This White Guy Has Questions About All Those Police Shootings

Police officers comfort each other at an Dallas
area hospital after a sniper killed five officefs
Thursday night during a Black Lives Matter
 demonstration. Photo by Ting Shen/
Dallas Morning News.  

Here we go again with the deaths of black men during encounters with cops.

Even worse was the violence we saw in Dallas Thursday night when that sniper opened fire on cops who were protecting peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrators. Five officers died.

It just goes on and on in such a sickening fashion.

The whole week made no sense. All these good people dying for no good reason.

As is always the case in these too-often mass killings,  most of the nation was shocked, supportive, and wanted to help, but also felt helpless.

Unfortunately, again as always a few people took the tragedy as another opportunity to Not Help. There's always a few morons to make a situation worse. Thank goodness they're not in the majority.

As you no doubt heard on the news, this latest episode all started with  the deaths of two African-Americans during police calls this week. One in Baton Rouge, one near St. Paul, Minnesota.

Understandably, the nation erupted in protests because of this new batch of sorrowful shootings of African-Americans who were not doing much of anything wrong to begin with.  Black Lives Matter organized demonstrations in dozens of cities. The demonstrations were all largely peaceful.

I'm a totally naive white guy, so I hope somebody can answer some questions that came to my mind during this terrible week.

Question 1. Please explain and put in context and the reasons behind the all-too-frequent incidents of black males dying at the hands of white police officers.

I have found some facts that partly help, but still, it's all so unnerving.

We know from the Washington Post that nearly 1,000 people died in police involved shootings in 2015. Most of those shot were wielding weapons, were mentally ill or suicidal, or ran when officers told them to stop.

Four percent of those who died in police shootings during 2015 were unarmed black men, the Post says.

That doesn't sound like much until you realize, as the Washington Post did, that black men make up only 6 percent of the U.S. population but accounted for 40 percent of the unarmed men shot to death by police in 2015.

Says the Post:

"In the majority of cases in which police shot and killed a person who had attacked someone with a weapon or brandished a gun, the person who was shot was white. But a hugely disproportionate number -- three in five -- of those killed after exhibiting less threatening behavior were black or Hispanic."

OK, there's obviously some sort of racial problem going on here.

In the Minnesota case this week, the state's governor, Mark Dayton said:

"Would this have happened if those passengers, the driver and the passengers, were white?......I don't think it would have. So I'm forced to confront, and I think all of us in Minnesota are forced to confront, that this kind of racism exists."

Question 2. The officers involved in the deaths are not KKK white hood wearing cross burning bigots. But there seems to be some sort of terrible racism going on. What's up?

I have the displeasure of knowing a couple awful racists/bigots. I never hear even these asshats saying black guys ought to be hunted down and shot.

Which surely means police aren't hunting down and killing black men for sport. Were many of us white guys - some of whom became police officers - sort of semi-subconsciously instilled with the notion that African-Americans are somehow "scarier' and "more of a threat" than white guys?

Does that make some police officers more ready to shoot a black guy?  Regarding the death of Philando Castile last week in Minnesota, the lawyer for the cop (who is Latino) involved said he was reacting to the presence of Castile's gun rather than his race. (Castile had a conceal carry permit, and had the gun with him but did not threaten officers with it.)

Would the cop have reacted to such an extreme had Castile been white? Quite possibly, I think.

 If so, how do we erase this ingrained, perhaps rather involuntary racism? Or do a small minority of police officers just plain hate African Americans?

Beyond that, there almost alwasy seems to be acquitals when police officers get in trouble for causing a death. Fair justice or is something wrong with the judicial system too? I don't know, but it's worth asking.

Question 3: Is this issue with black men dying during encounters with cops a new thing, or has it always been going on?

Obviously, we've been hearing more and more about these shootings in recent years. But how long has this been going on? Decades? We probably weren't aware of these white cop on black man shootings until everybody suddenly had a smart phone with a camera in their pocket.

Castile's girlfriend posted the immediate aftermath live on Facebook, which ensured no corrupt cop could erase her video. (That sometimes happens, though I have no idea whether that would have happened in this case.)

Are all these cameras bringing a long-standing but "quiet" crisis to life?

Question 4: Isn't it possible to be both pro-cop and pro-Black Lives Matter?  I am.  So why do some people think the two ideas are mutually exclusive?

I'm stating the obvious here, but most cops are incredible people. It's an unbelievably tough, dangerous job, requiring life and death split second decisions.

Many police departments are excellent, but none are perfect. They're run by humans, after all. All cops are human, so they can  make mistakes.

Isn't pointing out that there are too many incidents in which white cops kill black men in a way supporting cops? Isn't that in part an effort to improve policing in the United States? Don't we all want our great police forces to be even better?

On The Daily Show the other night, Trevor Noah said it best:

"You know, the hardest part of having a conversation surrounding police shootings in America, it always feels like in America, it's like if you take a stand for something, you automatically are against something else....

"But with police shootings, it shouldn't have to work that way. For instance, if you're pro-Black Lives Matter, you're assumed to be anti-police, and if you're pro-police, than you surely hate black people. When in reality you can be pro-cop and pro-black, which is what we should all be."

Question 5: So why do some so-called leaders fan the flames of division when we have a terrible week like the one we just had?

As note, there are always asshats out there. The biggest meme among these idiots who are so-called political leaders is that Black Lives Matter wants all cops dead.

It seems like there's a competition among these merry band of asshats to outdo each other with their outrageousness.

Perhaps the winner of this sweepstakes was Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick, who had this to say about the Black Lives Matter demonstration in Dallas that ended in that fatal sniper attack on the police who were protecting the protesters:

"All those protesters last night, they ran the other way expecting the men and women in blue to turn around and protect them. What hypocrites!"

In other words Patrick is so stupid he thinks that the demonstraters hate all cops and should just protect themselves. How the hell did he get to be lieutenant governor?

Another question for the top brass and union chiefs of all the cop shops around the country: When someone criticizes the actions of a particular police officer, will you please stop getting your panties in a wad and saying that these criticisms are attacks on each and every police officer out there?

Here's one response, as noted in the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

"'Gov. Dayton's extraordinary presumptive conclusion that the tragic incident in Falcon Heights was motivated by race is the height of political malfeasance that could lead to a miscarriage of justice, if not more violence,' Dennis Flaherty, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association said Friday."

Yeah, we don't know exactly what was in the officer's head, but Governor Dayton was right to at least consider some form of innate racism a possibility.

I have to repeat and emphasize police officers have incredibly tough jobs and sometimes have to make life or death decisions in milliseconds.  Mistakes are inevitable.

But it's the job of the citizenry, and investigators, to hold our public servants accountable. Did a particular officer do anything criminal? Or should we beef up training?

These aren't questions that indict every police officer in the country, many of whom do amazing work. Including on the behalf of racial minorities.  So, union bosses and police chiefs: Will you quit ordering us to stop asking questions already?

Question 6: Are we, the citizenry supporting the police enough through our tax dollars? If we're indeed stingy, do we share the blame?

 I know you get what you pay for. Is one reason for these police shootings inadequate training? Are some cops not adequately trained to handle highly charged situations when guns are around?

Do they also have training on how to deal with those subtle and not-so-subtle racial undercurrents that seem to stew in some (most? all?) jurisdictions?

That takes money.  And time. And commitment. Are politicians too ready to embrace trying to do things on the cheap and not pay for adequate training and policing? Are taxpayers, who understandably can't pay all of their income for services, also trying to get police services on the cheap?

Are we paying in the long term with lives so we can save a few bucks in the short term?

Tamir Rice Ambulance Billing FIasco: City Won't Seek Money From Family After All

The city of Cleveland is suing the family of
Tamir Rice, trying to claw back  $500
ambulance bill for the kid after the city's police
 fatally shot him. 

UPDATE: 

The Mayor of Cleveland finally responded to this mess and says this whole thing was a mixup.

And more importantly, Tamir Rice's family won't be billed for the ambulance after all.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said the bill had been previously canceled, but the executor of the Tamir Rice estate had they needed a copy of the billing statement to deal with Medicaid paperwork.

This made it look like the Rice family was being billed, but that wasn't the intention,  Jackson said.

He added that the city would look at its procedures so this doesn't happen again.

To me, this looks like it could be classic backpedaling by the city, but of course I can't prove that. The most important thing is the Rice family won't be hounded to pay this bill

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION

Pretty much everybody hates what happened with Tamir Rice, the 12 year old kids in Cleveland who was gunned down by police in 2014.

Cleveland Police shot Tamir after he was seen playing with what looked liked a gun, but was a replica in a Cleveland Park.

A grand jury did not indict the officers who shot the kid, but Tamir's family is suing the city, in part because officers did not give him any emergency aid after he was shot.

An FBI agent, then an ambulance crew eventually showed up and tried to save him, but were not able to.

Now, his family was just slapped with a $500 past-due notice for the ambulance ride Tamir got after he was shot.

Says Cleveland Scene:

"'That the city would submit a bill and call itself a creditor after having had its own police officers slay 12-year-old Tamir displays a new pinnacle of callousness and insensitivity,' of of Rice's family attorneys, Subodh Chandra, told Scene this afternooon. 'This kind of poor judgement that it takes to do such a thing is nothing short of breathtaking. Who on earth would think this is a good idea and file this on behalf of the city? This adds insult to homicide.'"

I'll tell you who would do this:  Somebody in the city wanted to send a message to anybody who would object to police shooting any young black teen or man. Anywhere.

So they try to make it as horrible for Rice's family as possible. To tell the rest of the black community nationwide: If we white officers shoot your black teenager, shut up about it. Don't make a stink. And for God's sake don't do the Black Lives Matter thing.

Cleveland.com reported that no city officials would comment so far on the ambulance bill. The city told other media outlets it doesn't comment on pending litigation, which is of course a weasly way out.

That's typical too. The Mafia doesn't exactly fall all over itself responding to media requests.

I'm obviously not saying most cities or police agencies act like the Mob. The overwhelming majority do not. I shouldn't even have to say it, it's so obvious, but to a few, the attitude is if you criticize one aspect of police work in one community, you hate all police.

In this case, it's not the Cleveland Police union that's instigating this latest outrage. The union president, Steve Loomis, sharply criticized the city for billing Rice's family for the ambulance, and found rare agreement with Chandra.

Note that Loomis called Rice an adult in a kids body who caused his own death. That he would blast the city for sending the ambulance bill definitely says something

Television station Fox 8 in Cleveland, quoted Loomis saying this:

"'Subodh Chandra and I have never agreed on anything until now. It is unconscionable that the City of Cleveland would send that bill to the Rice familu. Truly disappointing but unfortunately not surprising."

Still, it's extremely disturbing that when somebody rightfully objects to moments when white police officers kill black people when it's apparent said black person is not an immediate threat, somebody retaliates against those who complain. Like the Mafia.

It's happened before, just recently.

Chicago Police officer Robert Rialmo sued the family of Quintonio LaGrier for $10 million last week.  LaGrier was a mentally ill teen who police shot after LaGrier's father called police during the disturbance. During that incident, police also shot and killed a downstairs neighbor.

Rialmo says the shooting, and a wrongful death lawsuit the LaGrier family filed, has caused him "emotional trauma."

Poor thing.

Rialmo's suit says LaGrier swung a baseball bat at him several times, just missing him. So, according to the suit, it was LaGrier's fault that he died.

Rialmo's attorney, Joel Brodsky said the fact that LaGrier's family filed a lawsuit so quickly makes Rialto want to point out that "having a relative killed in an officer-involved shoting is not the same thing as winning the lottery."

Yeah, I'm sure that's whaty LaGrier's father called the cops. He saw an opportunity to win the lottery.

Maybe LaGrier's family should sue again, for the emotional distress of having Rialto act like the thug he apparently is.

Why Do Terrorist Threats Bring Out The Crazies?

Some random thoughts on the responses to the world's growing terrorist threat, and related news:

REFUGEES:  OK, I totally understand the desire to vet any potential refugees coming here from Syria, to make sure they're really just families fleeing war and violence and depravation. Makes sense to me.

But, as always, we have politicians going over the top with this one.

The one that made me groan the most came from U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama, according to Think Progress.

As Think Progress reported, Brooks thinks all those refugees want to come to the United States because they're a bunch of greedy welfare queens.

"We're paying them about $15,000 a year in free health care, free food, free shelter, free clothing, free transportation...That answers very quickly why so many of them want to come to the United States of America.

"We're paying them to come here....It'a a paid vacation!"

I don't know the precise details of what benefits refugees who arrive in the United States get, but somehow I think a family fleeing bombs and machine guns aren't just looking for a pleasant weekend getaway on Dauphin Island.

Besides, why all the focus on refugees? If I were a terrorist wanting to cause mayhem in the United States, I'd get here on a tourist or student visa. Much less vetting there. Why not scream and holler about those visas?

Just a theory, but maybe because tourist and student visas bring in money? And refugees, at least when they first get here and are not employed yet, cost money? Is this really about economics and not security?

Just askin'.

THOSE CELEBRATIONS IN JERSEY CITY: Much has been made in the past couple of days about Donald Trump's assertion that "thousands" of Muslims in Jersey City, New Jersey celebrated as they watched the Twin Towers fall during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Of course, that didn't happen, but here's the mystery: Every time Trump tells a whopper like that, he gets more popular. Do that many people just want to hear this fiction to reinforce their own wackadoodle opinions?

Of course, Trump's campaign manager has figured out why we haven't seen film of these celebrations. It turns out the main stream media is colluding to suppress the videos, thereby tensuring an establishment candidate like Jeb Bush is elected instead.

Boy, this guy doesn't know how journalists operate. If such a video exists and a journalist found it, they'd be blasting it out far and wide. It would be a career making scoop.

WHAT ABOUT THE WHITE TERRORISTS?   Everybody is rightly worried about the possibility of Islamic terrorists causing mayhem in the United States. It's also a legitimate argument whether President Obama's administration is doing enough to prevent that type of thing.

It seems we're too dismissive of white male terrorists in our own country, though. True, how do you define terrorism? Does it include every person who causes mayhem, like the movie theater shooting in Colorado a couple of years ago?

Or must it have a political agenda. Even if you go by that definition, there's plenty of worry to go around about some white, super right wing men in America. Tim McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 comes immediately to mind.

Then there's the guy who shot up the Charleston, South Carolina church in June and killed nine people because racism. And just this morning, we learned some white supremists shot and wounded Black Lives Matters protestors in Minneapolis a few nights ago. 

Obviously, I don't have the skill and ability to tamp down terrorism and all the societal and political complications that go with it

But I just think those three things I just described are among the things we should be at least thinking about.