By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Politics Discussion - Officer in Georgia says to woman during traffic stop: "We only kill black people"

Tulipanzo said:

I'm suggesting that if a cop is aware of the news reporting and public mood on police brutality he ought to have the common sense not to joke about it.
Not that I would expect what seems to be a stereotypical BLM-hating, police brutality denying ignorant commenter to understand this.
I guess the problem, once again, is the evil media reporting on what people have said and done

When did I deny police brutality? When did I hate on BLM? What am I ignorant of? What 'seems' and what 'is' are two completely different things. Funny you brought up ignorance.



Around the Network

Facetious: intentionally applying inappropriate humor to a serious situation or topic.

As ridiculous as his words were, it wasn't some outright admission of "Yes, we kill black people"; it was him making an inappropriate response to her comments about what she's seen in police footage, by saying "but they only show us killing black people, so you're good".

In a way, he was defending himself and police everywhere; just went about a really shitty way of doing it.

Honestly though, I don't think it warranted being fired. The people who perceive police in such a way are going to continue to do so, no matter what. He should've just been suspended without pay for a bit, maybe make a public apology or some nonsense, and then everything goes back to business as usual.



0331 Happiness is a belt-fed weapon

burninmylight said:
Soundwave said:

Probably easy to feel this way when you've never been put in a position where a routine situation could lead to you getting shot. 

That dude who was choked to death by several officers for selling CDs on a street corner or the kid that was shot to death for wearing a hoodie while walking home or that other dude who was shot to death like 8 times in front of his daughter while simply reaching for his papers ... yeah if that happened to people who speicifically looked exactly like you, I imagine you might have a different POV in that scenario. 

It's very easy to say until you've been put in a position where a routine situation almost leads to you getting shot.

In the Fall of 2009, I was on my way from Tulsa to Oklahoma State in Stillwater with my girlfriend in the passenger seat and one of our friends in the back. We are all minorities. I got pulled over in Mannford for doing about 70 or 75 in a 55 mph thanks to a fucking speed trap that these backwater, podunk towns are known for where the speed limit can drastically drop in the blink of an eye.

So I pull over, I'm reaching for my wallet to get my license, I already have my window rolled down, and the next thing you know, two officers run up to each front window and point pistols right between our eyes and shout out us to put our guns down. I remember imagining my head getting blown off and imagining those two getting riddled with bullets for no fucking reason, and I just froze in place for what seemed like an eternity. My wallet was in my right side pocket and I was using my left hand to reach for it, and when I stopped being shocked enough to actually listen to the officer shouting at me, I told him what I was doing and that we don't have weapons, and that I was scared to move my hand for fear that he would shoot me.

He told me to slowly put my hands on the steering wheel, so I did. The other officer made her put her hands on top of the dashboard and our friend's hands in the air. They made us get out of the car one at a time, they patted us down, and then made us get behind it on our knees with our hands behind our heads, and remain there while they searched the car for guns and drugs, all the while we're staring down the barrell of guns pointed at us the whole time. They radioed for another car to come with a dog to smell for guns and drugs, all the while telling me that if I am hiding any, I better tell them now or suffer the consequences later. I keep telling them that they can search a thousand times and find nothing, and asking them to please stop pointing their guns at my friends. I can't remember why they said no, because all that mattered to me at the moment was that they wouldn't, and all that was running through my head was the image of them and myself getting shot  for no fucking reason.

I'm going to spare all of the details because I've already made a giant wall of text, but we were on the side of that road for about an hour and a half, They eventually let us get off of our knees, and eventually stopped pointing guns at us. And they eventually told us their reasoning: they claimed that when I was pulling over to the side of the road, my friend in the back was scurrying to put on his seatbelt, and the silver buckle of the seatbelt looked like it could have been a gun from their point-of-view, so they couldn't take any chances. I could have been Trayvon Martin or Terrance Crutcher, or that guy in Baltimore over a fucking seatbelt. If I would have jumped when my hand was in my pocket, I and two other innocent college kids would have died over a fucking seatbelt. Want to know the irony in that? If you're 12 or older in the Oklahoma, you don't need your seatbelt on in the backseat; it's optional.

So if you've managed to read this far, I hope you can understand why I personally get a bit uneasy around an armed police officer, especially when I get pulled over (and if you want to hear more bullshit reasons for me getting pulled over, let me know. I have more). And I hope you can understand why an officer making such racist jokes isn't funny to someone like myself, no matter the context. I know it's personal and highly anecdotal, but you're delusional if you think this type of thing doesn't happen to people who look like me every single day.

Yet you simply boil this down to race?  I've had the same fucking thing happen.  I'm white, very white.  Explain that?  Please. This isn't a racial issue.  Did you ever stop to think that your friend in the backseat WAS scurrying around and looking suspicious?  You fidget around where a cop can't see while pulled over?  Yep, they have to be defensive for their own safety as well. 

The joke the cop made wasn't racist, it was a sarcastic statement to the inane lunacy of the person (Who was white) whom he had pulled over.  It wasn't a publicly broadcasted comment (or meant to be), it was pure sarcasm to de-escalate the lunacy of the person he's dealing with.  

Stop living your world with some victim complex and start living with your eyes open.  Nobody is out to get you. 



A_C_E said:
d21lewis said:

 

Just answer me this one question: How can someone (in any walk of life/country), who is disabled in many ways, outclass someone much more capable than them? Americans and Canadians...it's almost as if too many of us are too comfortable with living a life that doesn't reflect our capacities.


We're all just mice chasing the same piece of cheese.

 

I my case, I wasn't ever a "straight A" student. I just went from terrible job to terrible job and when I got hired, my personality would allow me to move up. Then I'd move on to a better job. Never backwards. Always forward and better. I had a lot of positive people surrounding me and a lot of luck.

 

As for anyone else, I could only guess why they do or do not find success. I see it too. Time and time again, people are even able to come from another country, not even able to speak the native language and still thrive. They own their own businesses etc. I WISH I knew how they did it. At the same time I see people who, on paper, should be doing better than I am but are not. I don't have the answer.



d21lewis said:

We're all just mice chasing the same piece of cheese.

I my case, I wasn't ever a "straight A" student. I just went from terrible job to terrible job and when I got hired, my personality would allow me to move up. Then I'd move on to a better job. Never backwards. Always forward and better. I had a lot of positive people surrounding me and a lot of luck.

As for anyone else, I could only guess why they do or do not find success. I see it too. Time and time again, people are even able to come from another country, not even able to speak the native language and still thrive. They own their own businesses etc. I WISH I knew how they did it. At the same time I see people who, on paper, should be doing better than I am but are not. I don't have the answer.

Neither do I. All we can do is assess a situation and give our best guess, right? But we always have choices to make whether it's to do better, do worse, or just stagnate. Our abilities and capacity are built on advantageous circimstances yet most will not take advantage of what life has to offer. For some it is easier to do nothing, for others it is harder to do nothing.



Around the Network
A_C_E said:
Tulipanzo said:

I'm suggesting that if a cop is aware of the news reporting and public mood on police brutality he ought to have the common sense not to joke about it.
Not that I would expect what seems to be a stereotypical BLM-hating, police brutality denying ignorant commenter to understand this.
I guess the problem, once again, is the evil media reporting on what people have said and done

When did I deny police brutality? When did I hate on BLM? What am I ignorant of? What 'seems' and what 'is' are two completely different things. Funny you brought up ignorance.

Funny how you didn't quote your answer when saying I misinterpreted it. 
Here it is: 


A_C_E said:

Are you suggesting cops aren't aware of things like Black Lives Matter? Or that cops aren't aware of the news coverage of anything that involves a police officer killing a black man and the news media/public blowing it out of propoprtion as if to say police disproportionately kill black people? Cops are people too, and I'm pretty sure they have the ability to read and listen to the news and outcries of the general public! The cop is clearly being sarcastic. Lets put your brain to the test and see if you are able to figure this out.

 

You sure make it sound like reports are exaggerated, "blown out of proportion".
While you're not denying that police brutality happens, you're stating that it's not as bad as it seems.
You are at the very least, denying the scale of the problem, if not the problem itself, which is a really fine line to walk.

As for the Black Lives Matter part, I didn't realize you were a BLM supporter! 
In the context of your comment it seemed like you were implying they were involved in exaggerating the threat of police brutality, which is obviously ignorant nonsense.
I apologize for that and will edit my comment accordingly



Tulipanzo said:

Funny how you didn't quote your answer when saying I misinterpreted it. 
Here it is: 

You sure make it sound like reports are exaggerated, "blown out of proportion".
While you're not denying that police brutality happens, you're stating that it's not as bad as it seems.
You are at the very least, denying the scale of the problem, if not the problem itself, which is a really fine line to walk.

As for the Black Lives Matter part, I didn't realize you were a BLM supporter! 
In the context of your comment it seemed like you were implying they were involved in exaggerating the threat of police brutality, which is obviously ignorant nonsense.
I apologize for that and will edit my comment accordingly

What is so funny about me not quoting my answer? What, you think I was just making that up? pfff, it's all still there, lol. As you will see, you continue to misrepresent what I am saying and please don't think I won't exploit you doing so. Examples below.

I did not make it seem like the reports themselves are exaggerated, I said the media/public blow the reports out of proportion.

I did not say police brutality is not as bad as it seems. It is what it is. I was referencing the fact that people will take single/multiple incidents and apply it to the police force banner as if to say all policemen are bad, effectively blowing it out of proportion.

and umm what? When did I say I was a BLM supporter?

So as you can see you are not getting the clear message of my words nor the context of my words. Or you are getting the message and context but choosing to purposely misrepresent what I'm saying. Either way...



A_C_E said:

What is so funny about me not quoting my answer? What, you think I was just making that up? pfff, it's all still there, lol. As you will see, you continue to misrepresent what I am saying and please don't think I won't exploit you doing so. Examples below.

I did not make it seem like the reports themselves are exaggerated, I said the media/public blow the reports out of proportion.

I did not say police brutality is not as bad as it seems. It is what it is. I was referencing the fact that people will take single/multiple incidents and apply it to the police force banner as if to say all policemen are bad, effectively blowing it out of proportion.

and umm what? When did I say I was a BLM supporter?

So as you can see you are not getting the clear message of my words nor the context of my words. Or you are getting the message and context but choosing to purposely misrepresent what I'm saying. Either way...

Well, the media are the ones reporting the facts, yet after three answers to my comment you still refuse to clarify in what way they are misrepresenting anything. You are not exactly making your position clear when you make baseless statements.

As for Black Lives Matter, I'm sorry, but if you say that police brutality does happen, that it does affect people of color, and that you don't hate them, how exactly are you not a supporter. You are pretty much in total agreement.

By this point you should have realized, I am clearly being sarcastic. Which, as we know, is justification enough to say whatever I want.
Still, I'll explain: you have repeteadly told me that I'm misunderstanding your views, while you blatantly refuse to state what those views are. 
If I'm to look at your original comment, you are peddling the same "lying media" rubbish that any other Trump supporter would.
If you are not going to justify your position, don't complain when people lump you with idiots.


To get back to the topic, no, there is no justifiable context for a cop to joke about "killing black people". 



Tulipanzo said:

Well, the media are the ones reporting the facts, yet after three answers to my comment you still refuse to clarify in what way they are misrepresenting anything. You are not exactly making your position clear when you make baseless statements.

As for Black Lives Matter, I'm sorry, but if you say that police brutality does happen, that it does affect people of color, and that you don't hate them, how exactly are you not a supporter. You are pretty much in total agreement.

By this point you should have realized, I am clearly being sarcastic. Which, as we know, is justification enough to say whatever I want.
Still, I'll explain: you have repeteadly told me that I'm misunderstanding your views, while you blatantly refuse to state what those views are. 
If I'm to look at your original comment, you are peddling the same "lying media" rubbish that any other Trump supporter would.
If you are not going to justify your position, don't complain when people lump you with idiots.

To get back to the topic, no, there is no justifiable context for a cop to joke about "killing black people". 

The media are the one's reporting fact's? Oh that's too cute. How then, do two different media outlets, CNN/Fox News, consistently come to different conclusions while having the same reports and informing people on the same events? They both must be right! lol, you really are uneducated in the world of business, aren't you?

I'm not saying the media is a lying machine, I'm saying it is a business that glorifies certain headlines/hot topics in order to get views and gain support from an audience that have the same views.

I'm not in agreement with the vast amounts of people who advocate for BLM due to their incredibly questionable efforts and the general stupidity that goes along with their actions as a result of not paying attention to the actual reality of the police brutality situation. As for BLM itself, I don't have anything against the movement but I would never support something that didn't represent reality, I'll leave those spots open for people like you.

I'm very sorry you don't get where my position is on these matters when others I have spoken to do get what I am saying. Some people just aren't as quick with it as others I guess. Read slower next time.



A_C_E said:
Tulipanzo said:

Well, the media are the ones reporting the facts, yet after three answers to my comment you still refuse to clarify in what way they are misrepresenting anything. You are not exactly making your position clear when you make baseless statements.

As for Black Lives Matter, I'm sorry, but if you say that police brutality does happen, that it does affect people of color, and that you don't hate them, how exactly are you not a supporter. You are pretty much in total agreement.

By this point you should have realized, I am clearly being sarcastic. Which, as we know, is justification enough to say whatever I want.
Still, I'll explain: you have repeteadly told me that I'm misunderstanding your views, while you blatantly refuse to state what those views are. 
If I'm to look at your original comment, you are peddling the same "lying media" rubbish that any other Trump supporter would.
If you are not going to justify your position, don't complain when people lump you with idiots.

To get back to the topic, no, there is no justifiable context for a cop to joke about "killing black people". 

The media are the one's reporting fact's? Oh that's too cute. How then, do two different media outlets, CNN/Fox News, consistently come to different conclusions while having the same reports and informing people on the same events? They both must be right! lol, you really are uneducated in the world of business, aren't you?

I'm not saying the media is a lying machine, I'm saying it is a business that glorifies certain headlines/hot topics in order to get views and gain support from an audience that have the same views.

I'm not in agreement with the vast amounts of people who advocate for BLM due to their incredibly questionable efforts and the general stupidity that goes along with their actions as a result of not paying attention to the actual reality of the police brutality situation. As for BLM itself, I don't have anything against the movement but I would never support something that didn't represent reality, I'll leave those spots open for people like you.

I'm very sorry you don't get where my position is on these matters when others I have spoken to do get what I am saying. Some people just aren't as quick with it as others I guess. Read slower next time.

Ok, let's talk misrepresenting views.
In saying "the media reports the fact" I was commenting on how you claim they are somehow blowing this out of proportion.
When I say "the facts", I mean police brutality, something you also claim is happening and being reported. You seem to have trouble with context.
I never claimed that reporting couldn't be politicized, I asked in what way, given the facts, they were being politicized.
You still haven't answered.

As would be expected by now, your position, as it is finally revealed, is based on a fundamental ignorance of the basic facts, topped with a nice ad-hominem.
You don't deny police brutality, yet it's blown out of proportion by media outlets, which you haven't bothered to name, in a way you haven't bothered to explain, with consequence you haven't bothered to list. 
You don't hate BLM, but their efforts are questionable, their actions stupid, and they don't represent reality.

I'd have to disagree with you.
My assesment of your position was correct: you are a stereotypical BLM hating, police brutality denying ignorant commenter; you just don't like being called out on it.
Well, pretend I was being sarcastic. Good day