Read on Twitter
1. Let me make one thing clear this morning. I know there are good cops in this country, and I have the greatest respect for them. I have several wonderful friends who are police officers who are not racist, who only want to serve and protect. But there can be no doubt
2... brutality and excessive force has been a problem for decades upon decades. 20 yrs ago, when I was a fellow in the Civil Rights Bureau of NYS Attorney General& #39;s Office, the bureau had created a huge report on the issue with suggestions for training to reduce unnecessary
3. excessive force. 20 yrs later, there& #39;s some improvement, but certainly not enough. Of course Blue Lives matter. There are some horrendously twisted criminals out there of all shades; and I am thankful we have officers willing to put their lives on the line to protect us.
4. Frank Serpico is one of my personal heroes. However, there has been another, long standing element throughout police history of U.S. policing that must be faced. At one point, the city of L.A. did outreach to hire brutal Mississippi police b/c they "knew how to handle blacks.
5 See Skolnick and Fyfe "Above the Law." At this point, in Oregon and other U.S. sectors, far right individuals, friendly to right wing extremists have been infiltrating P.D.s. This is an extremely dangerous situation that needs to be addressed.
This morning, a vehement person
This morning, a vehement person
6. on Twitter told me, "Look at the stats." I have stats in my mind going back to the 1980s, and there is a repeating pattern, with names that still bring tears to my eyes.
7. It is right to protest injustice. The right to free speech and freedom of assembly (w certain conditions) is protected under the U.S. Constitution. But violence and property damage is not protected. No one is supposed to be shot dead for property damage. However chaos leads
8 to impulsive acts on both sides. In order to be taken seriously, protestors must have the moral authority. And I do realize that the majority of the protestors out there are non-violent, law abiding citizens. But there are often some immature or selfish fools to take advantage
9. of a situation to self serve. Added to that, you have people such as Proud Boys, Boogaloo, the aholes in Oregon, whose title I don& #39;t momentarily recall, coming in to create havoc. This makes it extremely important for each legitimate protestor to conduct his or herself in an
10. admirable manner. Malcolm X& #39;s people had tremendous self discipline. That made them even scarier to those who opposed them. The SCLC and SNCC had tremendous self control, marching all through the south. My godfather, Mac Ford, marched with them. We have to remember that at
11. this point, the government has the big guns, really big. The only weapons ordinary citizens have to fight injustice is our character, our voices, educating others, and our vote. These are powerful tools, not available in places like China, Russia, Bylarus, Tibet, UAE, etc.
12. Let us use those tools to bring a clear message of why the protests exist. A warrior channels his/her emotion into positive, direct action. @AshleyJudd, I wrote this thread in response to a vehement entity that just joined Twitter in Sept. Thank you for all you do
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