Philando Castile's killers secretly tried to order Facebook to let them spy on Castile's girlfriend

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/06/25/spin-and-smear.html

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Huh. I’m not a fan of Facebook, but in this case they did right.

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Is this ever going to change?

Not everybody is good at their jobs. And some jobs are dangerous. So when some police officer accidentally kills somebody, the Department, and the profession at large has to deal with that. They can’t be allowed to circle the wagons and blame the victims, and expect our good will to back them up.

I am always thankful for people that take on this tough job of being an officer. I am not thankful for people who turns out are not good at it, and I am no longer thankful for police departments willing to back up a bad officer as a default position.

When is this going to change.

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I am afraid of cops. When they pass me in the squad cars, I can feel my head trying to sink into my neck. I am an old White guy with cropped white hair, and should be immune to cops; but I remember being a long-haired hippie 45 years ago, and really hating cops.

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Oh, and folks wonder why I want their pensions…

I mean really. A single cop does not file a warrant over this, that takes teamwork.

Every one of these murders is a conspiracy.

These cops can’t do this singlehandedly.

The thin blue line is protecting the wrong people, too often.

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Which is why the warrant specified all data, including data BEFORE the incident? including ALL of it?

Sloppy work, officer. Sloppy work.

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The warrant misspelled leverage.

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Jesus. Fucking. Christ. Everything about this case is monstrous. Did this come up in the trial? It should have - if it didn’t it seems like we need another trial on obstruction of justice charges. Although the whole system is so perfectly aligned to protect bad cops in this situation, it probably wouldn’t help. That’s why a functional federal government is necessary - to bring the relevant civil rights charges. But in the absence of a functional federal government, where else does this situation lead but a total - and justifiable - war on cops?

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When (and if) the society at large somehow gets over its centuries-long insistence on dehumanizing people who aren’t white.

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As a twenty something I was once stopped by a cop when HE tried to turn left from the middle lane. I honked and he pulled me over. When I observed that the middle lane was not a turn lane, he dropped his hand to his gun and told me to shut up or he’d “feed me my teeth”. I said yes sir, put my hands at 2 and 10 on the wheel then photographed the intersection and beat him in court. The judge must have been a fan of Coolhand Luke as he looked over the photos and then said to me “what we have here is a failure of communication”. Bullshit. Cincinnati cops were notorious for shooting fleeing perps in the back (cuz most of them weighed over 300)

Respect mah authority is all these guys know.

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What’s the fuss? everybody knows the police only shot bad guys, so he’s obviously guilty of something, they just need to find out exactly what. Whilst they’re at it, it would be highly unprofessional of them to not see if they can get his girlfriend on anything as well, I mean she was hanging around at a crime scene…

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Pretty damn state of affairs, one would say, but what of the jurors? Must we consider that they too are afraid of the cops and if they, meaning the jurors, decide to convict a cop, then are they too subject to harassment? I cannot think of any other rational explanation. If they did not think that the cop was guilty of murder because “he was in fear for his life”, then it would seem logical to convict him for a lesser crime, unless of course, everyone of those jurors, including the two blacks, just assume that the cops are always right?

Ditto. After all, they’re the occupying army of the establishment.

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Shameful!

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Your affiant is aware through training and expertise that individuals frequently call and/or text messages to each other regarding criminal activity during and/or after and [sic] event has occurred.

So… he was going to post to Facebook his disrespectful feelings after being shot to death? I don’t recall her being accused of any crime. Was there a (showing my age here) …a warrant?

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this was a warrant request on the witness, after the crime.

With a gag order.

Despicable.

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When police officers are actually charged and convicted when they commit a crime.

Not a moment before then.

These cops lied on a warrant. That is surely some sort of crime. Even if we nevermind the murder, here’s another crime to ignore.

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When either the people revolt en masse (not likely to happen), or the feds step in and start seriously prosecuting these guys. Rico laws, more severe punishment as a “done under color of law”, I don’t care. I just don’t see a spontaneous change in culture in policing away from the current “us vs. them” or “There’s police, and then there’s perps” mentality.

Whilst they’re at it, it would be highly unprofessional of them to not see if they can get his girlfriend on anything as well, I mean she was hanging around at a crime scene…

Ha! Also, 3 points for using whilst.

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I’m a little surprised they didn’t charge her with the murder.