Just another isolated event

Just days ago the Government decided that there was nothing more they could do to pursue justice in the Sean Bell shooting. After 4 years and 50 shots, nothing has been done besides "normal police actions".



Across the country, in an odd coincidence, a Black man was unarmed and shot in the back by police. No I'm not speaking about Robbie Tolan, or Adolph Grimes, or even Oscar Grant. I mean the shooting of Aaron Campbell in Portland.

I know, with all these cases being so similar it's hard to know which police shooting of unarmed Black men I could be talking about. Not that this is an epidemic or a pattern that someone should investigate or report.

Aaron Campbell was a man that had just lost his brother to heart disease. He was understandably upset. As was his family, because they knew he had a gun in his house. But the family made one mistake. They called the police.

Police arrived and text messaged Campbell if he was going to harm himself. He replied
that he had no intention of killing himself. Sgt. Liani Reyna, commander at the scene, believed the situation was over.

She is quoted as saying "I'm ready to walk away from this, we don't need to be here."

At that time Campbell came outside, unarmed, hands on his head. What do you think the police did next?

Obviously they felt that Campbell was still dangerous. Because he is a Black man and he must have the strength of Hercules, and the skin of Superman. The police near simultaneously told him to raise his hands over his head, shot him with non-lethal bean bags, and sicked a police dog on him.

Campbell ran, which is not entirely a strange thing to do as a dog attacks and the confusing reactions of police. As Campbell ran police claim he reached for his waistband. Here is the critical moment.

Just like Amidou Diallo (41 shots), like Sean Bell (50 shots), like Oscar Grant (1 shot while he laid face down on the ground), like Robbie Tolan (1 shot as he was on his knees), like numerous Black men across the nation, police were 100% sure that this meant Campbell had a gun. So they shot him in the back with a AR-15 (the civillian version of the military M-16 rifle) and killed him. They left his body on the ground while the police dog bit it, for half an hour, before they checked it (maybe they thought he was a vampire and would just get back up).

The police were loaded for bear, and bagged an unarmed Black man. What do you think happened to the officers involved in this? Nothing. Just a letter from the Multnomah County grand jury stating

"We feel that his death resulted from flawed police policies, incomplete or inappropriate training, incomplete communication and other issues with the police effort."

Have you heard that before? I have. Too many times. In cities across the nation (L.A., Philadelphia, New York, Oakland, Dallas, do I need to go on?), in "isolated" "justified" police shootings of Black men every year for decades now. But I bet that most people haven't heard a word about 1/5th of them.

But today the Dept. of Justice has decided to look into this case. Just because it's a "routine" thing to do.

I don't think there is anything routine about it. Aaron Campbell did not need to die. Nor did Oscar Grant (a case that won't go before a jury for another year oddly enough). Nor Sean Bell. Or a whole list of men (and Black women too) shot with enough bullets to kill the army of France [ok I'm exaggerating, France and Belgium combined].

At what point to people stop avoiding this "isolated" event that keeps repeating multiple times a year in every corner of the nation? At what point do people stop dreaming and proclaiming America is post-racial, and start noticing the very racial bias of police? Will it take a police officer shooting one of the Obama children 5 or 10 years from now to make someone in the major media notice there is a problem?

I'm not saying that every police shooting is unjustified or unreasonable. But I am saying that there are way to many examples of excessive force and deadly action, focused directly on African American men, without the hint of reason. And I am tired of it.



Stop the game!

Hair highlights police bias in Philadelphia

Can you imagine your boss coming to you and reprimanding you for your hair? To have your boss instruct you to change your hairstyle because it is not ‘clean or professional’. And imagine in this instance that there are several other people in your workplace that have the same exact hairstyle, and nothing is said to them as they happen to be of a different race.

Sounds like a blatant bias does it not? I would say it is.

The hairstyle in question is cornrows. A popular style among many African Americans, men and women alike. Which is not to be confused with dreadlocks, as some do make that mistake.

The workplace is the police in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia to be exact. Where the regulations regarding hairstyle require a military look.

But the person in question is not an African American. It’s a White cop – Officer Thomas Strain.

Now does that change anything in what you were thinking as you were reading along? For me it has not. But obviously in Philadelphia there is a bias, this time against White cops, over what is a simple situation.

This is just as wrong as if a Black police officer was told to cut his cornrows. In fact, I believe either all the officers need to remove the cornrows or every officer that wants to wear them can. As long as they are neat and keep up to date, it’s no different than a dozen different hairstyles that I have seen officers in every police force in the nation wear.

These days politicians are using accusations of bias, and racism, for anything and everything that does not match their point of view. It doesn’t matter how trivial the subject, nor if any factual evidence exists. Which is a shame and a problem at the same time.

This is an obvious case of bias. It doesn’t matter that the officer in question is White. And while hair preferences may be transitory and benign to most, it is a real issue as it indicates other problems. Yet with so many fake and politically advantageous uses of the serious issue of bias and racism, this gets shoved under a carpet – as do all real issues.

Personally I hate when any rule or law is split or modified just because of the color of my skin. Either I am just as good and qualified as anyone else, or I am not. To create special rules just for me infers a weakness or inferiority in me. Which is an insult and a lie. Which doesn’t change because the issue is trivial.

In stating that the White officer can’t have cornrows, the police department is stating that Black officers have to be treated with different rules. That they are not the same as any other officer. It’s an insult to EVERY non-White officer.

What other rules and regulations are not the same? What else might one officer be allowed that another cannot do? And would that include violations of the law? Because it seems to be credible that such disparities might just exist.

I am a man. A Black and Latino man. Which makes me no better or worse than anyone just on the basis of my skin. Or my hairstyle. To judge me as such is to insult me.

The same is occurring in this case. Every officer in the department has been insulted and ranked. They have been told de facto that they are not the same and therefore better or worse because of skin and hairstyle. I can think of little more explicit examples of bias. It should not be allowed to happen.

Oscar Grant murdered by Oakland police in cold blood

Can we even start a year without something racial happening in this country? I have already spoken about my thoughts concerning the Muslim family that were subjected to fear and discrimination while trying to take a flight. But this is something far worse.

On New Years eve, hours into the start of the New Year, police shot a young Black man. In the back. While he was laying face down. And I bet most in the nation are only learning about this today, a week into the month just like me.

Now some may have seen the highly edited video of this murder, as shown by ABC News and a local television station. I warn my viewers this is disturbing, real, and murder in my opinion.



Here are details that are currently known and visible from the video. Police were called to the Oakland train station reportedly because of a fight. Once there we see that initially 2 officers had control over 3 or 4 men, who were co-operating. The crowd observing the event made the officers nervous, as another 5 officers arrived on the scene. Oscar Grant, 22 years old, is seen standing at one point though it is not clear why. The officers have him kneel and then place him face first on the ground. Oscar seems to be handcuffed this entire time. He moves on the ground and one of 3 officers restraining him places his knee on Grant's neck. As this happens another officer, a 2 year veteran, casually stands back, reaches for his gun and fires into the back of Grant killing him.

Another view of this entire incident can be seen below.

This is raw footage. The key moments are from 1:56 - 2:57 . It is clear at 2:37 that 32 officers, joined by a third, are nervous but controlling a crowd that are busy observing the event and video taping it. At 2:52 you can see the officer draw his gun, with 2 officers holding Grant down, 3 officers holding the crowd (4 people apparently and an unknown amount in the subway car) and I believe one other officer in the background.

While the situation was not pleasant, none of the men on the ground were endangering the officers. The crowd was at a distance. and 3 men were close getting video. One of those men was taken down by one officer, but the rest of them were unencumbered or endanger. I say that both from their stance and the video footage of the crowd.



There is no question of the guilt of the officer that fired. There was no threat. Not from Grant, the other men on the ground, nor the crowd. There were 6 or 7 officers at the location that can be observed, with an unknown amount in transit. While quite vocal, the crowd maintained a wide distance, with the exception of 3 men that were under constant observation by no less than 2 officers.

This was a murder.

A murder committed by a police officer, on an unarmed, defenseless Black man. Again. And some dare tell me that I have no reason to fear the police. That stories about the consistent, coast to coast murder of Black men by police is a lie. That this is just a coincidence.

If all that were true, then why has this taken 6 days to be released to the nation? Why has no major media network covered this story nationally? Why is ABC News providing a highly edited video that places doubt on the cause of this event, when I found several videos of this event on youtube in 10 seconds that are clear on what happened.

The innocent can stand in the light of day, and were this murder justified in any way the police would have made it national an hour after it happened. But it is not. And only now, with the family suing for $25 million is it catching attention.

And I think the family deserves far more. A father of a 4 year old daughter has been killed in cold blood for no justifiable reason. A family has lost a son. There is no proper price, but obviously in California the $50 million paid to Rodney King was not enough to make a point.

How can anyone look at this video, and recall the deaths of Sean Bell, the beating of Rodney King, Amidou Diallo, and so many other events - each year - and not wonder if Black men have bull's eye's painted on their backs that police see.

I am angry. At the news media for hiding this for days. At the police department in Oakland for pretending that there could be any justification for this act. They are claiming the officer might have been trying to draw his taser. If so, once his hand was on the gun didn't he know the difference. Once he drew the gun and saw it, why didn't he replace it. And why did he fire when 2 officers had control of Grant on the ground?

And I am insanely angry at the officer. he is a murderer. He needs to be in jail right now. Because I guarantee if I killed a White man who was on the ground, defenseless, and a father of a child there would be national outrage. I'd be in a jail immediately. And the only question would be if I would get electrocuted. And all that is without a video tape.

Justice in America is not colorblind. Like the news media and police across the nation it seems to be color bound.

Texas police runover suspect

So did you see the news earlier today? Down in Houston, Texas there was a car chase, which lasted some 45 minutes. Local police and county officers were all involved in the chase – which at times was well over the speed limit when on the interstate, and almost obeying the law in community areas. But in the end the driver hit a car and jumped out to run away.

It was at that moment on live television that the man was hit by a county police car. Let me correct that, he was run over. The man flipped over, his head smashing into the windsheild and a shoe flying some 30 feet into the air from the impact.

The police then swarmed on top of the criminal. The man was then stood up and walked away – obviously dazed at the least. No ambulance was called, nor any first aid done.

When I described this to a friend of mine at 6pm, The conversation went like this:

“Was the guy Black or White? Why did they move him?”

I responded with “What do yuou think. And they had to move him, there were cameras all over the place. They just ran him over and had to show that he was ok. You know one of them had to know that there were news cameras above them.”

And my friend then went on to say

“Well you know that the on-board camera won’t be working. They’ll come up with a piece of paper that says the think was broken a week ago. ‘Why does it look like a billyclub smashed it?’ Dunno but the CD player doesn’t work either’”

“Yeah, and the dog pissed on the camera. Yeah that’s the ticket.”

“No it was the fuse that burned out. The officer was trying to put out the flames from the fuses with his foot, which is why he ran the guy over.”

Now all levity aside, one thing seems obvious to me. The man, who was Black, was visible to me watching the television that had the feed from a helicopter above and partially obscurred by overhanging trees. The county police officer that ran the guy down at around 30 miles per hour had a full unobstructed view. He hit the guy on purpose.

I may not be familiar with police procedures in Houston, but I imagine that running over suspects is not in the manual. I also doubt that failing to provide medical aide for someone they have run over is also outside the books.

Is this going to be a lawsuit? Oh yeah. This guy will gop to jail, he is a criminal after all, but he’s going to get paid for his time. And deservedly so. There were about a half dozen or more officers a couple of seconds behind this guy, with a police helicopter among others above him. He wasn’t going anywhere. And a 1 ½ ton vehicle at 30 miles an hour is excessive in virtually any circumstance.

But the question I want to pose to you is this. When you were reading this post, at what point were you sure the man was Black – before I mentioned it. Was it because of the crime, or the punishment?

If it was the crime, why did you assume he had to be Black? And if it was the punishment why would such excessive force make you sure? Doesn’t that mean that the police are racially biased, and therefore the legal system in America is screwed up? And if that is true as well, why aren’t we fixing it?

Treat her Black, pay $10 million

The police are insane. The TSA has lost control over its employees. The only way to reign in these blatant abuses of our rights is to sue. And the spin goes on and on.

You might have heard of this news story. If you haven’t here it is



This event takes place at Regan National Airport. It happened in February 2007.

Now I’ve seen a couple of versions of this story. The AP story is not the least biased, and I think it represents the general medias feelings best.

Now this is not about a question of rights. It’s not about government intrusion in public places while dealing with public safety. It’s about the media.

Robin Kassner describes the event as “flying”. She compares it to being “beaten up” without knowing why or by whom. The video shows her reaching for something in the bag being searched, and then the cop reacting. They “twisted my arm around, if felt like it was breaking”. “They threw me against the metal table… they took a forearm to my head, they pounded my head into the metal table.”

Listen as the reporter tells how Kassner received a concussion and permanent brain damage.

“Kassner says that doesn’t justify the brutality, … suing for $10 million dollars.”

All in all I have heard several news organizations all tell this story, over a year old, all from the point of view of Kassner. She is the presumed victim. She is the one that was hurt. She deserves (some in the media have stated) to win her case for some if not all the money. I have not seen any single media coverage that does not implicitly side with Kassner and blame the authorities for overreacting.

So why is this a big deal? Because the media is outraged when a White person is treated as if they were Black or in this case Muslim. How dare this be allowed to happen. But what happens when the media reports on a situation that is similar to this one when Blacks are involved?

May 5, 2008 - WTXF news helicopter - Philadelphia

“Like Rodney King, the men once pulled out of the car, are assaulted with extreme prejudice. Not one man in this video is shown resisting.”

Each man in the video is Black, kicked and punched. Each was assaulted by multiple officer after being on the ground. They might have permanent injuries, but you never heard about that in the media. They had their arms twisted, their head beat. They were beaten up en masse.

But where is the media calling for the police department getting sued? Where was the media saying that out of 19 officers on the scene no more than 4 needed to be punished (I do not feel a demotion – 1 - nor temporary suspension – 3 - are penalties) is inexcusable? Where is the indignation, the outrage, the calls for change?

Robin Kussner might have been a terrorist. Thats why she was pulled to have extra screening done at the airport. Alerts at the time stated that terrorists were trying to use liquid explosives, and she was reaching into a bag that was being checked. It could have been a bomb she wanted to set off. The officer was acting to protect all the people in the airport from a possible threat. But the media paints a sympathetic picture for Kassner. She is White after all.

But when Black men are involved sympathy is unnecessary from the media. Any excuse from the police – who ADMITTED this was unnecessary force – is acceptable. No matter how many times this kind of case happens the media fails to connect the dots, though there is no lack in connecting dots to any Republican that has not acted in a liberal manner or for a liberal cause. And there is no timeframe that stops when sympathy should be given to a White that is treated in such a manner.

I don’t care about the legal issue. I do care about the media portrayal and emphasis. But now thay you can see and read the comparison, what will you do? How do you feel?

Philadelphia: Justice for 1 in 5 fair for police

So here is a key thing to consider when it comes to how law enforcement in America reacts to a blatant and violent reaction caught on tape. In Philadelphia there were 19 police officers involved in an attack against 3 Black men. I spoke about this here Police overkill: not a movie, Philadelphia

Now I have long said that this is more than an isolated event. I have mentioned that this is a national policy, in at least that under duress the rules are bendable. And I noted that the offenders tend to be forgiven or barely touched by their actions. That is exactly what I perceive to be happening now.

Of all the officers involved, 4 will get fired. Additionally 1 will be demoted and 3 will be suspended. That’s it.

Look at the video in my previous post. Of all the officers involved I see none that are trying to stop any of the police brutality that occurred. Not a single police officer is being stopped as they kick and beat on the 3 men lying on the ground and surrounded by multiple officers each. In what way are they not complicit?

If I were to stand by and watch several African Americans beat a White American and it was video taped, I would be charged with conspiracy to commit a crime. I would be attacked by the media for not doing something to stop the obvious violence and overkill occurring. Yet officers of the law are not held to that same standard. Why?

But there is something else that is happening, and it is as critical as the actions of the police. It’s the reporting and words’ being used to describe what has happened.

On Yahoo you can read this statement right now

“The beating occurred at the same time police were conducting an intense manhunt for a suspect in the slaying two days earlier of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, but Ramsey said Monday that there was no indication that any of the officers thought the suspect was among the three men in the car.”

That sentence, the last in the article, is powerful. It implies that the manhunt for the criminal that killed an officer involved these men. That their actions were motivated by the belief these men were involved in that shooting in some way. That is the only purpose of this sentence. Especially since earlier in the article is clearly states that the police alleged these men were suspects in an unrelated shooting, which occurred the same night as the video.

That last statement, that I have heard cable news reporter repeat in some form, is the beginning of a defense of any potential charges on the officers. It is the seed of a subliminal excuse for all that read this. And it will become more prominent as the case moves forward. This always happens.

Is it a big deal? Yes, because a potential jury will hear this defense of the officers perhaps dozens of times. The fact that credible authorities, major media of multiple formats, have said this over and over means it must be true. Because anything the media says is thought to always be true. And this is the thought process being embedded. This is one reason that a jury could find Rodney King’s assailants innocent of any charge. It’s why the Sean Bell murderers were found innocent, thought the official police story on events changed dramatically.

Add to that the fact that the major media is trying very hard to prevent the average person from connecting how law enforcement acts on a regular basis. At least once every year the national media reports on an event where police officers use unwarranted extreme violence against African Americans – usually males. That’s at least once a year for probably decades now. But they are unconnected. And it’s never racial.

I feel that is a lie. It’s racial because it’s something that happens to only people of color. You have never heard of, nor has it ever happened that, a White male was shot 20, 30, 40, 50+ times in front of their home. You have never heard, or seen 5 or 10 or 15 officers beating on subdued White suspects. Because of this it is racial. And it’s connected.

We need to break this mindset in the law enforcement of this nation. We need to remove the permissive environment that exists allowing people of color to be victims of acts that would never be tolerated if done to White Americans. The statue of Justice is said to be blindfolded because Justice has no bias, But the more I pay attention I tend to believe she is blindfolded to not see the abuse and injustice being enacted in this nation – just as she remained blind to slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, and the various disparities found in inner cities as opposed to everywhere else.

Police overkill: not a movie, Philadelphia

On Monday night, WTXF news helicopter took video images of 15 police officers.



Those swarming individuals weren’t gang members, though at a glance you would assume they were.

What happened?

According to police they witnessed the car in question pull up and a man stepped out shooting at an individual. The man with the gun then ran away on foot. The car with 3 Black men seen in the video was followed and the video tells the rest of the story.

We have yet to hear the version of events from the African Americans that were in the car, though they all have been charged with attempted murder.

Facts so far?

Beyond the video there are none yet. There is nothing to back up the police allegation that there was a shooting. There is no information about a 4th man. There is no information about all the police involved chasing after the man that had the gun and was on foot. The 4th man is at large according to all news on the event so far.

Does all this sound familiar? The name you may be recalling is Sean Bell.

Like in the Sean Bell case we have police keeping surveillance of a crime area. Again an alleged 4th individual is supposed to have had a gun. Yet again the person with the gun is gone like mist in the sunlight. And again police officers (in this case a multitude of them) are incapable of capturing the most dangerous of the alleged criminals.

Like Rodney King, the men once pulled out of the car, are assaulted with extreme prejudice. Not one man in this video is shown resisting. As if they could considering the numbers involved.

Like Sean Bell the officers involved are in the process of being removed from duty on the street. Note that they are not being suspended, or fired, or not working. They just are being reassigned (which could mean that they are still on the streets, just in a different area).

Also, if this had not been caught on tape by a news helicopter, would any of this made the news? Would anyone have believed the men if there was no tape of the events? What is more believable, police officers or alleged murderers, without video?

How many students in San Diego were beaten by multiple officers when they were arrested? 0 out of 100. How many police abused the 2 blonde bank robbers in Atlanta? None, especially since they found the girls while they were casually getting their hair done and discussing the robbery. [The women got 1 yr probation; the Black men got 10 years in jail.] How many officers assaulted, en masse, a White alleged criminal – not putting up a fight – in numbers approaching 5-1, in the past year? 5 years? 10?

When I hear people say that this is not a Black and White issue I have to ask, How is it not? When I hear people say that law enforcement is fair, I have to ask Where are the Whites being treated in the same manner? When I hear people say this is not systemic I have to ask, What part of the nation has not had a similar type of event in the past year or 2?

I spoke about the problem that exists in America I said

“Black men assaulted by the police, with extreme and unjustifiable force, with officers that walked away from the incidents (crimes) without penalty. Nothing like the even hand of justice in America.”

And then I asked in another post

“What did we do after the Rodney King trial and riots? What did we do after Amidou Diallo was murdered. What have we done after the media circus that was the coverage of Wesley Snipes vs the IRS (which he basically won – though you probably never heard the major news media mention that part)? What has happened after the rape torture and kidnapping of Megan Williams? What have we done about Congress (Democrat and Republican led) and the Presidency’s inaction in Darfur?”

I still have the same insights, and the same questions. What will it take to change either thought I have?