Very true, but I’m trying to figure out what the excuse would be.
“We had him cuffed, but then he spontaneously broke out in bullet wounds.”
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They are just that scared of Black men.
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After centuries of racist myths that Black people have supernatural strength and modern use of language like “zombie apocalypse” applied to worst-case scenarios, it doesn’t surprise me that some folks conflate the two. Of course, my Haitian friends find this to be particularly disturbing, because it bears little resemblance to the religious beliefs that created the term:
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Yep. Ever since Night of the Living Dead, zombies of American pop culture have diverged wildly from the Haitian religious version… I guess there was a couple of films based on that back in the day… White Zombie, I guess, with Bela Legosi…
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What the heck does it mean to choose involuntary anything?
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It’s just more word salad to cover up inconvenient facts and truths. This story is another example of the path some folks have been on for decades. We’ve seen it in the rise of the GQP, the conservative Evangelical movement, and other groups encouraged to attack “elite” pursuits like reading, science, or education in general. The manipulation of facts and history taught in schools, as well as political misinformation campaigns, led us to where we are now. This piece by Michael Harriot about the Jan. 6th hearings does a great job explaining the hypocrisy and privilege at the root of it:
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Update, in case anybody missed it.
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In Michigan:
A Michigan police department will conduct a legal review after photographs showing shooting targets with the images of Black men on them were taken at the department’s practice area.
The photographs were taken during a Boy Scouts field trip to the Farmington Hills police department in April, prompting allegations of racial bias after the images showed targets of Black men holding weapons and children gathered around one of the targets.
In Ohio:
Civil rights groups and local politicians have reacted with outrage to the release of video of police killing a Black man in Akron, Ohio, who was shot in a hail of gunfire as he ran away after a car chase.
It’s not clear how exactly many shots were fired by the eight officers involved, but Jayland Walker sustained more than 60 wounds as multiple police officers shot at him. An attorney for Walker’s family said officers kept firing even after he was on the ground.
I made myself read this, in case it made any difference to my understanding:
Law enforcement officer means an employee occupying a rigorous position, whose primary duties are the investigation, apprehension, or detention of individuals suspected or convicted of offenses against the criminal laws of the United States, or the protection of officials of the United States against threats to personal safety, as provided in 5 U.S.C. 8401(17). Also included in this definition is an employee occupying a rigorous law enforcement officer position who moves to a supervisory or administrative position and meets the conditions of § 842.803(b). Law enforcement officer also includes, as required by 5 U.S.C. 8401(17)(B), an employee of the Department of the Interior or the Department of the Treasury who occupies a position that, but for enactment of chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, would be subject to the District of Columbia Police and Firefighters’ Retirement System, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of the Treasury, as appropriate. Except as provided above, the definition does not include an employee whose primary duties involve maintaining order, protecting life and property, guarding against or inspecting for violations of law, or investigating persons other than those who are suspected or convicted of offenses against the criminal laws of the United States.
Primary duties means those duties of a position that -
(a) Are paramount in influence or weight; that is, constitute the basic reasons for the existence of the position;
(b) Occupy a substantial portion of the individual’s working time over a typical work cycle; and
(c) Are assigned on a regular and recurring basis.
Duties that are of an emergency, incidental, or temporary nature cannot be considered “primary” even if they meet the substantial portion of time criterion. In general, if an employee spends an average of at least 50 percent of his or her time performing a duty or group of duties, they are his or her primary duties.
Rigorous position means a position the duties of which are so rigorous that employment opportunities should, as soon as reasonably possible, be limited (through establishment of a maximum entry age and physical qualifications) to young and physically vigorous individuals whose primary duties are -
(a) To perform work directly connected with controlling and extinguishing fires; or
(b) Investigating, apprehending, or detaining individuals suspected or convicted of offenses against the criminal laws of the United States or protecting the personal safety of United States officials.
The condition in this definition that employment opportunities be limited does not apply with respect to an employee who moves directly (i.e., without a break in service exceeding 3 days) from one rigorous law enforcement officer position to another or from one rigorous firefighter position to another. Rigorous position is also deemed to include a position held by a law enforcement officer as identified in 5 U.S.C. 8401(17)(B) (related to certain employees in the Departments of the Interior and the Treasury).
Secondary position means a position that -
(a) Is clearly in the law enforcement or firefighting field;
(b) Is in an organization having a law enforcement or firefighting mission; and
(c) Is either -
(1) Supervisory; that is, a position whose primary duties are as a first-level supervisor or law enforcement officers or firefighters in rigorous positions; or
(2) Administrative; that is, an executive, managerial, technical, semiprofessional, or professional position for which experience in a rigorous law enforcement or firefighting position, or equivalent experience outside the Federal Government, is a mandatory prerequisite.
[52 FR 2069, Jan. 16, 1987, as amended at 57 FR 32689, July 23, 1992; 60 FR 3339, Jan. 17, 1995; 66 FR 38525, July 25, 2001; 70 FR 32710, June 6, 2005; 70 FR 42254, July 22, 2005]
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My mother is from Vicksburg, MS. which surrendered to the union army on July 4th, 1863. The city didn’t hold another official 4th of July celebration until after WWII. When my mom was a teenager 100 years after the city surrendered, the 4th was viewed as a bittersweet occasion in her community.
Of course despite no official 4th celebration, the formerly enslaved had every reason to celebrate it as a two-fold independence day. I couldn’t find much online about those celebrations, but I did learn that on July 4th, 1864 formerly enslaved Vicksburg residents along with union troops went 20 miles south to the home of Jefferson Davis (currently under Union control) for the largest recorded July 4th celebration that had ever been held in Mississippi at the time. 
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Because of course…
[Financial Times link]
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Here’s a lesson on how we got here, from Michael Harriot:
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That reminds me of a “sundown town” experience I had in Florida in the early 90s with a racist individual. It little bitty town east of Gainesville, Florida when I worked as a bulk package delivery driver. Asshole wouldn’t accept a package for the Baptist church across the street, because…well, I’m sure you can guess. 
ETA: I’ve been all over north-central Florida, and I tell you that town had a creepy vibe.
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Who is gonna tell him?
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