Disclaimer: I do not condone, support, or advocate violence.
Today’s events in NYC are brought to you by the actions of the corrupt criminal justice system, the coldheartedness of the police unions, the callousness of law enforcement officers who antagonize protesters to their breaking point, and the unwillingness of the public to see the problem with the system at hand
Violence is not the answer. I stand with Dr. Martin Luther King in my belief that civil disobedience is the best path to change. Occupy the streets. Protest all night. Record the police and distribute videos of injustices to the internet. Stooping to the level of the corrupt law enforcement officers will only make our movement lose credibility.
I often think about the question, “when is it okay to kill a cop?” Of course, the blind masses will say “never.” Even if a cop is clearly in the wrong shooting at people and is a danger to the public, most Americans do not believe it is okay to kill a police officer. Police officers are human beings. There are great human beings and there are horrible human beings. A badge and a gun does not make one exempt from that rule. If a police officer is in the wrong, breaking the law, infringing on Constitutional rights, or killing innocent people, it is well within the rights of the people to kill said law enforcement official.
The Supreme Court upheld the right of the people to kill police officers if they reasonably believe lethal force is necessary to protect a person against unlawful force by a public servant, to prevent unlawful entry by police, and to shoot police officers who trespass without a warrant. I treat a police officer just as I would treat any other human being. I would take everything on a case-by-case basis. I wouldn’t kill someone for merely stepping on my property. However, I likely would if they broke in and started searching through my belongings.
But what happened today in New York does not fit my criteria. Killing police is okay only in defense of life and liberty. The officers were sitting in their vehicle, and did not pose an immediate threat to either of those.
I can, however, see what drove this individual to commit such an act.
The uneducated masses have not taken the movement against police corruption and brutality seriously. They do not view a problem with the system. They view America as the shining beacon of the world that they were taught since elementary school was the truth; injustices can never happen because America stands for justice. Police can’t be bad because I have never had a bad experience with police. And of course, if you just follow the law, everything will be fine. There is a huge flaw in this reasoning. The injustices we are protesting happened to individuals who were following the law (such as the case of John Crawford) or have had actions taken upon them that did not in anyway reflect the severity of the crime (such as Eric Garner, killed for selling loose cigarettes).
Prosecutor Bob McCulloch admitted that he knowingly allowed a witness to commit perjury to the Grand Jury who did not indict Darren Wilson. This witness was not at the scene, and Bob McCulloch admitted that he knew that but allowed her to testify anyway. This witness was a key witness to clearing Darren Wilson of any wrongdoing.
The uneducated masses see the movement as a joke. Some have made T-Shirts proclaiming, “I CAN Breathe, because I follow the law” in reference to Eric Garner’s last words. They have mocked the death of an innocent man. Law Enforcement Officers bought the shirts by the dozen, showing the world that police do not care about justice at all.
The Supreme Court stated in Olmstad v. United States, “Crime is contagious. If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.”
When justice is not applied equally, the government can expect violence. One can only take so much before they are pushed to their breaking point. When law enforcement officers are openly hostile to protesters, people of color, and the Constitution, the citizens will not stand by idly. Just as American Patriots have done in the late 1700s, people will begin to fight back against a system that they deem to be unjust.
If the system does not change, more actions like this will take place. This is only the beginning. Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.