Police Keep Proving America Is Right About Police Brutality
Police brutality is the longest-running epidemic in American history and police escalations of protests provide us a window on just how bad it is.
In a recent incident of citizen-documented police brutality, two Buffalo, NY police officers were suspended and charged with felony assault for shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground leaving him unconscious and bleeding out of his ears. When an officer stepped in to provide aid, his commanding officer instructed him to leave the man on the ground — leaving him in serious condition.
Out of the dozens of officers at the scene, none provided aid. Initial reports from the Buffalo Police Department stated that the man tripped and fell. As with the cases of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, if not for the video provided by a third-party, this could have been another case of police brutality without consequence. This occurs many times a day in cities across America.
It’s not uncommon for officers accused of misconduct to continue collecting a check from taxpayers as their actions are under investigation either. The officers who failed to render aid do not appear to be at risk of suffering any consequences. 57 of them have stepped down from their positions in their squad in solidarity with the two offending cops. In doing so, they are showing America the inherent “us versus them” culture of American policing.
In Florida, a police officer who knocked over a seated protester during a peaceful protest has been reviewed by internal affairs for using force 79 times in his three-and-half years on the force. His actions led to the protest turning violent and has since been suspended. It’s precisely this lack of accountability that leads to officers thinking they are immune from prosecution.
On May 31, in Fort Lauderdale, FL protesters were kneeling while calling for peace as police fired tear gas and rubber bullets striking a woman in the face as she tried to leave. The incident left her with a broken eye socket. The officer responsible for shooting her with a projectile that can be deadly, according to the manufacturer, has not been named either.
In Fargo, ND, Deputy Police Chief Todd Osmundson was suspended and ultimately resigned after inciting violence on Saturday, May 30 during a George Floyd protest. In La Mesa, CA a grandmother was shot in the face with a “less than lethal” weapon and remains in intensive care at a local hospital. In that incident, police again escalated a peaceful gathering by firing teargas and rubber bullets into the crowd injuring many peaceful protesters who were shot in the head and chest. The officer responsible in La Mesa has not been named by La Mesa Police.
We’ve even seen instances of cops slashing tires in Minneapolis, and a group of Chicago cops lounging around in Representative Bobby Rush's office while their fellow officers struggled to control a crowd just down the block.
Damage Control
We’ve all seen cops taking and knee and walking with Black Lives Matter protesters. Many Americans see this as a sign of hope for the future. But the lack of trust among the citizenry speaks to the underlying issues within the culture of policing in America. The Blue Wall of silence must be taken down in order to truly hold police accountable. We need to see action.
Pandering to and placating those who have been speaking out on police brutality; police union interference in seeking justice; planting evidence, and cops coming together to decide what to put in their police reports — followed by committing perjury in court — isn’t enough to convince anyone that the show put on by police officers are genuine in any way.
Art Acevedo, the Houston Police Chief who has been trotted onto cable news channels for speaking out against Trump, talks about transparency, reforms, and doing all the things that should be done — proving he knows what needs to happen. But his department is responsible for the deaths of eight people of color in just over six weeks and he refuses to be transparent. They may talk a good game, but their actions speak louder than their words.
In Houston, one of the cases that stands out the most is the murder of Nicolas Chavez, 27, who was on his knees with his hands up as he was executed by at least four officers. Again, we find ourselves, witnesses, to a murder thanks to footage captured by a bystander. The narrative Acevedo and Houston Police Officers’ Union president, Joe Gamaldi have provided indicates that Chavez charged at officers just prior to being shot. The video, however, shows those statements to be false.
Acevedo has seen the bodycam footage that shows precisely what we saw, and the Gamaldi has surely seen them as well. But they still perpetuated what appears to be a lie anyway. We’ve seen this tactic time and again. Police demonize victims even in death. As the community calls for transparency in every one of the most recent deaths, Acevedo toes the line and puts up a wall.
Activists and citizens have been calling for the release of the videos. Instead of giving the public what it needs, all we’ve heard from Acevedo is him tell Trump to “keep your mouth shut.” And while he tells protesters, “we will march as a department with everybody in this community. I will march until I can’t stand no more,” the community continues to ask why the department refuses to release the body camera footage from ao many recent deaths.
The editorial board at the Houston Chronicle has also called on Acevedo to release the bodycam footage from the dozens of officers involved in the eight fatal shootings over a six-week period. As of this writing, no footage has been released and the officers involved remain on staff pending investigations.
If police walking and kneeling with protesters feels disingenuous, that’s because it is. It’s damage control.
The Public Doesn’t Trust Police
As America protests the brutal actions of police, we’ve seen limitless footage of officers attack peaceful protesters with flash-bang grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets. To be clear, rubber bullets aren’t some small projectile that simply bounces off the person that was shot. They are as dangerous as the person who fires them wants them to be — as evidenced by the horrific damage they have done in recent protests.
Protesters have had skull fractures, ruptured eye sockets, and fractured limbs. These projectiles can injure, maim, and kill. While not as deadly as live ammunition, when you consider the number of people in any given crowd, and the indiscriminate use of them, injuries and death aren’t outliers. They have become quite common and their use should be banned.
The aimless use of such weapons against peaceful protesters, including women and children, serve only to silence dissent in America. Police using them while aiming directly at people’s heads and faces further highlights precisely what the current protests across the nation are about: police brutality, excessive force, and misconduct by those who are to monitor and protect protesters from outside agitators. Instead, police have become the agitators.
Police have only served to turn many otherwise peaceful protests into chaotic gatherings due to the violent escalation of officers who routinely ignore the rules of engagement. They have been caught lying like kindergarteners after attacking entire crowds by claiming “they started it” in their reports. If not for the efforts of those who have been documenting the actions of officers, the nation would have to give officers the benefit of the doubt. As usual.
A privilege that they have abused for far too long.
As widespread protests against police brutality continue across the nation, police have taken on the task of trying to silence millions of Americans using the very tactics people are speaking out about. They have relentlessly attacked journalists (as documented by reporters from coast to coast) as well as attacking the elderly, the disabled, children, and anyone on the other side of their proverbial line. Their actions have done nothing but open the eyes of more and more people.
As the number of Americans demanding an end to their acts of aggression continues to grow, police escalations are working against the very same institutions they are trying to protect. The law enforcement apparatus in the United States is under threat of being defunded, reorganized, and reformed more than at any other time in American history. Police, their unions, and their trainers have no one to blame but themselves.
Treating American citizens as enemies of the state — as police are seen as an occupying force in many major cities across the nation — has been begun to backfire with the advent of mobile devices. Never has it been more evident than it is right now. Escalations such as what we are witnessing by police are far too numerous to count. Several of these incidents have also led to the deaths of peaceful protesters. Another entirely unacceptable practice.
To many, the words “protect and serve” are nothing more than words painted on a police cruiser. Now, America may be beginning to understand why.
Arturo is an anti-racist political nerd. He is an upcoming author, journalist, advocate for social justice, and a married father of three. He is a regular contributor to Latino Rebels. If you’d like to learn more about the issues covered here, see the links below or follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
