Alton Sterling and Philando Castile are two black males who were recently shot and killed by police officers. These two unrelated events sparked protests and in Dallas, one of them turned violent by a man named Micah Johnson. Johnson ended up shooting 12 police officers and 2 civilians and killing 5 officers.
We do not have all of the facts just yet but we do know that police had a very long stand-off with Michah that resulted in the police sending in a robot/drone loaded with C-4 explosives.
It appears that Michah has had some mental issues in his past and may have been influenced by groups or movements like Black Lives Matter, The Black Panthers, and other groups that speak of black nationalism. He certainly had a hatred of white cops. This seemed to have boiled over after the two shootings mentioned above.
On July 5th of this year, Alton Sterling was shot by police in Baton Rouge, LA. Police responded to complaints of him outside of a convenient store, selling CD's, and threatening people with a gun. The shooting was at close range and came after police tried to subdue him.
Initially, the media portrayed this man as a loving father who was unarmed and did nothing to get shot by police. However with a different video found here, you can see police do not have control over him, he was reaching for a gun they knew he had because of the prior reports, and it looks like the initial shots might not have been from the police officer's gun since we can't see a flash from the gun.
Gotnews was the first to report on who Sterling was. He happens to have an extensive police record, including charges of being a child sex offender. It looks as though this guy has done nothing but get into trouble since the age of 18 and if there are records prior, they are likely sealed.
We still cannot say for certain if this was a justified shooting because we the public are not the jury and we the public are not experts in police protocol. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if this guy had a record or not, police are going to have to justify their actions. The problem is, the media initially did not take the time to clarify the facts and groups like Black Lives Matter had taken this story and turned into a race/hate issue. They painted this man out to be unarmed and a "family man." We now know at least those parts of the story are garbage.
If the police are wrong, then there is no reason to sugar coat who this man was. They are either wrong or they are not wrong, but putting forth a full racist narrative without waiting for the complete picture of facts to emerge is just downright divisive and hateful.
The right wing media tends to be a bit more cautious but they are falling for the trap that has been building up the last few years. It is because of all the bogus narratives that have been reported prior that the right has now automatically resorted to calling everything bullsh!t. This can be just as dangerous and divisive.
The other shooting involving Philando Castile occurred in St. Paul, MN on July 6rh of this year. Cops had pulled him over and he was riding with his girlfriend. Some time after he was shot, this girlfriend, Lavish “Diamond” Reynolds, decided to live stream on Facebook. She said a number of different things. Being unusually calm, she said the cops pulled them over for a taillight and that Castile was reaching for his concealed carry license when the cop shot him. They also had a little weed. You can hear the police officer say that he told him to not reach for anything.
As of writing this, it is now being stated that these two were not pulled over for a taillight. Castile was pulled over because he matched the description of a suspect in a robbery that had occurred on July 2nd near that same area. There does seem to be a call on the police scanner that confirms this but the policeman said he recognized a "wide-set nose." Well, that doesn't really narrow anything down and it does seem like a very weak excuse for pulling them over.
Unlike Sterling, Castile seemed to be a bit more clean but he did have numerous run-ins with the law. The mainstream media is trying to report these instances as being benign traffic violations but let's keep in mind there are at least 55 of these violations and many of them involve having no insurance. Having no insurance IS a serious crime and there are too many victims including myself that have had the misfortune of dealing with the leftover damage as a result of these irresponsible people. Apparently, he was punished but, nothing seemed to deter him since he also has multiple infractions involving driving without a license. I fail to see why we should not take this seriously.
There is only one source reporting that Castile did have a licence to carry a concealed gun but, the article merely says "a source" and doesn't confirm if this source is police or just a friend of Castile. Other sources are saying that he did not have a permit to carry a weapon and to be honest, a guy who cannot obey the law by carrying basic insurance and stop driving when his license is taken away, doesn't seem like the type of person who would be interested in obtaining a permit to carry his firearm. Carrying a weapon isn't so much of a problem; we all should have the right to protect ourselves but it's interesting how the mainstream media is rushing to just take the word of this girlfriend and automatically report he had a permit to carry. The reality is, we just don't know. We will not know for quite some time I'm sure.
Here again, we have the media portraying this man as just some average guy with a few regular traffic violations, but why? I don't know ANY regular guys who have been issued 55 traffic violations. I don't know ANY average person who continues to drive when his license has been taken away. This is NOT average and it shouldn't be casually accepted as such. The fact that he's had so many run-ins with the law shows that they have not been out to "kill him." If anything, his record shows the police and the court system has been more than patient with him. His drug offenses seemed to have been all dismissed and it looks to be that way because he only was carrying a small amount of marijuana. It seems to me the law has been more than generous with him and he obviously felt that once again, he could just get away with something else. His record clearly shows a man who has never learned to respect authority.
Now, I'm not saying the cop was justified because quite frankly I do not know. As it appears of writing this, it looks the cop was too anxious and if that's the case, he will pay for his crime, as he should. Police should only use their guns if it's necessary but, as I said before, I'm saying this as a person behind a keyboard, writing on a blog. I'm not a police officer. I'm not going to be called for jury duty. This case, along with all others, deserves to be heard in a court of law. The media on both sides seem to be engaging in vigilante justice, or at least encouraging it and as a result, people are taking things into their own hands.
These sensationalized reports bring us to the shooting in Dallas.
As of writing this, I see yet another tragedy has occurred:
Tyler Gebhard was killed Saturday in St. Louis after trying to break into a police officer’s home.
Gebhard had argued with the cop about Black Lives Matter on Facebook. The unidentified cop and Gebhard knew each other through church.It is clear the media is feeding this and a lot of people who take this stuff in live in echo-chambers. They are not listening to anyone or any other opinion that differs from their own. Each extreme side has resorted to calling the other side racist. They take information in and do so without questioning or without cautiously stopping and thinking, "Well, is there another version of this story? Which one makes sense or which one is 'in the middle?'"
Black Lives Matter is saying that they do believe all lives matter but they are focusing on black lives because that's who is being currently affected. The other side is saying all lives matter because they feel the "black" part is exclusive and we should all consider ourselves equal - especially in the year 2016. So, let's take these comments for what they are and try our hardest not to frame them in the worst possible light, no matter which "side" of the coin we are on. I understand that can be hard to do; nobody said life was easy.
We must refrain from passing off blame to various communities or parts of communities. Personal responsibility must not be lost in this conversation. We also must confront the very important question for all of us, no matter what race- what is going on where anyone finds things like 55 traffic violations to be "minor" or considering a lifelong criminal, likely belonging to a gang, also be considered a nice, loving father just "trying to turn his life around" (even though he was just arrested 3 weeks prior)? My goodness, this is not okay. Those behaviors are reckless and selfish. Leading that type of lifestyle would be very difficult. Each violation only puts more roadblocks in a person's life and impedes their ability to lift themselves up from crime altogether. A good father should be defined as one who stays out of trouble and offers a good example for his children.
The issue here is much deeper. We have a moral erosion that has taken root and not just among blacks. All communities are experiencing this. I'm not exactly sure the answer will be a "one-size-fits-all" solution. I do know that rather than pointing fingers, we have to encourage ourselves, as individuals, to adhere to higher standards. Change begins with the individual and in turn, works its way outward. Do not wait for someone to lead you. Lead yourself.
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