military lockdown in Minneapolis

[mellowtigger]

The curfew begins at 7pm today.  The road I drove to work in the morning was blocked off this afternoon.  It passes directly by the local Federal Reserve building, which got its own National Guard troops during last year's riots.  There are plenty of news articles with photos showing how authorities responded yesterday (local story) too.  Traffic on my alternate path home was gridlocked worse than before covid arrived.  After stopping at the grocery store on my way home, I passed military vehicles stationed at a mini-plaza area about a dozen blocks from my house. 

Freakin' military vehicles and troops are in my neighborhood!  Because yet another cop killed yet another black man for no justifiable reason at all.  Where I got my covid shot last week, that's about halfway between where Daunte Wright was killed and the police precinct where people went to protest.  It's a suburb neighboring Minneapolis to the northwest.

Early word is that the officer called out "Tazer" but shot a gun instead.  It doesn't matter if it was a mixup.  It straight up Does. Not. Matter.

1) Accepting that defense would mean, as we've said all along, that people trained to self-authorize a killing act cannot be trusted to act in any situation that does NOT require killing.  They will make deadly mistakes, and those mistakes cannot be tolerated.  Those mistakes SHOULD NOT be tolerated!  As we keep saying, time and again and again and again and again.

2) Accepting that defense would mean that every police encounter has an immediate loophole.  It's the same ploy used by "stand your ground" legislation.  All you have to do is claim that you perceived the situation in a way that justifies a plausible action.  It becomes an opinion which replaces as fact the actual situation.  It's a self-justification with no accountability.  This escape route is perfectly illustrated in this very old South Park comedy clip.  All that officers would have to do is start shouting "Tazer" every time they fire a bullet.  Don't allow it.  End it now.

Watch on YouTube

3) Accepting that defense would mean that fully trained professionals are forgiven to act irresponsibly, while untrained civilians must act perfectly or just accept getting killed by their own government.  Anytime an encounter results in an observer thinking, "They should've just done [x]", then we're holding the public to a higher standard than the government itself.  Don't do that.  That's backwards.

I am angry that police killed again.

I am angry that military are stationed in my neighborhood.

I am angry that my government will go to any freakin' lengths to preserve its status quo.

As an old, white male Minnesota professor put it so appropriately in a tweet earlier today:

"Goddamn, but I have learned to hate the police.
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2021/04/12/ftp/"

- Twitter

I think a lot of people are finally realizing the necessity of the changes that we've been advocating.  No more stalling!

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[mellowtigger]

Sorry, I keep editing. This post will end up a long diatribe unless I stop. I hope this timestamp marks the end of my monkeying with the original blog.