Police officers should not be doing drive-by shootings of children in parks

[Recursion]

If you want to tell me how reasonable the officer actually was please don't bother, I'm venting here and not interested in apologesis today.

[seabeyond]

1. i could not agree more. but then, i have already expressed it in other threads. nt

[uppityperson]

2. Exactly. This has made me want to scream today.

[elleng]

3. Right.

[cyberswede]

4. Fuckin' A

Horrible! TWELVE years old.

[raging moderate]

5. I am still sick over this. There have been so many black boys I loved, in my career.

What can we tell them? And with Trayvon Martin, I just thought, Oh, no. Because I knew for sure that some teachers and educators who had dealt with him were asking themselves, Did I inadvertently cause this kid's death? You can bet your life, somebody at some point told this kid to do what he did that night, which so many of my fellow whites are pretending was a good excuse to shoot him dead. I have just retired from a thirty-five year career in public education, in several small towns across rural Illinois. For decades, now and then, some kids I was teaching would be upset about the latest kidnapping. Whenever the subject of kidnapping came up, having heard that kidnappers use guilt to control their victims, I have been telling kids, If a stranger comes up to you and attacks you, go ahead and defend yourself.

Nobody will blame you for whatever you have to do to get away from these people.

That is what I told so many kids, and several black kids were among them.

Oh, no.

What have I done?

And now, there is this little boy, twelve years old, obviously just a little kid. I just saw the tape of him. He was so clearly playing. And I do love little boys so much! He reminded me so much of my son at this age. I raised a little boy, and I was lucky enough to watch him grow up. And he was a very naughty little boy, who did a lot of the things that get these kids killed. But he was not Black. So he lived to grow up and outgrow his defiance, his smart-aleck attitudes, his chip on the shoulder.

What can we tell them? Don't play? Don't pretend? I know that age. I know boys that age. The desire to become a man is so strong at that age, and yet my twelve year old son once ducked below a man's elbow to get into Walmart faster, forgetting that he was now the size of many men. The guy jumped a mile, thinking he was under attack. But then he saw my son and understood.

Because my son was white? Is that why the guy understood? I am this kid's mother. I am physically incapable of wanting him to be hurt.

What I want is for the other little boys I love to be okay, too. Including the ones who happen to have more melanin in their skin.

That officer was NOT REASONABLE. The person who called the police was NOT REASONABLE.

I may never call the police again.

[woolldog]

7. They pulled up so close to him and just executed him.

Why did they pull up so close???

They gave him no chance to comply and were probably shouting and yelling at him and he had no idea what they were talking about or saying. He had no chance. He was 12. So sad.

[Hoyt]

6. Why in the hell did they pull up so close before assessing the situation?

[Recursion]

8. I swear to God

Do they seriously not teach police officers how to control situations anymore? (This gets back to my OP from yesterday)

[Rex]

9. That was horrible, I cannot believe they pulled up that close and shot him point blank.

Not even an order to drop the gun, just out the door and bam. Why did they treat a 12 year old, like America's Most Wanted?

[Recursion]

10. Do they not teach cops simple tactical procedure anymore?

Don't do fucking anything until you know the scene.

[Recursion]

11. You were in the Army, right? Can you imagine if a PFC went into a scenario with that attitude?

He'd be shit-canned in a heartbeat.

[Rex]

12. Yeah that seems to be the problem, you can article 13 someone pretty easy in the military.

Then section them out or if they really fuck up send them off to Fort Leavenworth.

I thought racial profiling was still illegal? Did the Patriot Act do away with it or something like that?

[Catherine Vincent]

13. I understand how you feel

I visit another site frequently and there will be incoming posts about the boy pointing the pellet gun at people, so in their mind, the boy deserved to be shot dead. Sigh!

[TheKentuckian]

15. and that is why nothing will change until such folks have their fat in the fire too.

They have to have direct and dire consequences of the kind of "policing" they want, excuse, and demand whether actively or merely accepted under the cover of extreme systemic and institutional advantage.

When their homes are burned, when they are beaten and afraid for dear life, when their businesses and workplaces are destroyed, and when their children suffer and die as a a consequence only then will they understand and only then at that moment will they see when push comes to shove that the are niggers too in the eyes of those with real wealth and power and know all they have waxed poetic about and preached is a mother facing lie will we have change because the blue gang will be turned on them and the scenery will roll back on what is really protected and who is actually served in response to their calls for change.

[IdaBriggs]

14. Rookie mistake/lack of appropriate training/he'll do better next time.

He killed a 12 year old boy playing with a toy in a park.

Think it will impact his performance review?



There are some jobs where mistakes should get you fired; shooting unarmed civilians maybe ought to be on that list?