I watched the whole thing and, damn, that was a tough watch.
I know this stuff happens, but seeing it will never not be sickening. We’ve let the bastards get away with this shit for too long.
And yet some will still insist shifting funding to more suitable resources is the dangerous move…
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Given how many stories, similar videos from other cities, and e.g. the recent federal report on policing in Louisville, this is unarguably happening all over. And although it’s nice to see some actual charges against the cops, they’re almost always lesser charges than are warranted, selective in which cops get prosecuted (the ones standing by and laughing and then lying about it afterwards almost always get a free pass), and inevitably the officers involved had long histories of accusations in which nothing was done and no video released. Which is representative of the issue as a whole - mostly it’s getting ignored, mostly the higher-ups look at what happened and say, “yeah, this is fine” (when it absolutely isn’t). It makes me wonder why some cases get prosecuted (or even made public) and the rest don’t - it seems rather random.
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ACAB
it is crystal clear policing in the US has a huge problem. all of the cops that continue to bury their heads in the sand are BASTARDS.
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The DOJ arguments about the police of Louisville KY uses the phrase “a culture of lawlessness”, which isn’t exactly encouraging. Accurate, though.
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Fixed that for ya, O’Malley.
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Folks need to complete that quote. “A few bad apples spoil the whole barrel.” Saying “It’s just a few bad apples” is not the panacea that they think it is.
ETA: @GagHalfrunt
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Part of the injustice system involves the DAs, judges, and governors (something that needs to be a higher priority for voters). If they decide not to press charges at all, apply lesser charges, or convict without applying the maximum penalties - all that sends a message. One of the worst examples was the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, in which there were coverups and connections between the perpetrators and members of the law enforcement community. Cases where the evidence is deliberately hidden or released years later is another ongoing issue.
A top to bottom scan of the cases highlighted in the Black Lives Matter Still and Defund the Police? topics might shed some light on the difference community pressure, civil suits, and escalation to federal authorities can make in combatting this fuckery. So far, the few rare cases when LEOs admit to a problem quickly tend to involve throwing POC and women under the bus. 
Yup. I thought Beau’s comments on the DOJs recommendations for Louisville were interesting:
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Mike Schmidt, the DA in Portland, takes a lot of shit (including death threats, probably from members of the police union!) for refusing to prosecute BLM protesters. When you dig a bit, his main reason is that he knows those cases are largely unwinnable. Cops violated protesters’ civil rights consistently; arrested the wrong people; arrested legal observers and journalists with credentials clearly displayed; attacked protesters following their instructions; and lied frequently and proveably about all of the above.
The few prosecutions he’s followed up on were cases where a protester clearly attacked police first, such as with lasers or molotov cocktails while police were simply in position, and not attacking protesters (yet).
So we will see how it turns out, but I wouldn’t exactly call him a hero for making those common-sense decisions, but at least he didn’t bow to pressure to turn police riots (in the real meaning of the term; riots started by police) into show trials of the victims.
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What we’re seeing in other states is new laws making it easier to prosecute protestors, as well as municipalities losing lawsuits for violating protesters’ rights. Now I’m curious to see how that shakes out in the future, too.
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Yep, although there are situations with all those variables being the same (or functionally identical people in those roles), yet some some cases get attention, some cops get prosecuted and others don’t. I can only assume it’s because someone with the right connections (or who made some connections) made a fuss. Cops normally target people they know can’t respond effectively and whose protests won’t be heard by the right ears, but if someone gets connected to the right lawyer or activist or politician…
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This is exactly why BLM and Defund the Police efforts partnered with civil rights advocacy groups. Sometimes, those groups and attorneys are mentioned in press coverage because they are supporting actions taken by victims and their families to fight back. In other cases, people harness the power of social media to get a response from TPTB on their own. We have better tools than in the past for documenting incidents, raising awareness of injustice, and making it difficult for those in power to excuse the behavior of LEOs who abuse their authority.
Here’s a recent case in Jackson, MS that highlights family members trying to make a difference for the community and hold cops accountable for their actions:
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All the fucking barrels are rotten to the core(s). 
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Cop unions, innit. 
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What’s weird is when the cop “unions” allow any cops to experience any consequences… I can only assume it’s because they briefly stopped functioning as intended.
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… the wheels on the bus go round and round 
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they still haven’t been allowed even the autopsy report? from september? that some pretty obvious stonewalling by the state police. 
also, although ive read about the attempt to take over the local police and the courts, i somehow missed this:
The sponsor of the bill, Republican Rep. Trey Lamar is from Senatobia, a rural town more than 170 miles (275 kilometers) north of Jackson.
Lamar and other supporters of the bill did not attend Monday’s hearing
truly the opposite of a representative government 
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It does seem like non-white, non-male cops do not enjoy the level of protection that the white guys do. Weird that, isn’t it?
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