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A few thoughts on #GeorgeFloyd.
1) This case is an excellent example of why "qualified immunity," which keeps many civil rights violations by public officials from being prosecuted, should end: https://theweek.com/articles/859853/how-police-protect-themselves-from-prosecution
1) This case is an excellent example of why "qualified immunity," which keeps many civil rights violations by public officials from being prosecuted, should end: https://theweek.com/articles/859853/how-police-protect-themselves-from-prosecution
1b) Some potentially good news on that front: SCOTUS is currently considering whether to hear 10 challenges to qualified immunity: https://www.cato.org/blog/qualified-immunity-back-weeks-scotus-conference
2) Early reports said police were responding to a call about a forgery in progress. The actual accusation against Floyd was attempting to spend a fake $20 bill, neither a violent crime nor an imminent threat to public safety: https://www.startribune.com/mpls-police-marchers-clash-over-man-s-death-in-custody/570763352/?refresh=true
2b) We should think about these cases every time we want to make something illegal. This 2014 piece making this point in connection to Eric Garner is essential reading: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2014-12-04/law-puts-us-all-in-same-danger-as-eric-garner
3) Here we have a case of bystanders objecting to police violence in real time.
There's no, "Oh, they got caught up in the fear and chaos. They didn't realize what they were doing until it was too late."
People told them what they were doing as they did it.
There's no, "Oh, they got caught up in the fear and chaos. They didn't realize what they were doing until it was too late."
People told them what they were doing as they did it.
3b) On-duty police deaths have been trending down for years, both in absolute numbers and proportionate to population growth: https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/8/13/17938238/police-officer-on-duty-deaths-killings
3c) Yet unreasonable fear is a major contributor to police violence, especially involving black men: https://time.com/5840195/ahmaud-arbery-violence-against-black-men/
3d) And too often this paranoia is accepted as a legitimate defense! https://reason.com/2018/04/09/if-police-kill-because-citizens-are-afra/
3e) Police training is a contributing factor here, as this former police officer explains: https://medium.com/s/story/fearing-for-our-lives-82ad7eb7d75f
4) None of this is new. A lot of the links in this thread are several years old. They're not about George Floyd. They're about other victims of police violence, mostly other black men. It's hard to know what to say now that hasn't been said before: https://mobile.twitter.com/thEMANacho/status/1265434414990966788
4b) And as I wrote in 2016 in conversation with @austinchanning, @BlanksSlate, & @MsPackyetti, that pattern is exactly the issue. George Floyd's death is one boom in a problem that constantly hums along at a dull roar: https://theweek.com/articles/597750/what-take-white-americans-distrust-police
