New Trend - Shoot the Unarmed Black Man

Now here's an interesting take on the problem.

White woman defends black man from US police
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-echochambers-29544145

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Two Washington Metro Police officers - both black - were responding to a household burglary alarm in a posh District of Columbia neighbourhood and encountered a 64-year-old black man carrying two bags. When they questioned him, they say he became "loud and boisterous". They ordered him to the ground.

At that point, a local resident - a middle-aged white woman named Jody Westby - came out from her house and confronted the police.

She instructed her housekeeper to record the events. She said she knew the man - a local worker - and that the police had no right to detain him. She told the officers that she was a lawyer and, upon learning the address of the burglary report, that they weren't even on the right street.

She grabbed the detained man's hand and said she was leaving, telling the police to "please leave our neighbourhood".

The officer reluctantly let Ms Westby and the man go.

As she walked away, Ms Westby said: "Just because he's black doesn't mean he's here to rob a house. He works for us. He's been in this neighbourhood for 30 years."

Yates writes that the situation likely would have been much different if the incident had occurred in a less affluent neighbourhood or Ms Westby hadn't been white.

"The level of comfort with which she communicates with the officers due to her knowledge of the law and lack of fear of retribution offers a lesson about how the intersection of race, class and privilege can impact the interactions between police officers and some residents," he says.

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It does raise a bit of a point, this - muchlike how I pointed out that in cases of sexual abuse or assault, one of the problems is how none of the guys step up and speak out... I wonder if perhaps there isn't a corrolation with us palefaces not stepping up when the cops are shaking down some person of color - sure you can pull out a camera, but as courts and prosecutors have been shown willing to ignore even incontrivertable evidence, how much good does that do, long after the fact, after lives have been lost or destroyed, and all it amounts to is a slap on the wrist if even that ?

So why not USE "white privledge" in a positive way ?
And yes I am well aware one risks obstruction charges or a flat out ass kicking, I've been told as much myself previously by a cop who threatened to "kick your cracker ass too!" when I stepped in on behalf of one of our residents he was giving crap for a damn curfew violation.

Mind you, this is private fucking property, and it's my JOB to enforce our property rights, so their stupid curfew does not apply HERE - said cop spotted the youth from across the street, as he was taking trash to the dumpster and then came onto our property and started hassling him, at which point I came round the dumpster and called him on this, and after said threat pointed out that he was about to engage in the unwarranted assault of a uniformed security officer in performance of his duties within the view of two nightvision security cameras.
Which caused him to immediately shut up and LEAVE.
So I walked the resident back to his unit without further incident, poor kid was scared about witless, especially as being a new resident he'd assumed I was coming to back the cop up...

Sometimes being willing/prepared to do a thing means not having to do that thing, certainly it's not the first time a badge threatened to rough me up, and as I've said before "Oh you probably could kick my ass, point is that you'll HAVE to.."
I wonder that if more white people were willing to risk a beating to stop one, if that might not have some deterrent effect on the situation.

-Frem

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You bring up an interesting point Frem. I think that both her being white and affluent had a lot to do with their reaction, or lack thereof. Of course, it didn't hurt that she was an attorney. It all depends on the circumstances...........

I just saw on the news this evening that a NY cop was caught robbing a black man of his money, all on video, but because it was in one of the poorer neighborhoods, he got away with it........so far.

The video shows the cop frisking the black man, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a wad of cash and putting it in his (cop's) pocket. When the man protested and asked for the money to be returned, the cop sprayed Pepper Spray into the black man's face. When a companion complained the cop sprayed her face as well. The video also showed about 2 or 3 cops standing by and watching this take place.

The PBA, in their infinite wisdom, put out a statement saying that a 30 second video doesn't tell the whole story of what took place and that people should stop interfering with the police in the execution of their duties. You could see, plain as day, that the cop pulled out the money, looked at it, and then stuffed it into his pocket. The man had proof it was his and obtained through his job.

Oh, it gets better Frem. Neither the black man or his companion were arrested, and the cops claim there was no money..........it wasn't reported into evidence by the cop. Of course, the man is suing.

Then there's the Indiana cops who busted a driver's window following a traffic stop because of no seat belt. The minivan had a woman driving with her family in the car, including 2 kids, and the passenger was asked to show his ID. And it escalated from there.

The family were on their way to visit a sick relative. There is a video.


SGG

Quote:

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Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:

Now here's an interesting take on the problem.

White woman defends black man from US police
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-echochambers-29544145

Quote:

---

Two Washington Metro Police officers - both black - were responding to a household burglary alarm in a posh District of Columbia neighbourhood and encountered a 64-year-old black man carrying two bags. When they questioned him, they say he became "loud and boisterous". They ordered him to the ground.

At that point, a local resident - a middle-aged white woman named Jody Westby - came out from her house and confronted the police.

She instructed her housekeeper to record the events. She said she knew the man - a local worker - and that the police had no right to detain him. She told the officers that she was a lawyer and, upon learning the address of the burglary report, that they weren't even on the right street.

She grabbed the detained man's hand and said she was leaving, telling the police to "please leave our neighbourhood".

The officer reluctantly let Ms Westby and the man go.

As she walked away, Ms Westby said: "Just because he's black doesn't mean he's here to rob a house. He works for us. He's been in this neighbourhood for 30 years."

Yates writes that the situation likely would have been much different if the incident had occurred in a less affluent neighbourhood or Ms Westby hadn't been white.

"The level of comfort with which she communicates with the officers due to her knowledge of the law and lack of fear of retribution offers a lesson about how the intersection of race, class and privilege can impact the interactions between police officers and some residents," he says.

---

It does raise a bit of a point, this - muchlike how I pointed out that in cases of sexual abuse or assault, one of the problems is how none of the guys step up and speak out... I wonder if perhaps there isn't a corrolation with us palefaces not stepping up when the cops are shaking down some person of color - sure you can pull out a camera, but as courts and prosecutors have been shown willing to ignore even incontrivertable evidence,

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