Ongoing U.S Police Brutality and Corruption Discussion Thread

I think this is frankly just true of any rural areas in the US now.

It's always been true.

Content warning chait but he’s not wrong

Cops threatening to quit over vaccine mandates is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reform police departments https://t.co/iMaXlf0LMV

— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) August 27, 2021

“While most police officers are trying to protect people and treat the public fairly”

well, ignore this obvious falsehood and he’s right.

this charming guy who, iirc, also loudly defended the 1/6 insurrectionists:

“This has literally lit a bomb underneath the membership,” said Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara. “We’re in America, G-ddamn it. We don’t want to be forced to do anything. Period. This ain’t Nazi f---ing Germany.”

this could also be a good opportunity for red states to recruit for cops that were recently laid off for refusing to take a vaccine

Wow John Cataranza who could possibly accuse the cops of being entitled above-the-law nitwits who actually endanger the people they’re supposedly protecting?? You’ve really shut that argument right down

"You can't force Americans to follow rules, that's fascism," says man whose entire job is to force Americans to follow rules.

lmao exactly

if you wanted to scream about fascists, we literally just evicted one in January, and ya didn't seem to mind, jabroni!

Jaleel Stallings thought he was being shot at from an unmarked van by white supremacists. Only after he returned fire did he learn they were MPD officers.

He was charged with attempted murder, but police body cameras helped exonerate him: https://t.co/oMouea3He4 @deenafaywinter

— Minnesota Reformer (@MNReformer) September 1, 2021

high related, also in Minnesota:

These stories document what Somali and Black Minnesotans have been telling those who will listen our whole lives: the systems that are supposed to protect us routinely victimize and abuse us.

Believe us when we say we desperately need to reimagine these systems. pic.twitter.com/K6PAGK7Yp6

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) September 2, 2021

pretty stoked that I’m moving to MLPS just in time to vote for dissolving the MPD

TBF Stallings was being shot at by white supremacists.

lol, exactly. it could be the proud boys, it could be the swat team, it could be the regular police. or it could just be some q_anon person who is saving the republic. they're all dudes in a white van shooting at you

great bunch of lads

Is it a homeless outreach method for the deputies that are part of LA Sheriff’s Homeless OUTREACH Services Team (HOST) to tell civilians to back away from him because he, the deputy, is unvaccinated????

Seems like a weird outreach method. 🥴🤡 https://t.co/dk2WSFUkcm pic.twitter.com/Tjdy83vJdA

— Another Adam Smith 🇵🇸 (@AdamOfTheSmiths) September 8, 2021

Chait (ugh) was right that purging the ranks of cops of the unvaccinated might be an opportunity for reform.

But we'd end up with even dickier private security everywhere

creepy as hell

NEW: LAPD has instructed officers to collect social media information from every civilian they interview or stop, including individuals who are not arrested or accused of a crime.

Internal records obtained by the @BrennanCenter
https://t.co/f5KQJnfPIL

— Sam Levin (@SamTLevin) September 8, 2021

yiiikes. the collecting-SSNs thing, a few tweets down, is even more alarming.

I hate them all so much

The circle of cop life pic.twitter.com/k902C360nP

— Peter Frase (@pefrase) September 15, 2021

is Biden still supporting the cops in that case

The Minneapolis Public Safety amendment, which merely opens up the possibility of beginning the process of literally any kind of police reform, is being rat-fucked off of the ballot. I don’t think I’ve been so angry since the night Trump was elected.

Seeing the collaboration and conspiracy between the state and local “Democratic” parties (along with, obviously, their proven allies in the GOP), the media, the judiciary, the police, business elites, and what can only be described as a genuine “deep state” of unelected but powerful commissioners and city employees to kill this amendment has been revelatory—but revelation still doesn’t reform the fucking police! I’m crawling up the wall with frustration over this shit.

democrats are definitely a formidable enemy of police reform. our city council refuses to do anything that comes close to reducing the power and resources police have. and the city council president is married to the state's attorney so that's cool. they just announced that they will be giving speed camera revenue to police for covid hazard pay. the police budget went up and none of them complained about it. meanwhile we appear on every conservative's list of cities that have defunded the police.

Interfering with media mail would draw the ire of thousands of online retail businesses, not to mention the big guns that aren't Amazon

☺️

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fbi-raids-headquarters-of-nypd-union-sergeants-benevolent-association-headed-by-ed-mullins

The SBA Executive Board said in a statement, “Given the severity of this matter and the uncertainty of its outcome, the SBA Executive board has requested that President Mullins resign... The day to day functioning and the important business of the SBA cannot be distracted by the existence of this investigation.”

FLASH

FLASH: @SBANYPD announces Ed Mullins has resigned pic.twitter.com/vngQ56ftBy

— Myles N. Miller (@MylesMill) October 6, 2021

fucking awesome

get pat lynch too

GIT SOME

I always feel a sense of doom when I see this thread pop up. glad it was good news this time!

Nice.

"Like all of us, Ed Mullins is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and we ask you to withhold judgment until all the facts.."

FUCK. YOU.

Yes but by "us" he only means other police officers.

Yeah, true. I just get so angry when they suddenly trot that shit out when its one of their own.

But, you know, Ed Mullins was no saint.

Perhaps slightly off-topic, but related to discussion of police brutality...this might be one of the most fucked up stories I've ever read.

https://www.propublica.org/article/black-children-were-jailed-for-a-crime-that-doesnt-exist

oh cool, that's where my ex moved with our kids

gonna sleep great tonight

Yeah that awful story has made a pretty big splash here in TN, though maybe not enough to get the clearly psychopathic judge voted off the bench next year. Just stunning.

Isn’t Ruf’ton near Johnson City? Deep Appalachia…

Although with due respect I do wonder why anyone of sound mind would move to TN. I often question my own sanity when I’m visiting SC.

The story concerns Rutherford, a suburb of Murfreesboro... right in the middle of the state, near Nashville.

This video is still up. Sickening shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igoy0sq4noQ

Rutherford County is, unfortunately, not some podunk rural outpost. (Not that this would be more acceptable in those places, but it would affect fewer children.) It's the fifth-largest county in the state, and one of the fastest-growing. Home to a state university and several Nashville bedroom communities.

Although with due respect I do wonder why anyone of sound mind would move to TN.

Yeah. It didn't seem quite as suspect when I first moved here in '94. It still had a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators at that point. Not great ones, obviously, but it did not feel like the hard-right bastion it has since become. And it's getting worse. I wouldn't move here now myself, probably, even though I still love my city.

Capitol Police officer charged with obstructing Jan. 6 investigation https://t.co/151B05R4jp

— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) October 15, 2021

“Hey (Person 1), im a capitol police officer who agrees with your political stance. Take down the part about being in the building they are currently investigating and everyone who was in the building is going to (be) charged. Just looking out!" Riley wrote to the person, according to court documents.

I went to school at Murfreesboro, it was dangerous and racist as fuck back in the nineties and i'm not stunned that hasn't changed.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/threats-swirl-in-town-sei_n_953997
https://www.murfreesborovoice.com/article/3913/opinion-stop-honoring-racism-remove-the-johnny-reb-statue

that article makes me want to hit so many people

I'm not a violent person but if you did it I'd be happy to commit "criminal responsibility."

very sad

More, per sources:
Upon arrival at HQ, officers are given the chance to comply w/ mandate. If they decline & refuse a subsequent order, the officer is then taken to HR where they are stripped of police powers and ordered to turn over their police ID, star and hat shield.

— Sam Charles (@samjcharles) October 18, 2021