Well, you can’t say that NYC doesn’t know how to make it worse. Ramsey Orta, the man who took the footage of Eric Garner’s arrest and death, has been indicted on a gun charge.
In response to my point in the previous post, someone answered my question about what Brown and Garner were both doing moments before their deaths. My answer had to do with the stealing and selling of tobacco. Their answer was that both men were “resisting arrest.” Quite, but even here the differences remain dramatic.
One was resisting arrest for theft, an offense recognized as socially actionable throughout the history of the whole world. The other was being harassed over violation of an imbecile law. And when you have a host of imbecile laws, you will have a host of confrontations that should never have been. This was one of them, and the fault lies squarely at the feet of those overlords in charge of “eating out our substance.” The bloated state always needs cash, and this was nothing but a raw shakedown. Brown was a thief, just like NYC.
In NYC’s defense, they were a thief who didn’t intend to kill anybody. Sometimes the shakedown goes wrong, and somebody dies. My suggestion, as mild as it might be, is that they quit the shakedowns.
Here are Eric Garner’s last words:
“Every time you see me, you want to mess with me. I’m tired of it. It stops today . . . I’m minding my business, officer, I’m minding my business. Please just leave me alone. I told you the last time, please just leave me alone. Please. Please, don’t touch me. Do not touch me . . . I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe . . .”
Contrast this with Brown’s aggressive hostility to a policeman who was doing exactly what Charles Barkley knows — unlike other people I could mention — just what policemen ought to be doing.
Also, for the race baiters, try to keep in mind that the officer in charge of the arrest was a black woman, a datum that conveniently does not show up in the footage you are seeing. This was not a racial incident. This was a different kind of outrage.
It was a travesty; it was a deadly farce. And it is a systemic problem, but it is not the systemic problem that everybody is yelling about.
I am trying to find the mailing addresses for Ramsey Orta and the Garner Family.
I am planning on “selling” single cigarettes and sending the proceeds to these two families in an act of civil disobedience. The same cigarette could be sold repeatedly to form type of chain.
Move over Tea Party. Here come the Chain Smokers.
Sincerely,
Heidi smith
I hate how the media is able to steer the conversation so effectively. No matter what side you come down on, they pick the topic of conversation and the cases in evidence even on a blog like this. It’s actually quite a tribute to the USA that in a country with 320 million people the media can’t find cases of white racism that don’t unravel when the facts come out. Right now the media, including the Christian media, is buzzing about the college “rape culture” base on a Rolling Stone article that is almost certainly a hoax. When the Rotherham… Read more »
Doug, I hear what you’re saying, and I think you are correct in saying that there are differences between the Brown case and the Garner case. But in the Brown case, it seems to me that a person could still object to Darrin Wilson’s handling of the situation while also recognizing that Michael Brown had committed theft. For example, did Wilson really need to shoot Brown in the head? Do you think there is anything to object to in the way that Wilson handled the situation? To me, this seems to be what people are “yelling about” as you put… Read more »
Of course, if it was (and I think it is) about the systemic problem everyone is yelling about – then would you be silent about it instead of finding a backdoor way of commenting? Have you ever responded in defense of the oppression of blacks in America? Just wondering.
Drew,
“For example, did Wilson really need to shoot Brown in the head?”
Sir, are you asking this question with the context of knowledge regarding tactics, techniques, procedures, the legality and science of the use of force in a fluid, dynamic event, and an understanding of wound ballistics and the human response to handgun ammunition, all parsed within the totality of the then extant circumstances and limited to only what the officer knew at that moment?
The reason that I ask is because any other context is merely sentimental?
Of course, if it was (and I think it is) about the systemic problem everyone is yelling about – then would you be silent about it instead of finding a backdoor way of commenting? Have you ever responded in defense of the oppression of blacks in America? Just wondering. The problem is that neither of these cases is a poster child for “systemic oppression of blacks.” Brown is a case of a justifiable response to a deadly threat. Garner is an example of a systemic problem, but it’s the systemic problem of government overreach, not oppression of blacks. If you… Read more »
I’m going to amend my previous post. I’m going to send a donation to a Staten Island crisis pregnancy center.
I can’t undo an unjust death, but I can help prevent one.
The fastest way to stop being a minority is to let the children live!
Doug, when you quote Eric Garner’s last words you make it sound as if they were delivered calmly and plaintively; they were not. I’ve watched the video too. Garner was not pleading he was demanding, he was not calm, he was loud and belligerent. That’s part of what I saw. No, not quite the same as Brown’s case. I saw the dog pile as well. Not the same kind of law, not the same degree of resistance. However – I had hesitated a bit to press this point further because after all the man died and nothing I could see… Read more »
“And it is a systemic problem, but it is not the systemic problem that everybody is yelling about.”
Douglas, I agree with you in the sense that the one may be more problematic than the other. But they are both problematic. Valerie’s comment on your previous post is the most incisive, articulate perspective on the racial element that I have yet seen.
JohnM and Jack, I hope to get to that topic soon.
JohnM, Even though he may not have said it calmly, Eric Garner was eerily correct when he said , “It stops today.” They did stop it, only not how he envisioned. As I have commented in the past, I am part of law enforcement, in that I am a probation officer. I agree totally with Doug that the bloated state is passing an increasing number of laws that make it a felony just to exist with any type of self-sufficiency in this country. There are countless examples on YouTube and other sites showing actual footage of over aggressive police officers… Read more »
@scott Cottrill,
The number of cops shot and killed in the line of duty is up 65% this year. Does that provide evidence against an out of control state?
RFB,
If I have failed to ask my question within an appropriate “context of knowledge,” then please, enlighten me.
Jack Bradley, I agree with your affirmation of Valerie’s post. And Doug, I look forward to your upcoming post on that topic.
Drew, When you write regarding the targeting of handgun rounds during a fluid event, there is, to me, an apparent lack of understanding of the dynamics of firearm utilization. Without performing a Voir dire of my own knowledge, you will have to advance to me that I have some of the knowledge to which I refer. There are some people who will say, “why not just shoot them in the arm…” or “just shoot the gun out of the (assailant’s) hand…”. Those type of statements have no connection to the reality of hand gun utilization, terminal ballistics, or the lawful… Read more »
PB, I’m not sure what that proves as I do not know how many deaths that actually amounts to. Of course, one death is too many, but so is the increasing number of incidents of police using threats and deadly force against normal citizens,whether it is in traffic stops or accosting the New York “loosey” salesman. The militarization of the US police is what bothers me the most. Has everyone forgotten Obama’s promise to create a national police force? It looks like he has just taken a different tack – giving high tech weapons and toys to local police forces… Read more »