Michael Brown — gunned down a year ago by Darren Wilson
Okay, so every time someone goes down, you say “never again.”
Who really believes you when you say that?
Do the killer cops believe you? No.
Do the politicians believe you? No.
Do the police unions believe you? No.
Do you even believe yourself? Of course not.
So then what must be done? If killer cops who keep shooting unarmed Black men and women know that all you’ll do is protest loudly for a bit and close down some traffic and then go home — what do they really have to fear?
What will stop them from continuing to kill unarmed Black men and women?
If you were a killer cop, say a racist killer cop, would you be deterred by the protests when you know it’s gonna end? Anyway the protests are just minor inconveniences right?
Look, Eric Garner was strangled by a White cop named Daniel Pantaleo who even knew he was being recorded by young Ramsey Orta on the scene. Many of you may have forgotten but he actually waved at the camera towards the end of the recording. Was that the sign of someone who regretted the killing he had just committed? It was someone who knew he would get away with it; because that’s just what’s been allowed to happen.
Pantaleo is still on the New York Police Department today collecting a paycheck while Eric Garner’s remains are six feet under.
The protests, including those organized by #BlackLivesMatter gave high visibility to the case and may have helped secure the $5 million settlement for Garner’s family.
Garner’s wife and children and his mother would rather forsake the $5 million and have him alive.
Darren Wilson shot down Michael Brown like he was taking target practice. He was acquitted. He said he was afraid for his life because Wilson looked demonic. Although he claimed he was fearful, he still chased after the boy to kill him instead of running away from him.
You told yourself that Wilson would be convicted based on the statements by the eye witnesses right and that because he had his hands up?
How could you really have been surprised that he wasn’t even indicted? Wasn’t there a video recording of Daniel Pantaleo killing Garner? He too wasn’t indicted.
You also thought the pretend-cop George Zimmerman who shot down Trayvon Martin would be convicted right?
Down in Charleston, South Carolina, Michael Slager shot down Walter Scott on April 4 in the back. Slager was arrested, he’s been fired, and has been charged and indicted of murder.
That’s only the beginning. He may or may not be convicted.
What must you do? That’s the bigger question.
You may feel the only way is to take matters into your hands.
You may feel that when a cop kills an unarmed Black man or woman then that cop should also pay the ultimate price.
You may feel that cops like Slager, Wilson, and Pantaleo can only be deterred if they knew there would be swift retribution. That if they killed an unarmed Black man or woman, then you too would, mysteriously, one night or early one morning, take action.
How practical is this that? Then you go into hiding? Then you go to your regular day job or to school the next day? If you were really gonna do that wouldn’t you have done it already?
Did you go after the cops who killed Amadou Diallo? Did you go after the cops who killed Sean Bell? Did you go after the pretend-cop who killed Trayvon Martin? Did you go after the cop who killed Eric Garner? Did you go after the cop who killed the child, Tamir Rice? Did you go after the cop who killed Michael Brown? Did you go after the cops who killed Freddie Gray?
Did you go after the cop who killed Oscar Grant?
You’re just kidding yourself. You’ll never do it.
It’s all wishful thinking.
Besides you’d be taken out by the full force of the United States armed forces. You can’t just kill people and hope to get away with it; unless you’re wearing a blue uniform.
Maybe you’re waiting for an organized secret Black force to do it for you?
Trained ex-cops, ex-military servicemen and women, or even women and men who are still currently on police forces or in the military?
Again, stop with your wishful thinking.
Cops don’t get indicted; or they get acquitted when they kill you. You’ll either get “blown away” to borrow the language of the Tabloids, or arrested, tried and convicted.
So just sit back and allow your destiny to take its course. Let cops kill you.
What are your options? Fight back you say?
But wait. There’s something else that could happen. You and everyone else may have no control over this.
What if, one day, there are cop-killings of unarmed young Black men in multiple cities? An Eric Garner-, Tamir Rice-, Michael Brown-, Freddie Gray-, Walter Scott-type situation all occurring on the same day?
This could spark spontaneous uprisings.
What if there are attempts to suppress by force uprisings sparked by such killings in all these different cities? What if young people, with the weapons they’ve been using to shoot down their peers, direct return-fire on officers on that day and the days thereafter?
These are the type of scenarios that can escalate into uncontrollable uprisings against the establishment.
But wait, maybe there’s yet another way way; where you won’t just sit back and watch cops shoot down unarmed Black men and women or wait for the day when things get out of hand as a result of multiple brutal-cop actions in several cities.
This time, there’s proactive action by same establishment; which has the most to lose unless things change quickly.
This time, Governors, mayors, and federal, state, and local legislatures, and police commissioners, start cleaning up police departments and firing rogue, racist, and potential killer cops.
Every Police department has evidence of their officers’ propensity for police brutality contained within the individual officers’ files from incident reports. Each and every police officer must be subjected to an annual review and if the information contained in their files show a pattern of violence towards unarmed civilians they must be terminated.
Some states, like New York, have introduced laws that empower Special Prosecutors to investigate and prosecute officers suspected of killing unarmed civilians during a confrontation. Special Prosecutors could have won indictments against Ferguson’s Darren Wilson and New York’s Daniel Pantaleo.
Something must be done immediately.
The proactive approach pre-empts the day when it could be too late: when that one particularly egregious killing, or multiple ones on the same day, just sets it all off……
