Title quote written by Ralph Ellison in his work The Invisible Man. It captures this moment perfectly.
There is one simple truth this week has revealed.
If the law has no respect for the basic human dignity of all people it is not surprising people have no respect for the law.
The core injustice here is the murder of George Floyd while under arrest for a crime in which he was a suspect.
But the rage and violence stems from a failed and broken system that provides no justice.
Watching the press conference in Minnesota as I type this. Multiple people have asserted that they must complete a thorough and complete investigation before the arrest of the man filmed murdering George Floyd can be effected. According to them the only way to make a lawful arrest is to have a prosecutor review every single scrap of evidence, consider all of that evidence guessing at what the defenses case just might be. Every single possible detail must be reviewed before an arrest can be made.
George Floyd was only a suspect, he was arrested and murdered on camera. No prosecutor reviewed all of the evidence in his case before the arrest and subsequent murder occurred. The person that called in the passing of the counterfeit $20 also indicated George Floyd may well have not known he passed a fake bill by the way.
In the presser reported an untold number of people were placed under arrest over the last few days related to the protests and riots that have occurred. I seriously doubt a prosecutor has considered every single factor that occurred leading to those arrests before those arrests.
Hell, the police arrested a CNN reporter on live TV. I seriously doubt a prosecutor reviewed that case before the arrest was made.
Either cops are subject to the rule of law or they are not. In this case, as in so many others, it appears clearly they are not. So while I personally do not condone rioting and looting, I totally get it.
Really what we need to acknowledge is that our nation IS a police state. Police not bound by the rule of law the citizens are bound by is a clear sign of a police state. We aren’t becoming one, we are. Police are not subject to the same laws and treatment as the citizenry. We have seen them kill time and time again with zero consequence in almost every single case. And no, getting fired is not a consequence for murder.
We certainly do not have a functioning justice system. Until we do we should expect unrest and a total lack of respect for the law.
No Justice, No Peace.
The governor of Minnesota addressed the convergence of both crises occurring right now. Now is the time to CHANGE. We can’t wait any longer.