In yet another case of cops caught on tape, two Ohio sheriff’s deputies were recorded mocking the death of Trayvon Martin and suggesting a “business venture” of portable crosses that could be easily transported and burned in (black, obviously) neighborhoods. The recordings came to light earlier this year as part of a lawsuit against Hocking County’s sheriff and other local officials.
In two conversations surreptitiously recorded by another deputy, the n-word was spoken eight times. [...]
The discussions were recorded in 2013 and involved the 2012 fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black teen, in Sanford, Florida, by resident George Zimmerman — an incident that remains in the news after Zimmerman this month sought to auction the gun he used to kill the teen.
"We should make a little money," Allison said on the tape. "They ought to pay us to burn crosses in neighborhoods. We could sell portable crosses, like have a wood cross with the base so you could just stand it in the yard instead of like having to dig a hole for it. It could have like firestarter chunks built into it." The remarks were followed by laughter.
Such behavior, of course is not surprising. Not after San Francisco, Cleveland, and other cities and public servants. Surprised? No—there’s not even outrage to tell the truth. Concern would probably be a better response. Concern about attitudes such as this one from Hocking County Sheriff Lanny North, who oversees deputies such as Patrick Allison and Edwin Downs:
"They're human and they have the right to express their freedom of speech, but there's a time and place to do that but the time and place is not in the office in uniform," the sheriff said.
Actually, um, Sheriff North? The time and the place to express it ain’t outside of the office or the uniform, either.
Police officers are allowed the power of life and death over the average citizen. They also enjoy the benefit of the doubt in greater deference than possibly any other profession on this earth. To give an individual such power, then throw in the “they’re human like you and me” argument is more than unfair—it’s downright nefarious. It has no business whatsoever being in any proximity to an institution that holds power over the lives of historically oppressed and marginalized groups of people.
None whatsoever.