Still not safe to be a black guy around here


I was going to write an annoyed blog on the NY Ranger’s failing front office, but got completely sidetracked when I saw that cops are still murdering people for being black. This time it is Baton Rouge’s Alton Sterling, who was selling CDs outside of a convenience store. Apparently, an anonymous caller stated that Sterling threatened him with a gun, so the cops were sent out.

Louisiana is an open-carry state, so I’m not sure why the mere possession of a gun could merit your immediate execution, but nonetheless:

The video isn’t crystal clear; I can’t claim to understand all of the circumstances just based on the sources that I have read, or the video itself. But come on, this is pretty disgusting. They tazed the guy, tackled him, and were both holding him down. The owner of the store gives testimony to the fact that the officers had him restrained.

If white people in Louisiana were instantly declared to be deadly threats by cops upon the discovery of a gun, it probably wouldn’t be an open-carry state. This is the same state that reacted to the Black Lives Matter movement with the “Blue Lives Matter” bill, expanding hate-crime protection to police and first responders, as if that being an EMT carries the same systemic risks as being a black man.

Bullshit.

There’s still a chance that we’ll get some justice out of this one, although I’m not super optimistic.

 

blackfist