I already had an idea of what it would show, yet, I clicked it anyway. I wanted to see if the video was liberal witch-hunting. I wanted to see if it was the type of video with a sensational headline but displays a complex situation in which a man who happens to be black is killed, and the actions that led to his death skirted the gray area. By gray area I mean the police could have defused the situation but in killing the man you and I as observers can understand their choice in the heat of the moment.
After clicking the front page link, I was greeted by the title "Family Of Jason Harrison, Mentally Ill Black Man Killed By Dallas Police, Release Graphic Video"
I gave it a second thought, maybe I shouldn't watch, again — I already had an idea of what I would see, yet, I wanted to watched because there is nothing like seeing for yourself. Then I thought, read the article first, maybe context can be gained.
I read the first paragraph:
(Reuters) - The family of a mentally ill African-American man who was shot dead by Dallas police last summer has released footage from an officer's body camera that recorded the incident, the Dallas Morning News reported on Monday.
No need to read more. The officers knew they were being recorded, I'll take in the video and form my opinion. Below is the video should you choose to view it.
After watching the video, I thought, damn, any hope that it wouldn't happen in the fashion that actually occurred was gone. Gray area — nah, this was simple and clear-cut:
- The police could have defused the situation.
- The police could have taken the man down using physical force.
- The police could have wounded the man to hinder any advances against them.
* For those that chose not to watch the video, Jason was shot five times, he was holding a clearly visible screwdriver, and during the video he exits from the front doorway in the officers direction. He could have been following his mother or approaching the officers.
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Another American, another man, another son, DEAD, SHOT BY POLICE OFFICERS. Here is the thing, we already knew this was going on, yet.
We already know that police officers rough up criminals and sometimes innocent people mistaken for criminals. We see officers and detectives "rough up" on TV, in movies, and it's witnessed live in some neighborhoods. Maybe we even expect and like it. There is no sympathy for a criminal, their criminals, and shouldn't be committing crime anyway. Ultimately, we know the someone is going to step in, "Hey, hey, enough, he's learned his lesson." Or as seen in the popular TV show Law and Order: SVU (dude had it coming?):
We already know that police officers may have to kill, and because the men and women who choose to serve put there lives on the line everyday to maintain law and order they are to be given the benefit of reasonable doubt even when there is not an logical explanation for what occurred. The leeway is because they are human too and mistakes will happen as they act on behalf of public safety.
The video released by the family of Jason Harrison — recorded by body camera's, this horrendous example of policing gone wrong in Dallas, Texas is what the protests in Ferguson are about. The Ferguson protests started in part based on lies and misinformation and in part based on mismanagement of the situation by officials and citizens. The protests persist because events like what happened to Jason Harrison persist.
I haven't read the DOJ report on Ferguson, but an author I trust reported:
The investigation concluded that there was no evidence to contradict Wilson's claim that Brown reached for his gun. The investigation concluded that Wilson did not shoot Brown in the back. That he did not shoot Brown as he was running away. That Brown did stop and turn toward Wilson. That in those next moments "several witnesses stated that Brown appeared to pose a physical threat to Wilson." That claims that Brown had his hands up "in an unambiguous sign of surrender" are not supported by the "physical and forensic evidence," and are sometimes, "materially inconsistent with that witness’s own prior statements with no explanation, credible for otherwise, as to why those accounts changed over time."
Unlike the local investigators, the Justice Department did not merely toss all evidence before a grand jury and say, "you figure it out." The federal investigators did the work themselves and came to the conclusion that Officer Wilson had not committed "prosecutable violations under the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute, 18 U.S.C. § 242."
Our system, ideally, neither catches every single offender, nor lightly imposes the prosecution, jailing, and fining of its citizens. A high burden of proof should attend any attempt to strip away one's liberties. The Justice Department investigation reflects a department attempting to live up to those ideals and giving Officer Wilson the due process that he, and anyone else falling under our legal system, deserves.
Police on the force — Chief of Police to the rookie cop, Sheriffs, State Troopers, you need to fix this before a tipping point is reached. I have the utmost respect for police officers. In September of 2014 I wrote these words that ring true for me today:
I rely on myself for my safety and well being, when I can’t protect myself or the situation is beyond my ability to resolve I’m calling the police for help. The police are a civil force that’s responsible for the prevention and detection of crime, and the maintenance of public order. We — the people — are not subservient to the police. A police officer killing an individual must never be viewed as routine. Are there “bad cops” on the force, no matter how you define “bad cop” the answer is yes; are all cops “bad cops” the answer is no. The idea that policing is immune to racism is impracticable, and the notion that officers of the law are the enemy of the people lacks common sense. Police are charged with our safety. Beyond that, there are lots of shouldn’t, should’ve, and could’ve, and couldn’t that occur between citizens and police officers. It is what it is, and we — the people — must never be satisfied with sub-par service from the civil force that has sworn to protect and serve.
My fellow citizens, we need to fix this before a tipping point is reached. A friend of mine stated:
This (officers unjustifiably killing citizens) has been going on, it's just now the Internet is shining light on it.
I reject that there was no light before. I've reached the conclusion that we already knew, and, the vast majority in legal positions of authority to do something about it chose to accept it. The vast majority of those without legal authority, but had moral authority and influence chose to accept it. The vast majority of those without legal authority or influence alone, didn't come together to exercise strength in numbers because it wasn't happening repeatedly to their tribe, their class, or their gender. And for those that truly didn't know, "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise."
Campus rape is not a new phenomenon. Agree or disagree? If you've chosen to accept campus rape as something we have to live with you may have answered similar to:
- Disagree, campus rape is new and it didn't happen back in the day
- Agree, but it won't happen to my daughter
- Agree, but if women would stop wearing yoga pants and tight clothing...
- I don't have a daughter and don't care
- Agree, but I'll teach my daughter how to avoid situations in which she can be raped
- Agree, but if college weren't coed it wouldn't be a problem
- Agree, it's been happening, nothing was done because nobody knew, but now the Internet is helping to shine a light on it
You and your family first. Take care of home. Focus on being a productive member of society and raising your children to do the same.
Your circle of influence first. Engage your circle, and encourage your circle to engage theirs.
Do not accept or promote unacceptable behavior.
Avoid the show them mentality; focus on showing yourself. You don’t need my approval, and you don’t need his or her approval. You don’t need to show people anything. You want to make your mark on the world, make your mark because you want to show yourself that you can. Make your mark because you want to be an example for others to follow. If proving people wrong or “showing them” is a motivator for you, use it as you must, but don’t lose sight of the real reason, which is to show yourself.
Allow people to be people and believe them when they show you who they are.
Do you.
Engage on issues that are important to you within the means available to you based on your situation and resources.
I still feel the list is worthy of consideration for engagement in our society and at best a starting point for someone seeking to foster change.
The vast majority of us are either too busy surviving, too detached, too numb, too unbelieving, too righteous toward extremes — every killing is abuse of power or every killing is justified no matter how irrational/ every man accused of rape is guilty or every woman crying rape led him on, and the list of too goes on and on and on, and I've come to realize, we already knew, yet.
Well, we need all hands on deck and on the side of what is morally good, fair, and ethical. Watching the death of Jason Harrison is the example that led me to share my view, but there are plenty of issues to choose from in the world to make the case that too many of us are silent and accepting in general. So silent that we sometimes don't vote which tends to cost little other than time and one of our most powerful tools of influence. I could go on and on, but you already know, yet...well that's up to you and I.
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