White Officer FIRED For Assaulting Black Teen
You really hafta watch the video to get the full flavor, but in a nutshell, a white deputy, who had stopped a young Black dude because his pants were sagging, chopped the brother in the throat and tried to say he did it because the brother attempted to assault him. The young brother was arrested and taken to jail. Only problem was, his cruiser cam was on, and no such thing happened. The higher-ups in the department saw it and justice eventually ensued.
A couple things:
1. The line of the video, a KILLER if somebody was teaching irony is when the deputy says, “You wanna do somethin’ stupid, you’re gonna end up on TV.”
If I had written somethin like that, it would be dismissed as unbelievable.
2. While I’m glad this one got caught on video - on the officer’s own camera, no less - it just serves as more evidence to me that no matter where we are in life, we can’t really afford to be idiocentric. Just because something didn’t happen doesn’t mean it can’t won’t, or couldn’t have. It just means it didn’t. So in this case, there’s no question that the young man didn’t do anything wrong. His drawls were showing. The deputy said something. Homeboy covered his drawls. The deputy decided to take it further. Without the video, homeboy would probably still be in jail, possibly facing felony charges. For nothing. As much as I used to sag back in the day, I can easily see that being a younger version of myself. When I start to believe that only the things that affect me individually matter, it’s a tough way to go.
See, this is also why I can’t completely get behind them law-and-order type candidates or their supporters. I KNOW there are cops who overstep their bounds. Thankfully, I’ve never had any interaction with them personally, but it would be completely disingenuous of me to act like I don’t think they exist just because I wasn’t the one whose rights were being violated. So when I see somebody talkin about the incarceration rate like it’s completely accurate, and a reflection of fair, just policing I hafta give that person the side-eye. Of course the majority of the people in jail belong in there, but there are enough who don’t that it should really give us pause.
3. It goes without saying that I think the laws against saggin your pants are completely ridiculous. I think certain aspects of that style are ridiculous too, but that’s a matter of fashion and maturity, not something that the law should be brought in to handle. Fashion police is one thing. (I had to tell a boy the other day about tryina sag with them tight jeans on. I’ze like, ‘Young. That ain’t the move. ‘Specially and you got a hole in your drawls.) Five-oh police is another. The net effect of such laws is just what’s on this video: a reason for police to mess with young brothers.
I’m sayin’: somebody don’t like saggin’, fine. Don’t. I used to. I grew out of it. But don’t even TRY to tell me that there should be a law against it. That just means that our local legislators don’t think they have enough to do, which means they need to be workin a regular job while somebody else helps to make the laws.
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