‘I Can’t Breathe’: 4 Minneapolis Officers Fired After Black Man Dies in Custody

[JWags85]

I'm all for protesting, and enough was enough more than long ago regarding police brutality against African Americans, but the National Guard or Army has to come in immediately. If Police and Emergency Response is seemingly giving up, how is the rioting and looting going to stop? People have every right to be pissed off, and express that, but more potential loss of life or more loss of people's livelihoods, isn't going to help bring justice for Mr. Floyd.

One of my closest friends of a decade plus is African American, and he's been really stressed about this all, as you can imagine. He was the catalyst of one of my first stark encounters of different treatments. Long story short, he, myself, and another of his college friends (also AA) were walking in Ravenswood (where he grew up) late on week night after going to a party. CPD squad car pulled up, stopped us, and rather insistently pulled them aside for questioning about some "complaint".  Both of them were well dressed, polite and cooperative, and still patted down against the car. One officer was pretty insistent on me continuing on my way and aggressively shot down any questions I had. His partner was more reasonable but if he was of the same mind, I definitely would have been run off to let them do what they wanted to do. It was blatant unnecessary profiling and normally I have a quite high view of CPD.

Regardless, I'm quite open to his rational viewpoints of this sort of thing as it's his personal struggle. Masters degree, lives in a beautiful high rise in Gold Coast with his fiancée, does very well financially, and he still has a perpetual fear that these things could happen to him. But where we agreed is the reaction to George Floyd had been remarkable consistent. Not that my Twitter feed is filled with Blue Lives Matter sort of presences, but it has enough diverse vantage points where I normally see the most extreme reactions retweeted with a "WTF" sort of response. There was far less here than I've seen with many other situations like this. It was almost uniformly "this is horrible, indefensible, etc...". Which is great.

But now, the looting and the rioting gives people a reason to push back and deflect and redirect.  The true message gets lost.  The purpose of the protests (violent or otherwise, I thought they were more than merited until last night) gets muddied. And the other factor is, the people doing the vast majority of vandalism, or looting Target, or burning down Autozone aren't the truly passionate ones in the first place, they are agents of chaos. Much like the most offensive and vocal hecklers or azzholes at a basketball game aren't true fans of the team in the first place.  And those toxic people draw attention away from what truly matters and give the opposition, who may have been silent with no leg to stand on, a reason to get vocal again. And that's truly unfortunate.

[GooooMarquette]

Rioters are committing crimes. They should be held accountable. But I would hate to see us become distracted from the greater injustice by focusing on the rioters rather than the murderer who sparked them.

Agreed.

[muwarrior69]

One of my closest friends of a decade plus is African American, and he's been really stressed about this all, as you can imagine. He was the catalyst of one of my first stark encounters of different treatments. Long story short, he, myself, and another of his college friends (also AA) were walking in Ravenswood (where he grew up) late on week night after going to a party. CPD squad car pulled up, stopped us, and rather insistently pulled them aside for questioning about some "complaint".  Both of them were well dressed, polite and cooperative, and still patted down against the car. One officer was pretty insistent on me continuing on my way and aggressively shot down any questions I had. His partner was more reasonable but if he was of the same mind, I definitely would have been run off to let them do what they wanted to do. It was blatant unnecessary profiling and normally I have a quite high view of CPD.

Regardless, I'm quite open to his rational viewpoints of this sort of thing as it's his personal struggle. Masters degree, lives in a beautiful high rise in Gold Coast with his fiancée, does very well financially, and he still has a perpetual fear that these things could happen to him. But where we agreed is the reaction to George Floyd had been remarkable consistent. Not that my Twitter feed is filled with Blue Lives Matter sort of presences, but it has enough diverse vantage points where I normally see the most extreme reactions retweeted with a "WTF" sort of response. There was far less here than I've seen with many other situations like this. It was almost uniformly "this is horrible, indefensible, etc...". Which is great.

But now, the looting and the rioting gives people a reason to push back and deflect and redirect.  The true message gets lost.  The purpose of the protests (violent or otherwise, I thought they were more than merited until last night) gets muddied. And the other factor is, the people doing the vast majority of vandalism, or looting Target, or burning down Autozone aren't the truly passionate ones in the first place, they are agents of chaos. Much like the most offensive and vocal hecklers or azzholes at a basketball game aren't true fans of the team in the first place.  And those toxic people draw attention away from what truly matters and give the opposition, who may have been silent with no leg to stand on, a reason to get vocal again. And that's truly unfortunate.

What opposition? Those cops should be behind bars already and the looters arrested as well. There are no sides here.

[muwarrior69]

This is how the American experiment though not perfect should work.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/08/ferguson-missouri-riots-5-years-since-shooting-race-tensions-worse/1952853001/

[The Sultan]

I don't like rioting either.  So maybe prominant black athletes should lead a peaceful protest by kneeling during the national anthem?  Or wearing an "I can't breathe" shirt during warm-ups before a game.

What do you think of those ideas?  I'm sure they will be well received right?

[wadesworld]

I don't like rioting either.  So maybe prominant black athletes should lead a peaceful protest by kneeling during the national anthem?  Or wearing an "I can't breathe" shirt during warm-ups before a game.

What do you think of those ideas?  I'm sure they will be well received right?

Bingo. I wouldn't be one to riot. But I'm also not someone who has to worry that I'll be choked to death even if I do exactly what the police ask me to do. Or chased down by non-police and shot to death for my skin color. They've tried. It doesn't do anything. So while I don't condone it, I can see why they're angry, scared, sad. Peaceful protests are met with pepper spray. What's left to do? Nothing changes. So I can see why people need to take out their anger.

I remember all the outrage over the riots from...the Giants winning the World Series? Wait, nope. Nevermind. There was none of that.

If don't want riots stop murdering black men who are cooperating with police. It shouldn't be that difficult. If police don't want to be put in harms way, don't choke a guy who's telling you he can't breathe while you have 3 cops kneeling on him while he's in handcuffs. Or listen to their peaceful protests. Or let them peacefully protest. Or treat them the same way white men with assault rifles are treated at state capitols.

And, apparently, stop winning sports games. But we don't care about those riots.

Seriously, it's not THAT hard. Police should not be murdering people. And when they are they should be treated as such, murderers. I'd say someday there won't be a need for these riots, but sadly that day won't come in my lifetime.

[Hards Alumni]

Injustice met with injustice since justice isn't being met with justice.

Arrest the former officers when this happened and there probably isn't riots.

[muwarrior69]

"I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation's summers of riots are caused by our nation's winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention."

Dr. King certainly didn't condone rioting, but he understood why it happened and recognized that the only way to stop it was to address the injustice that caused the riot in the first place.

Rioters are committing crimes. They should be held accountable. But I would hate to see us become distracted from the greater injustice by focusing on the rioters rather than the murderer who sparked them.

We all should respect the rule of law, but when the rule of law does not respect us we all lose and we the people should hold our elected officials responsible. Why has the Minneapolis DA not charged these guys already, where is the Mayor? These are the people I think would and should agree with your stated position above. I don't understand the foot dragging. I know we don't agree on many things but the black community has every right to be angry. This is wrong on so many levels. If these guys were not cops they would be arrested already.

[Galway Eagle]

We all should respect the rule of law, but when the rule of law does not respect us we all lose and we the people should hold our elected officials responsible. Why has the Minneapolis DA not charged these guys already, where is the Mayor? These are the people I think would and should agree with your stated position above. I don't understand the foot dragging. I know we don't agree on many things but the black community has every right to be angry. This is wrong on so many levels. If these guys were not cops they would be arrested already.

Your last sentence is intriguing and a good point. I was just reading a letter by a former Federal prosecutor saying not to expect arrests for months so the DA can build a case but you're right they'd be behind bars already hoping for credit for time served if they were normal citizens

[jesmu84]

Re: AutoZone...

https://twitter.com/javimorillo/status/1266142878889316353?s=19

Hmm.. that sure looks like a strange situation for a white guy to start the damage.

The plot thickens, although the source is questionable:

https://twitter.com/GypsyEyedBeauty/status/1266164431584714753?s=19

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

And now a black CNN reporter was arrested while the white CNN reporter was not while both covered the protests. 
CNN President had to call the governor to get him released.

[Hards Alumni]

Re: AutoZone...

https://twitter.com/javimorillo/status/1266142878889316353?s=19

Hmm.. that sure looks like a strange situation for a white guy to start the damage.

The plot thickens, although the source is questionable:

https://twitter.com/GypsyEyedBeauty/status/1266164431584714753?s=19

I know its twitter, but if that is true... my Lord.

[Galway Eagle]

Re: AutoZone...

https://twitter.com/javimorillo/status/1266142878889316353?s=19

Hmm.. that sure looks like a strange situation for a white guy to start the damage.

The plot thickens, although the source is questionable:

https://twitter.com/GypsyEyedBeauty/status/1266164431584714753?s=19

Local anarchist? Jerk trying to defame the protests? What do you guys think?

[tower912]

JB was right.

[jesmu84]

I know its twitter, but if that is true... my Lord.

I don't buy the identification of the guy by his "ex-wife", but the video is incontrovertible.

[Hards Alumni]

Local anarchist? Jerk trying to defame the protests? What do you guys think?

*puts on tin foil hat*

Police create destruction in the face of peaceful riots the same way that the Hong Kong police dressed in street clothes did.  This is done because the police force has extremely racist elements who want to shift the narrative away from the murder towards what you see today.  These guys will never be arrested.   As with most politicians, the police will not allow a crisis to go to waste.  If the police officers feel unsafe and can point to these sorts of events as dangerous, they can ask for increased pay and benefits.  Not to mention they get cool new military style toys to play with because the budget for law enforcement will increase as a result. 

*takes off tin foil hat*

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

JB was right.

You can see our institutions ripping apart right in front of our eyes.

[Pakuni]

And now a black CNN reporter was arrested while the white CNN reporter was not while both covered the protests. 
CNN President had to call the governor to get him released.

Appalling. Cops stand aside all night for rioters and looters, then show up the next morning and arrest a TV reporter and camera crew.

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1266315061221613569

[Pakuni]

I don't buy the identification of the guy by his "ex-wife", but the video is incontrovertible.

Incontrovertible what? Proof that white people can be vandals also?
Think about how insulting this is. The insinuation is that all it takes is a white guy to dress like Darth Vader, carry an umbrella and break a few windows at Autozone to spark massive riots, looting and destruction in black neighborhoods.
That's no less racist than conspiracies from the groyper crowd claiming George Soros is behind this.

[GooooMarquette]

Appalling. Cops stand aside all night for rioters and looters, then show up the next morning and arrest a TV reporter and camera crew.

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1266315061221613569

Yep. The MPD gets a failing grade for its performance thus far. The initial killing. The abandonment of a neighborhood on fire. The arrest and detainment of a black reporter and camera crew on air for doing their jobs while showing their press credentials.

Many of the protesters went too far. The guy on video breaking the Auto Zone windows went too far and clearly should be arrested. But the MPD failed the city on so many levels....

[Galway Eagle]

Appalling. Cops stand aside all night for rioters and looters, then show up the next morning and arrest a TV reporter and camera crew.

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1266315061221613569

The Bland statement they gave this AM doesn't help either

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

"I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation's summers of riots are caused by our nation's winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention."

Dr. King certainly didn't condone rioting, but he understood why it happened and recognized that the only way to stop it was to address the injustice that caused the riot in the first place.

Rioters are committing crimes. They should be held accountable. But I would hate to see us become distracted from the greater injustice by focusing on the rioters rather than the murderer who sparked them.

https://twitter.com/OfficialMLK3/status/1266040838628560898

[jesmu84]

https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1266342997077131265?s=19


Marco Rubio with an excellent tweet.

[GooooMarquette]

https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1266342997077131265?s=19


Marco Rubio with an excellent tweet.

Agreed. Marco nails it.

[Pakuni]

https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1266342997077131265?s=19


Marco Rubio with an excellent tweet.

Well said.
On the other hand,. the president wants to send in the military to extrajudicially kill suspected looters. That'll ease tensions, for sure.