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Robinson Meyer writes in The Atlantic that in the past year, after the killings of Michael Brown and Tamir Rice, many police departments and police reformists have agreed on the necessity of police-worn body cameras. But the most powerful cameras aren’t those on officer’s bodies but those wielded by bystanders. We don’t yet know who shot videos of officer officer, Michael T. Slager, shooting Walter Scott eight times as he runs away but "unknown cameramen and women lived out high democratic ideals: They watched a cop kill someone, shoot recklessly at someone running away, and they kept the camera trained on the cop," writes Robinson. "They were there, on an ordinary, hazy Saturday morning, and they chose to be courageous. They bore witness, at unknown risk to themselves."
“We have been talking about police brutality for years. And now, because of videos, we are seeing just how systemic and widespread it is,” tweeted Deray McKesson, an activist in Ferguson, after the videos emerged Tuesday night. “The videos over the past seven months have empowered us to ask deeper questions, to push more forcefully in confronting the system.” The process of ascertaining the truth of the world has to start somewhere. A video is one more assertion made about what is real concludes Robinson. "Today, through some unknown hero’s stubborn internal choice to witness instead of flee, to press record and to watch something terrible unfold, we have one more such assertion of reality."
Update: NBC News has identified the cameraman as Feidin Santana.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 08 2015, @11:47PM
Maybe they just target sketchy looking people wearing low hanging pants and wearing sideways hats hanging out on the corner in a sketchy neighborhood. It's just those people tend to be black.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Thursday April 09 2015, @12:05AM
You are presuming an awful lot. It is well known that whites' involvement with drugs on a percentage basis is slightly greater than that for Hispanics or African Americans. Yet every stat on arrest, trial, incarceration, and sentence length has shown that those who engage in illegal drug activity actually less than white people (minorities), getting arrested way more often, convicted way more often, convicted of harsher crimes, and doing a lot more time.
Yeah -- do I think the baggy pants sideways hat stuff looks ridiculous? Sure I do. But so did low-riders on women (muffin top) -- thank all the gods of the universe for those going out of fashion. Spring around a college campus is just so much more beautiful these days. But I digress ...
Suppose that for whatever reason the cops suddenly starting giving the loafers/dockers/pressed-shirt gangs a bit of extra scrutiny because you know, .... well I don't but they can make up some reason. Guess what -- all those middle managers would start to be the most represented in prison, not because they are any more likely to be involved in drugs than any other group, but because of the unfair scrutiny for dressing silly.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2015, @12:48AM
Great post. A white middle manager probably would hire a good lawyer too, which would probably result in a reduced sentence (if any).
Poor people go to jail
Middle class pays fines
Rich people get an apology
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2015, @01:04AM
Arguably, there is no point fining poor people who have no money.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2015, @03:05AM
In Country Club Hills, Missouri (a community whose residents obviously have no spare cash to blow on cotillions or golf tournaments) There Are 26 Open Warrants Per Citizen. [alternet.org]
-- gewg_
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 09 2015, @02:42PM
And yet, that's exactly what they do. [cbsnews.com]
(Score: 2) by tathra on Thursday April 09 2015, @05:49PM
and here i thought debtors prisons [wikipedia.org] were abolished more than a century ago.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anal Pumpernickel on Thursday April 09 2015, @12:59AM
Maybe government thugs shouldn't be harassing people for the way they chose to dress in the first place.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by rts008 on Thursday April 09 2015, @01:34AM
But!...But!...How will we distinguish 'them' from 'us'?!?!?! ;-)
(Score: 1) by RobC207 on Thursday April 09 2015, @04:56PM
Oh! that's an easy one. "They" reached for my weapon.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by t-3 on Thursday April 09 2015, @08:22AM
1. Fashion is no reason to arrest someone, let alone beat or kill them.
2. Baggy clothing is a style that comes from hand-me-downs, ie. people too poor to buy new sets of clothing wear those of their older relatives.
3. If you live in a "sketchy" neighborhood, would you really want to stand out from the crowd by dressing differently? Especially when dressing differently means buying more expensive clothing that is often not available in the area and prohibitively priced.
4. Your definition of sketchy targets black culture and fashion, which is racial profiling ie racism.