to see because as others have mentioned, it would be significant. The world needs to be bothered by this daily, and annoyed by it. Interrupting sports and everything else under the sun, in combination with other civil rights tactics, is essential.

George Takai is calling more shit out, you know? Again, much respect there. But OUR black celebrities, use our community, and use our image more so than any other group. So when the black community is getting raked over coals, I do expect a little out of them, but yea...

can't make a dollar less than you did yesterday. Just make sure you've got your demo-reel to let cops know who you are.



Yep, fuck being begged to do it.

Well I mean Immortal technique is a fucking boss. He breathes revolution. The dude released a CD and used the proceeds fron an independent release to build a shelter in Iraq. The dude has forgotten more than Kanye could learn in 3 lifetimes. If every black celebrity was immortal technique shit would be solved . . . Or burned to the ground lolol. (Revolutionary vol 2 is like one of my top 5 fav albums).

I agree it would be great if they talked about this stuff but I don't expect it. Nor do I believe they can even formulate an argument as coherently as Tech could. You see what happened when Lupe went on Fox? (shudders)

 

[RefigeKru]

You say this right below Grizzly's post. Hilarious.

Hey, maybe you should stop trying to speak for other posters. And maybe you should also stop insulting other people in this thread for taking offense to blanket insults on an entire country.

I dunno mang, Grizzly is speaking real empathetic truth up there and you're getting mad that he's tarring the entire country as shite as a result of --- well the things that make it shit especially to the outsider let alone those who have to suffer through it. Fuck man, he didn't even touch all the warmongering.

Fox News, Bill o'Reilly, McDonalds and the way people fight socialised health care at least put America up there as one of the shittier english speaking western countries? Is that fair? I think that's fair.

Being real, I don't hate America. I just think as a Briton for one we're spoonfed an idealised version of America, unsurprisingly as we ingest so much of your culture ourselves, your film, your literature, music, video games, memes... Whatever. As I've grown older I've only been exposed to so much wrong in that country especially to anyone considered a minority, and the veneer is slipping yet no change - only excuses and the second amendment, only fear and hatred and fucking comic book TV adaptions.

I actually hate my country for my own reasons, I've never felt the culture my own, we're just as foolish as you lot, our politics and values currently are a shambles and we've a muddy history ourselves (including well, y'know...) yet despite that I know for a fact that if a police officer shot a kid holding a plastic gun there would be riots. The same day, the next day. We simply would not tolerate it. It is not what we expect of our police and they damn well know it.

 

[bishoptl]

lots of handwaving

Dead kid. Fuck off.

 

[theignoramus]

Wow, shocker, members here pretend to be the true arbiters of justice while filling this thread with hypocrisies and fervent rhetoric. There will be a civil case, and Mr. Rice's estate will most likely win. Now if that doesn't occur, then I would be surprised. But until then, this result elicits mild, if any, surprise.

"The banality of evil" right here. A kid gets shot and this dude is making glib and snide remarks about people's emotions.

 

[kame-sennin]

Michael Freeden has argued that a key aspect of conservative ideology is being able to appropriate the values of opposing ideologies in order to protect the conservative's idea of the proper form of society. At the same time that the US switched from de jure (explicitly coded) to de facto (implicitly derived) institutional racism, racists realized that they could protect the institutions of racism by borrowing from the left's growing understanding of identity politics. They saw that the activity of "racism" could be isolated within certain overt behaviours, such as using the word "nigger," and that social discourse was moving away from blanket associations of actions with identities. They saw how the left made it taboo to use racist terms, as a way to shutdown racist discourse.

Racists decided that the best way to deflect public discussion away from de facto systems of racism was to make those discussions taboo, by borrowing the technique of coding certain terms (in this case "racist") as publicly unacceptable. They connected the term "racist" to identity politics by trying to dress it up as a demeaning term in the same way that "nigger" is. As a result, if you call a white person racist for, say, refusing to acknowledge a bias against black people within the criminal justice system, you're unfairly reducing them to a blanket identity which they don't see as their own. They can then center discussions about institutional racism around how it relates to white people and what their experiences are, diminishing the ability for the victims of systemic racism to argue their own cases.

That's a long way to say that it's an intentionally-conceived silencing tactic.

Wow. Thanks for this response.

.

Me while reading this post:

 

[M52B28]

Aaaaagh

This post is overwhelming, but I understand where the frustration comes from, especially from someone that isn't even from the United States.

Though, I do understand the frustration of why some people foreign to the United States, some people have to understand that the problems here will take, at least, another 100 years to smooth out to a less bumpy consistency.

The sad thing is that things will not change overnight, and it will take more and more black lives to be undeserving-ly taken for some to understand. And when talking drastically, it will take more and more white lives to be taken for some to understand. That's the truth. And now, many, like me, are wondering what is going to be the breaking point. The point where everyone gets together to recognize this problem.

Some care, some don't. That is what Capitalism has done for us. People don't care because they are safe, they have what they've got, and they are comfortable as long as there aren't gunshots outside and dead bodies leaning on the curb outside of their home.

Knowing I cannot escape racism, I would quite honestly love to move out of the United States when possible. That is mainly because I would be better off at many other places as an young African American guy. At-least I wouldn't have to worry about whiskey sippin', gunslingers as much.

I'll keep counting my days. If I do die by the hands of a police officer, a security guard, or anyone of remotely present authority, I'll know that I have died doing nothing wrong, and that some people don't give a fuck.

Now I'm tired.. And now I'm sitting here just thinking about how I just watched a video of a child getting murdered.

 

[aquavelva]

America is an inherently racist nation.

 

[Jag]

America is an inherently racist nation.

Our Founding "Fathers" were slave owners. We've come far, but we still have a very fucking long way to go. Institutional racism is the scourge of this country and it won't change until attitudes change. That's not happening overnight.

I think (I hope) in 50 years we look back on these days and compare it to segregation in the 1950s and say "Wow, what a fucked up ignorant time that was". We like to think we are progressive. But we aren't. We really aren't.

 

[Gattsu25]

I'm not saying he should do anything or that he has any obligation, but I do think he has the ability to generate headlines more than almost anyone else in the world and that his actions would absolutely have an impact.

Agree with the bold.

You know who would generate even greater headlines? Jerry Seinfield. Has Jerry threatened to drop out of any engagements over this? I think he has the ability to generate headlines more than almost anyone else in the world and his actions absolutely have an impact.

a lot of black celebrities are mum on this. sad to see. I mean, I remember seeing entertainers interact with civil rights movements in the past.

Responses should be expected from celebrities of all stripes. I understand wanting black celebrities to speak up but they don't hold the ears and attention of the media, at large. When the Tom Cruise's, Katy Perry's et al. of the world speak out they will get a much bigger response and the cause will get a much bigger microphone. But we don't expect that out of them. Their silence on these issues is expected and will sit in the back of our minds, always out of reach but understood.

It doesn't anger us as much as it should when the biggest domestic names in the international consciousness are silent.

 

[FStubbs]

I dunno mang, Grizzly is speaking real empathetic truth up there and you're getting mad that he's tarring the entire country as shite as a result of --- well the things that make it shit especially to the outsider let alone those who have to suffer through it. Fuck man, he didn't even touch all the warmongering.

Fox News, Bill o'Reilly, McDonalds and the way people fight socialised health care at least put America up there as one of the shittier english speaking western countries? Is that fair? I think that's fair.

Being real, I don't hate America. I just think as a Briton for one we're spoonfed an idealised version of America, unsurprisingly as we ingest so much of your culture ourselves, your film, your literature, music, video games, memes... Whatever. As I've grown older I've only been exposed to so much wrong in that country especially to anyone considered a minority, and the veneer is slipping yet no change - only excuses and the second amendment, only fear and hatred and fucking comic book TV adaptions.

I actually hate my country for my own reasons, I've never felt the culture my own, we're just as foolish as you lot, our politics and values currently are a shambles and we've a muddy history ourselves (including well, y'know...) yet despite that I know for a fact that if a police officer shot a kid holding a plastic gun there would be riots. The same day, the next day. We simply would not tolerate it. It is not what we expect of our police and they damn well know it.

The thing is, in America, you have a hated and outgunned minority, and a majority who approve and support police killings of minorities. Would not tolerate it? The police would be looking for an excuse to slaughter them all if it came to that.

 

[Cybit]

I'm still confused as to why the prosecutor even went forward with the grand jury if he never believed that the case would lead to a conviction. He freaking argued against charging them. Why the hell even bother with a grand jury at that point?

 

[adamsappel]

I'm still confused as to why the prosecutor even went forward with the grand jury if he never believed that the case would lead to a conviction. He freaking argued against charging them. Why the hell even bother with a grand jury at that point?

He could get in political trouble for not doing his job (feds might step in), but less political trouble for doing his job badly (he doesn't want to see cops convicted).

 

[Wilsongt]

Uh...

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/cle...-kids-not-to-play-with-fake-guns-stupid-btch/

Cleveland school police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave after a local news station started asking about a Facebook post calling the mother of Tamir Rice a “stupid b*tch.”

Rice, a 12-year-old Cleveland boy, was shot and killed last year while playing with a toy gun by police officer Timothy Loehmann. Prosecutors last week declined to file charges against him. Two days after the decision was announced,Cleveland Metropolitan School District officer Matt Cicero posted the comments to his Facebook page, according to NewsNet5.

Tamir rices momma just want money. Lets make the proper changes……raise your kids not to play with fake guns stupid bitch. All this media because the are notgetting what they want…… Again pleeeeze anyone who does not like what I post…..unfriendly me or block me your not worth my time

 

[commedieu]

..sigh.. just a joke.

 

[sc0la]

I'm still confused as to why the prosecutor even went forward with the grand jury if he never believed that the case would lead to a conviction. He freaking argued against charging them. Why the hell even bother with a grand jury at that point?

Reassigns blame and authority to others. Grand juries are unlikely to indict cops to begin with so softball the whole thing and pretend your hands are tied.
Keeps the cops on your good side and gives plausible deniability that you "tried to do the right thing."

 

[therapist]

That's ridiculous.

Wtf happened to tasers and non-lethal devices?

Obv neither would be needed in this case...but you get my point , hopefully

 

[Tedesco!]

Uh...

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/cle...-kids-not-to-play-with-fake-guns-stupid-btch/

The sad thing is, I know/knew this guy. I went to college with him. I ended up unfriending him on Facebook because of shit like this. Some of his posts were even worse than what was in the story. He was unbelievably combative with anyone that challenged him. He would always troll out the "You don't know what it's like..." line. Asshole.

If my memory serves me correctly, I believe he either failed or dropped out the first time he went to the police academy.

 

[crisdecuba]

CNN breaking news: $6 million settlement is what Cleveland will pay on the federal lawsuit re: the shooting / killing of Tamir Rice.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Update:

The cop was just fired

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Update:

The cop was just fired

Years later. The fact that it takes this long is spit in our faces.

He'll get another police job somewhere else. White supremacy takes care of its own

 

[Bruce Springsteen]

Update:

The cop was just fired

Amazing, the guy murdered someone and all gets is being fired from his job

 

[Imm0rt4l]

Years later. The fact that it takes this long is spit in our faces.

He'll get another police job somewhere else. White supremacy takes care of its own

My sentiments exactly

 

[azyless]

Absolute joke that he didn't face charges despite the video evidence available to all.
I found it weird he got fired so much later than the events, turns out lying on your job application is apparently a bigger offense than killing a teenager :

Loehmann was fired not for shooting Tamir, but for lying on his application with the Cleveland police department.

 

[Nepenthe]

Fuck that; he should be in jail.

 

[Derwind]

So that's the excuse they're going with to sanitize the murder of a child. "It happened all too fast, no way to prevent it" defense.

Omitting the fact that it was the officers on duty that escalated things by essentially doing a driveby.

When you investigate yourself why would you find yourself guilty?

.

Update:

The cop was just fired

Should be rotting in jail tho.