3770 Freakin' out here. Part Two.

Friday, October 4, 2013

"Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the thought is staggering."

--R. Buckminster Fuller--

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There was the very old, bedridden guy, maybe a year ago, whose daughter thought he was dying and wanted him to go to the hospital, so she called an ambulance.  But the old guy didn't want to go, and got angry at the EMTs.  EMTs are not allowed to get physical, so they called the police for assistance.  The police arrived.  The old guy still refused to be taken from his bed, and swore at the police and waved his feeble arms around, so they shot him dead.

There was the man who answered pounding at his door to find the police demanding to be let in.  They were looking for some guy, who actually lived two houses up or something.  Wrong address.  The police demanded to come in to search anyway.  The man exercised his right to refuse them entry.  He stood in the doorway with one hand on the door frame, the other on the door, his foot braced against the door preventing it from opening, so they shot him dead.

There was the guy a few weeks ago who was staggering around in the middle of the street, obviously deranged, obstructing traffic, and ignoring police who told him to get out of the street, so they shot him dead.

There was a guy last week who had gone off the road and wrecked his car, and was running down the road looking for help when he saw a police car, so he ran up to the car shouting and waving his arms, so they shot him dead.

And in between all those are countless examples of absolutely innocent and unarmed people reaching into pockets for cell phones or id, or holding wallets or phones in their hands, getting shot dead by police who, well, not so much "jumped the gun" as jumped for the gun.

What the Hell is going on?  I used to have enormous respect for the police.  When my daughter was small I told her many times that if she ever was in trouble, or lost, or needed help, to find a police officer, and he or she would help her and keep her safe.

I'm not so sure of that any more.

Maybe Daughter does have some measure of protection from the police.  Unlike in every one of the incidents  above, Daughter is white.
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