Why is THIS message so hard to understand?

There couldn't be a simpler, more direct

message in all of the incredibly frightening 

and disgusting murders of unarmed

civilians in recent years.

(Make no mistake: Cops murdering

innocents has been going on since their

inception, but we have visibility and 

awareness on our side now.)

But even with the act of raising hands high

to show surrender--and a lack of a 

weapon to even threaten with-- cops continue to 

be undeterred in their murder spree.

Time after time, with no remorse, we see cops

gunning down innocents and unarmed suspects

who are complying. With extreme force, with no

attempt at arrest, with great antagonism.

So we can safely say that there is no confusion

about the message of the issue. Cops have 

doubled down on the idea that they hold the

authority and power over us, and feel they can act 

however they want.

And of course that is certainly the message sent 

down by prosecutors, grand juries, judges,

and investigators. There is not even the pretense

of justice or punishment or accountability for

cops who murder civilians.

So maybe the people who need to change are us.

No more compliance. No more hands up.

No more passivity.

No more victimization.

And certainly, no more being without a 

weapon when walking the streets, so long

as the dangers of law enforcement lurk.

******

Being Visible

People often act as though I have no business even having

an opinion regarding police corruption. Of course, often those 

are the militant pro-cop individuals who attend church, think

conservatively, eat their veggies, clean their plate, and do

'everything' they're told. And, most unremarkable, they tend 

to be white-skinned folks. 

But we'll get into indoctrination and privilege another time!

Why am I so involved and concerned? Well, in part, it's because

I'm an activist and I care about injustice and corruption and lies

wherever they occur. Having a system in place that wrongfully

destroys people's lives on a whim is a pretty serious matter that

I think should have everyone upset and involved.

But beyond that, it's personal.

I have experienced first-hand over the past 35 years,

an inordinate amount of harm from law enforcement individuals.

I don't mean that in the course of breaking a law someone hurt my 

feelings, so jump that dismissive assault. I'm talking about being

harassed, intimidated, threatened, coerced, assaulted, falsely

arrested, and much more at the hands of law enforcement who 

were simply criminal thugs not interested in doing the job they 

signed up to do.

It's only natural that at least a small amount of the population 

of cops would turn out to be 'bad apples.' But this is far deeper 

than that. Much more than just a few 'isolated incidents,' as if \

the incidents apologists always refer to as 'isolated' makes them 

less despicable.

I'll be sharing my multitude of personal stories here, in order 

to illustrate the variance and depth of the problem. Let's just say

I'm lucky to be alive. And right now, in my small town I'm 

living in, I am very much at fear for my well-being and life

due to the outrageous corruption and deviancy of local

law enforcement and their dislike of me.

Yes, I have reasons for my deep distaste and distrust, although

I would hope that all of us would be concerned about the current state 

of things for no other reason than love of neighbor and country.

*****