Someone emailed me today asking if I think that the verdict might at least save some lives, by creating hesitation among some police who don't want to go to prison themselves. I told them the truth, that I believe the police will take more lives in retaliation.

The police see themselves as fighting for their way of life, their very role in society. The community is their permanent adversary. They are not part of it. They exist in opposition to it. They are not sacrificing their power over the people who are subject to their will.

They may be smarter about it in some cases (mostly they won't bother to be any smarter tbh), but they will assert themselves violently. It's what they do. Police are predictable, not simply based on the history of policing, but based on the history of white supremacist violence.

Police are incredibly well insulated in their violence. Look what it took in this case, in terms evidence, and also rebellion, to get one held legally responsible for murder. Decades of reform have created a very orderly, legally viable and socially accepted system of impunity.

The cops are not disempowered in any way. In D.C., officials are saying privately they feel less pressured to make changes now, in the wake of the verdict. But that won't matter. White supremacists lash out when they feel the order of things has been disrupted.

So my answer is that I expect retaliation, and that I am afraid for Black folks, Native people, disabled people, protesters, and other fave targets of police, bc history and the nature of police tell me that I should be. So I hope people are aware and as careful as they can be.