Jordan Edwards (2002?-2017), a 15-year-old high school student, was shot dead by police in Balch Springs, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. He was unarmed. He is the youngest person killed by police so far this year in the US. It is May, the fifth month. He was Black, the killer cop was White.
Lee Merritt, the Edwards family lawyer:
“We want this to stop happening. Every other modern nation in the world has figured out how to police their citizen without killing so many of them, specifically, the killing of UNARMED, BLACK, YOUTH and the common ‘justifications’ offered are unacceptable and infuriating.
“We demand justice for #JordanEdwards. We demand a change”
On Saturday night, April 29th 2017, Jordan Edwards was shot in the head by police.
On Sunday the police said:.
“On April 29, 2017 at about 11:00 P.M, the Balch Springs Police Department received a 911 call reporting several underage kids drunk walking around in the 12300 block of Baron Drive.
“Officers arrived to investigate. During the investigation, Officers heard gunfire. There was an unknown altercation with a vehicle backing down the street towards the Officers in an aggressive manner. An Officer shot at the vehicle striking the front seat passenger.”
On Monday the police chief, after reviewing bodycam video, said he “misspoke”: the car was not “backing down the street towards the Officers in an aggressive manner” – it was moving away! The police chief concluded:
“After reviewing the video, I don’t believe that [the fatal shooting] met our core values.”
On Tuesday the officer was publicly named – Roy Oliver – and fired. Oliver thinks his firing was unfair. He has been with the force since 2011. Before that he was in the army.
The video has not yet been made public.
What the family says, according to Merritt: Edwards, his two brothers and two friends were trying to get away from the party after they heard shots (the police say they “heard gunfire”, but no one is yet sure what it was). None had been drinking, none were armed. They got in the car and then:
“As they backed out of a parking space, they heard someone shouting profanities at them. Before they had a chance to respond, the person shouting at them shot three shots into the vehicle and one of the three rounds went into Jordan Edwards’ forehead.”
As if that was not bad enough:
“After Jordan’s two brothers, Vidal and Kevon, along with their two friends, were forced to experience this tragedy up close as occupants of the car, they were immediately treated as common criminals by other officers; manhandled, intimidated and arrested, while their brother lay dying in the front seat.”
When Edwards’s father came to the police station to find out what was going on, police held him too, because of his “hostile” behaviour. Everyone was later let go without charge.
Killer cop Roy Oliver, meanwhile, has yet to be arrested.
Dallas County is looking into the matter, both the sheriff and the district attorney, Faith Johnson, a Black Republican.
– Abagond, 2017.
Sources: mainly Heavy.com, Balch Springs Police Department, The Root, Huffington Post.
Image: Mesquite Independent School District.
See also:
- killer cops
- metro Dallas/Forth Worth and the police:
- David Collie
- Jacqueline Craig – also represented by Lee Merritt
- Micah Xavier Johnson – a rant in 500 words or less
- Ahmed Mohamed
- McKinney, Texas – that infamous pool party
- Jeremy Mardis – age six, the youngest killed in 2015
- Tamir Rice
- Jordan Davis
- The perfect victim – the press makes a big deal of Edwards being an A student – as if gunning down B students is not so bad or something, as if Black life is conditional on good behaviour.
- Black Brute stereotype
615
Call up Faith Johnson, the Dallas Co. DA and black woman at (214) 653-3600 and tell her to arrest and charge skinhead Officer Roy Oliver for murder
and while you’re at it, email the mayor, Carrie Marshall, also a black woman, and tell her to fire the police chief for lying to the public: cmarshall@cityofbalchsprings.com
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Any attempt to thuggify the victim?
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(Look at the right top corner of this webpage)
Abagond,
I wonder why you haven’t yet closed the year 2016 count.
Maybe it’s time to start counting the fatalities of the current year. This would be the first one.
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@ munubantu
I have been waiting for The Guardian to start their count for 2017, but it seems they have lost interest: by this point last year they had already started their count for 2016. I will look for a new source and start a new list.
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@”Any attempt to thuggify the victim?”
Obvi. That’s how we know he was a straight-A student, as if that’s of any relevance.
CNN has an article entitled, “Who was Jordan Edwards?” My question is who is Roy Oliver? Have any other complaints been filed against him? Was he a member of any racist/terrorist groups? Did his deleted Facebook page have racist comments and/or likes?
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@ jefe
Not yet. He is a perfect victim: good parents, good grades, never in trouble, on the football team, the whole school district is mourning their loss, etc. But, who knows, maybe he has some estranged uncle with a shady past. We will know soon enough.
Brace yourself: There is a picture of him in a hoodie. All his good grades might be for naught. It does not look particularly menacing, but then I am not a good judge of these things: Trayvon Martin in a hoodie did not look particularly menacing to me either. Judge for yourself:
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@ jefe
Resw makes a good point: it is clear they have been digging into the victim’s past, not the killer’s past.
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This is tragic and he looked like a sweet kid. I learned the cop who shot him was fired. His young life snatched away and he is gone too soon. Rest In Peace Jordan.
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RIP Jordan Edwards. My heart goes out to his brothers and friends who must be deeply traumatized by what the police did to them while he was dying.
@ Abagond
“they heard someone shouting profanities at them.”
Did the official police report characterize this as “the officer identified himself”?
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Too sad. Sweet dreams little one. May the bastard who done this rotin hell
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http://www.killedbypolice.net/
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And just like every other police-involved murder of this type, absolutely nothing will come of it.
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Yes, total impunity for cops.
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R.I.P.
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“After reviewing the video, I don’t believe that [the fatal shooting] met our core values.” – Balch Springs Police Chief Jonathan Haber
Huh, don’t make it so darn hard on yourself Chief while trying to sanitize sh#t. It’s a whole lot easier if you’d just say killer cop Roy Oliver is a liar; he wrote a false police report. Consequently, he should be arrested; charged with an enhanced penalty of murder because his life was NOT in jeopardy, which resulted in a child needlessly being shot to death, due to his depraved behavior.
Personally, I truly believe that if it was the other way around, that is, Black police officers frequently and randomly shooting white men or boys in the streets, they’d be a political push from those in high and low places to implement a federal and/or state moratorium on hiring Black law enforcement officers.
Hypothetically, perhaps then they’d (white people) say that Black police officers lack the faculties to sufficiently or competently perform the duties of an officer of the law. (smh)
Truthfully, I tell you, most of you white folks are too much because you cannot seem to get rid of this hazy funk about your collective selves in your dealings with Black people! (To me, the Bible clearly answers this question though)
Deuteronomy 28:50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
PS: Where are you Bryan and An Scrib and (aka LOM) and why are you both so quiet regarding this post?????
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Hang on to your kids (your teddy bears) really tight, even it if means a lost of freedom for them. This is why I’m raising a mama’s boy (and daddy’s in my case)..
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PS: Where are you Bryan and An Scrib and (aka LOM) and why are you both so quiet regarding this post?????
If it was an Irishman he probably would.
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I should have written,:
If the the victim was an Irishman
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@blakksage
PS: Where are you Bryan and An Scrib and (aka LOM) and why are you both so quiet regarding this post?????
I don’t recall speaking out either way about any police shootings on this blog and I usually don’t say anything about shooting when all it is statements. I am skeptical about statements from both sides as they are both trying to frame their statements to fit their narrative. This was a tragic shooting and the change in the statements from the police department prove that. If there is nothing to add, I often don’t say anything.
There was no reason for you, Blakksage, to bring my name into this.
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There was no reason for you, Blakksage, to bring my name into this
Oh, but I think there is.
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Listening to one of my podcast and the statement was made, what if Jordan had come from a broken home and not been quote on quote “A good kid” or a good student with white friends.” Does that mean a kid like that deserves to be shot by police? I thought that was an interesting narrative. I hurt for Jordan and his family, it angers me this cop acting reckless and just saw a car full of black teenagers and got trigger happy. I know the cop was fired but he will just go and find another job somewhere else and he deserves to be in jail.
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Balch Springs is a suburb of my city so I am not surprised this happened in that part of town. I always referred to that area as Klan country. Because it’s full of rural whites and it’s always been kind of red neck so the cop acting out in this manner doesn’t surprise me. But then again cops all over the United States hate most black teens and black men.
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I agree with blakksage and Herneith.
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it’s a senseless tragedy it’s like desensitizing in its commonality of occurence!
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@ Mary Burrell
“I know the cop was fired but he will just go and find another job somewhere else and he deserves to be in jail.”
The kicker is that that murderer has the nerve to say that his firing was “unfair”.
What is unfair is that he has not been arrested for first degree murder, assault for the way he treated the other boys in the car and obstruction of justice for lying about the true circumstances of the murder.
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@Afrofem: Wash, rinse repeat. It’s always the same. It’s so disgusting.
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@ Mary Burrell
So true. Growing up, I thought we would see the end of this nightmare. Instead, it has gotten worse with time.
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@Brian said: “I am skeptical about statements from both sides as they are both trying to frame their statements to fit their narrative.”
“What the family says, according to Merritt: Edwards, his two brothers and two friends were trying to get away from the party after they heard shots (the police say they “heard gunfire”, but no one is yet sure what it was). None had been drinking, none were armed.” – Abagond
“On Monday the police chief, after reviewing bodycam video, said he “misspoke”: the car was not “backing down the street towards the Officers in an aggressive manner” – it was moving away! The police chief concluded:” – Abagond
Brian, it seems as though you need to work on your comprehension skills. The family and the police chief are basically saying the same thing, albeit, different phrases or wording but nonetheless, both sides came to the conclusion that the vehicle was “moving away from the officer.”
Brian, no matter how much you attempt to parse the situation, but that young Black child should not have been shot to death and killer cop Roy Oliver shouldn’t only been terminated, but arrested as soon as he turned in his badge and service revolver as well.
Thanks for showing us once again who you really are, … Brian!
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Terrifying, Sick, and Disgusting. This poor child. His poor family and friends suffer the anguish of his loss, and for NOTHING.
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talking to black misleaders is like talking to white folk
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I’m not saying don’t do it. just understand who youre talking to. white people in black skins.
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This is how cops treat our kids. I saw this on a post by the guy who filmed it, a professor who couldn’t believe what he saw (obviously white, since the cops weren’t harassing him too). He had a great commentary. I just cant remember where I saw it. There must be a way to track it down from the video, but alas I don’t know how.
(https://youtu.be/k2CO7FAi3aQ)
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Truly awful. I pray – No more!
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@resw
Comment deleted for moderated language.
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cops had to know the guy was filming because he turned his phone towards them as they walked away. what would have happened if he’d said something to them. they were acting more like school yard bullies than peace keepers. if you were the video taker would you risk your life to speak up for these kids? if you were black it would be a guaranteed beat down.
what a police state we live in, which got worse under Obama and is full blown under trump. it certainly got worse where I live.
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@Blakksage You just love to take things out of context. Did you read what I said. I said this was a tragic shooting, I said that when the police changed their statement, that proved that. but you love to take a single line out of context and use it to prove your point. You quoted Deuteronomy 28:50 in your original statement, but go back one verse and it completely destroys what you were trying to say. And it is just one part that goes from verse 15 to verse 68.
My comprehension skills are perfectly fine. Better than yours I would say. You believe you know, but you don’t. You see what you want to see. We all see the world through tinted glasses. It is part of the reason I come here to Abagond’s site. To expand my world view. I am a firm believer that I will not learn anything if I only listen to those that I already agree with.
I agree that no child should be shot much less killed. I pray that nobody ever has to be hurt. I have always questioned why there is never an amber alert when a black child is kidnapped. I see their pictures with all the other kids that are missing, but amber alerts always seem to be for a white child.
I do disagree with you that the cop should have been arrested immediately because that starts the clock on the trial and I would rather see a well prepared prosecution and conviction than a rushed prosecution and justice not be served. I don’t see the grand jury not indicting Darren Wilson as a bad thing because the DA can still bring charges against him. If he had been indicted and found not guilty, As it is, Darren Wilson has to live each day of his life knowing that he could still be charged with the murder of Mike Brown. Trayvon Martin’s family on the other hand will not know justice because the prosecution was rushed and found Zimmerman not guilty. Slow justice sucks but it is better than no justice at all.
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hardly. in America neither fast nor slow justice happens for black victims of police murder.
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“Slow justice sucks but it is better than no justice at all.” – Brian
I encourage you to deliver this same memo of a statement to the families of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland and a laundry list of other Black people who were unnecessarily killed by white police officers. You better brace yourself for when
they respond.
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@”Where are you Bryan and An Scrib and (aka LOM) and why are you both so quiet regarding this post?????”
Scribh aka lord of mirkwood is not here because he’s demonstrated over and over that he does not care about black people or the oppression of black people.
To him getting bumped off a flight by two black officers is the end of the world, but not getting shot to death by an evil white supremacist posing as a cop.
As Malcolm X warned: “The [white] liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative.”
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@ Brian
Well said!
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@ resw
How is your rant on topic, resw the “topic watchdog”?
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@Afrofem
Far more on topic than your comment addressed to me. Unlike yours, my comment was about reactions to Jordan Edwards’ death by the hand of an “evil white supremacist posing as a cop”.
You’re a little too old to be this sloppy.
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@ resw
” …my comment was about reactions to Jordan Edwards’ death…”
Yeah right. LOL!
The only person you are gaslighting here is yourself.
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@Afrofem
Yes, in fact my comment, as well as the one to which it was in response were both about the hypocrisy of those who haven’t reacted to Jordan Edwards’ death. But then again, reading comprehension has never been your strong suit.
And I’m glad you decided to troll me once again, as it’s yet another of dozens of examples showing how often you troll me in defence of your massa.
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Brian said: “I don’t see the grand jury not indicting Darren Wilson as a bad thing.”
Brian, that’s your opinionand it doesn’t appear to be congruent with the opinion of Michael Brown’s family.
Remain focused, stick to the current topic and quit deflecting.
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How is responding to what you said deflecting? I was making a response to you saying that the officer that shot Jordan Edwards should be arrested immediately. Arresting and charging the officer winds the clock on the officer constitutional rights via the 6th amendment.
Once again, you take things out of context. I said that it was not a bad thing because a future prosecutor for St. Louis county can still bring murder charges against Darren Wilson. It is a better thing that the case being brought to a court and Wilson being acquited like Zimmerman was.
Almost anybody can take statements out of context and make others look as good or bad as they want.
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Roy Oliver has been charged with murder.
Hopefully this @sshole will get convicted.
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I hope this POS Roy Oliver is convicted of murder and sent to rot in prison for the rest of his sick and sorry life.
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“Roy Oliver has been charged with murder.”
We will see if a white Texas jury convicts him. In the liberal state of California it’s next to impossible to get a jury to convicte killer cops.
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Oliver’s father says he served two tours in Iraq and has PTSD.
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But, from what I know, the army is way better trained than the police in not shooting unarmed people.
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“Oliver’s father says he served two tours in Iraq and has PTSD.” – Abagond
Well, if that’s the case and if he truly cared about his son, he should’ve stepped up to the plate like a good father would and spoke to high ranking officials at Balch Spring Police Dept. against hiring his son due to his degraded mental capacity, in addition to getting him the help that he so dearly needed as well. It’s way too late to shift the blame now.
“But, from what I know, the army is way better trained than the police in not shooting unarmed people.” – Abagond
See, this is the thing about police departments hiring former military members; SOME have the ability to leave the battlefield’s rules of engagement and others don’t do so well. I surmise that Ray Oliver falls into the category that didn’t fair too well to be an officer of the law to begin with. The battlefield and urban contemporary areas are two vastly different settings.
Even further, add any personal biases that one may or may not hold, certainly, that’s a recipe for disaster. And this is exactly what took place here concerning the death of a child. Therefore, his father may as well blame himself to a certain extent as well.
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PTSD is an excuse not an explanation. Only used for white people.
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Brian said: “You quoted Deuteronomy 28:50 in your original statement, but go back one verse and it completely destroys what you were trying to say. And it is just one part that goes from verse 15 to verse 68.”
LOL, … LIAR!
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Today Jordan will be laid to rest and my thoughts and prayers to his family. With that being said when they select intelligent jurors who will make the right decision and put this animal behind bars and not let him walk. I can’t get too jubilant it’s too early but I hope there is justice for Jordan at least just this once. I hope there is a guilty verdict. May Jordan Rest In Peace.
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*I hope they *^^^^
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While I know that veterans have protected EEO status, if someone has unresolved battlefield PTSD, you’d think they themselves might realize police work would not be a good idea.
I’d be interested in knowing whether he has an official diagnosis or if this is just something the family is saying as an excuse. I expect it will come out in the trial if not beforehand.
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@Solitaire
I was about to say the same thing about entering the police force with PTSD (if it’s even true).
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I personally know two people who suffers from PTSD and it’s struggle for them from time to time. Both of them feel the urge to go out in the woods to pop off a few rounds every now and then. Even further, another family friend who graduated along with my older siser who had either two or three tours in Iraq. His wife, who I also know personally, told of situations wher he’d walk around their home in an almost zombie like state.
Approximately two months ago, the wife was down stairs doing something and she heard a gunshot. She hen ran upstairs and lo and behold, her husband shot himself in the head in Augusta, GA.
PTSD is not something to take lightly folks!
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Roy Oliver turned himself in last night but is free on $300k bond.
http://m.newser.com/story/242358/cop-who-shot-texas-teen-turns-himself-in.html
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http://time.com/4768174/roy-oliver-jordan-edwards-balch-springs/
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@ blakksage
I’m sorry to hear about your family friend. That is tragic.
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@ Solitaire
They characterized it as “made verbal commands for it to stop”:
Note that that is NOT the original account, which had “a vehicle backing down the street towards the Officers in an aggressive manner.”
Source:
http://heavy.com/news/2017/05/roy-oliver-jordan-edwards-shooting-police-officer-cop-name-fired-photos-balch-springs-texas/
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@ Abagond
Thanks for the information.
It seems like I’ve read so many news stories where officers approach a car or burst into someone’s house in the middle of the night (sometimes in plain clothes) shouting obscentities and orders instead of clearly identifying themselves as police. And then they blame the victims for being confused about what was happening and not realizing they were cops.
Also, if you’re already calling a citizen words like mtherfcker before you even see their face, you’ve taken a certain stance towards those citizens which makes you less likely to listen when they tell you that they haven’t been drinking and they don’t have a gun, or that you’ve got the wrong house and are calling them by their neighbor’s name.
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Note to self: don’t use asterisks to censor cuss words. I forgot about ital!
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@ Solitaire
“…you’ve taken a certain stance towards those citizens which makes you less likely to listen…”
Yes. First they are not “citizens” to you. Second, you don’t serve them. Third, you don’t care what they think or what happens to them.
To stop this type of behavior, you have to understand who the cops serve and how to put pressure on their masters.
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@ Afrofem
“First they are not “citizens” to you.”
Right. Increasingly we are all seen as perps, suspected perps, or soon-to-be perps. Enemy combatants.
Citizen isn’t an ideal word because it leaves out legal non-citizens who have certain rights, as well as illegal/undocumented immigrants who still have human rights. But I don’t like the police term “civilian.” Like we’re civilians and they’re soldiers. No, they’re also civilians.
“To stop this type of behavior, you have to understand who the cops serve and how to put pressure on their masters.”
Any suggestions?
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@ Solitaire
Greater minds than mine are working on that issue right now.
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Roy Oliver was found guilty yesterday of murdering young Jordan Edwards, I am shocked to say the least. I just knew he would walk away free just like all other cops who kill black men and young teenagers. Even if he is sentenced to prison he probably won’t serve a life sentence. Here’s to Roy Oliver in an orange jumpsuit in handcuffs and flip flops.
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