Thursday, November 20, 2014

Why might African-Americans not trust St. Louis cops?

This article illustrates one of the reasons: Robert Patrick. Lawyer identifies St. Louis officer who killed VonDerrit Myers Jr. St. Louis Post-Dispatch 11/20/2014:

[ Jermaine] Wooten [attorney for the 18-year-old black man killed] noted online posts attributed to [white cop Jason] Flanery that call President Barack Obama “Nobama” and say that in a speech by Michelle Obama, “She looks drunk, high, and dumb as hell.” The lawyer said repeated disparaging remarks about blacks in Flanery’s postings reflected a “strong negatively biased view of African-Americans.”

He also cited Flanery’s online criticism of liberals and homosexuality. The lawyer complained that “right-wing conservatives” have not traditionally been “the friendliest” to people such as Myers.

Wooten said that photos on an Instagram site, showing Flanery’s Marine, police and SWAT training, belie the claim that Myers pulled a gun and fired three shots before the officer could respond. ...

He said online pictures showed “a guy who is actually in love with weaponry.” More problematic, Wooten said, are comments on YouTube videos. In those, Flanery criticizes liberals and posts comments such as, “Conservatives are better. At everything.”

Flanery’s Instagram account showed pictures of him in the Marines and a video of him in civilian clothes, firing a fully automatic rifle. He praises family and farm life and posted comments such as “runyourgunnotyourmouth.” He also wrote, “I’ve been blessed with the ability to be exactly who I wanted to be when I grew up,” followed by the hashtags “lawman” and “Marines.”

Flanery, 32, on the force for six years, also posted comments on videos of police actions, including a shooting in New York. One comment: “And the moral of the story is ... if you shoot at men with guns they are going to shoot you back. And probably a lot.”

Wooten said, “That says to me, if someone has a gun ... he is going to continue to fire shots at that person until he is dead. Meaning if you fire one shot at me, I’ll fire 100 at you.”

The lawyer noted that Flanery was arrested on a weapons charge while he was in high school.

Court documents show that Flanery was charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon and later pleaded guilty of attempted unlawful use, a misdemeanor, and was fined $300 and ordered to take alcohol counseling.
Why would any black person not be suspicious of a police department that gives characters like Flanery a badge and a gun?

And why would any white person in their right mind think feel safe with trigger-happy white racists clowns having badges and a guns and the effective ability to act as judges, juries and executioners?

The job of police is to enforce the law and serve the public. They deserve the public's respect when they do that.

When they murder people unnecessarily, when they knowingly break the law themselves, they don't deserve anyone's respect.

No comments: