The thin blue line: another white Missouri policeman kills a young black man in self-defense
That’s my headline, and I’m sticking to it until there’s any credible evidence to the contrary.
So far, the facts seem to go like this:
In Berkeley, Missouri (not too far from Ferguson), a call comes in at 11:15 PM from a Mobil station reporting a theft.
A single white policeman comes to the scene and questions two young black men who are in the station parking lot. One of the men fails to cooperate and starts wandering away from the vehicle, despite requests not to do so.
“One of the individuals ‘produced a pistol with his arm straight out, pointing it straight at the officer kind of from across the hood,’ [Police Chief] Belmar said.”
The police officer fires up to three shots at the man holding the gun, killing him.
According to Belmar, the young man’s 9 mm gun, which was found on his person, had the serial number filed off and there were five rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber.
The young man, who has been identified as 18-year-old Antonio Martin, had quite a rap sheet, “including three assaults, armed robbery, armed criminal action and multiple uses of weapons since he was 17.”
The family doesn’t any of mention that (of course, it’s understandable that the shocked and grieving family would try to defend him). According to them:
He was not a violent person, to our knowledge,” he added. “Around us there weren’t any pistols. It’s hard to believe that.”
His grandmother, Margret Chandler, was also in disbelief.
“When he was around me, he knew to do right,” she said. “Why would he pull out a gun against the police? That’s the thing I don’t get. It just doesn’t add up.”
His mother says he was just on his way “to visit his girlfriend and that he was not carrying a gun.” I wonder; does she frisk him every time he leaves the house? How would she have a clue what he was carrying?
“Clashes” and demonstrations have already ensued as a result of the death. Some injurieshave occurred, as well as some arrests:
The protest thinned by daybreak, and Belmar told an early morning news conference that four people had been arrested. He said that bricks and what were believed to be fireworks were thrown at officers, but he said police did not use tear gas.
One officer was being treated in a hospital emergency room for injuries to his lower leg sustained while he ran away, Belmar said, and another was treated at the hospital after sustaining injuries to his face from a brick.
The mayor of Berkeley takes pains to distinguish the case from Ferguson:
“This was not the same as Ferguson,” Mayor Theodore Hoskins said.
He took pains to say that the shooting could not be compared to the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson or to the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York. The mayor, who is black, pointed out that the Berkeley police department is majority-black.
He promised a thorough investigation but said that the video showed it was not a police officer going off “half-cocked.”
“Everybody don’t die the same,” he told reporters. “Some people die because the policeman initiated. Some people die because they initiated it. And at this point, our review indicates that the police did not initiate this, like Ferguson.”
On the contrary, it is very much like Ferguson, except in Ferguson the “unarmed” Michael Brown assaulted the cop and tried to take his weapon, rather than carrying his own. I can understand why the mayor would want to make a different distinction, though. He doesn’t want the destruction that happened afterwards in Ferguson to happen in his town.
Another difference between this and Ferguson is that this incident was captured on a surveillance video. The policeman (whose name has so far not been released, wisely, although my guess is that some enterprising reporter will publish it) was not wearing a body camera, but the gas station’s cameras caught the exchange. Unfortunately the footage was not taken from close enough to show the gun, although it shows Martin raising his arm as described.
The entire thing might even have been planned as an ambush of the cop, although it’s impossible to say.
How much will this new incident be exploited by the racemongers? Let’s just say that already it’s gotten a ton of publicity from the press, although I don’t think Al Sharpton’s on the scene yet, nor has Eric Holder announced a federal investigation. Let’s also just say that, though the video is hardly definitive, it’s a good thing it exists, and a body camera would have been even better, although no amount of evidence exonerating the police officer would be enough for those determined to make this incident out to be another example of a young black man victimized at the hands of the white police.
Oh, and one more thing: if the police officer had been black this would rate maybe a paragraph in the back of the paper, whatever the race of the dead man. If both participants had been white, likewise.
Unlike Michael Brown, this young black man was armed. So, it is different than the Michael Brown case where they could claim the cop killed an “unarmed” choir boy, ah, er, budding young black scholar.
How many young thugs have their parents/grandparents fooled? My guess that it is quite common. If the parents aren’t involved – mentoring, going to school games/plays/parent teacher meetings, etc., they would have no idea. However, when the young scholar has been charged with several crimes, how is that the parents/grandparents don’t have a clue?
Of course – another DINDU … as in “I/he dindu nuffin’!”
Likely the gas station footage of the incident will prove nothing to the professional race-mongers, riot-instigators and looters. I’ve seen some comments already, to the effect that the gas station tape was faked.
Want to guess how many news accounts will include his rap sheet?
I am sure there will be a narrative that the police planted the weapon. And plenty will buy it.
Just read on a news site that there was drive by shooting at Firemen in my hometown of Jacksonville, Fl. I am long since gone, but it was in an area that used to be pretty “safe”. Fortunately, though 5 or 6 shots were fired, only one fireman was grazed.
This is going to have to end.
(On another, tangential subject. One of my neighbors in California recently apprehended two “youths” trying to break into his home. Fortunately he is a jeweler by trade, so had a rare California carry permit. Subsequent investigation uncovered a major burglary ring.”
We are reaping the whirlwind of the government destruction of the black family. Looking at Michael Brown, the NYC shooter, and now this guy we see the danger of young men allowed to grow up with out education, job skills, a taste for violence, positive male role models and no moral compass. We also see the danger of not keeping them locked up.
Recently, I asked a friend if he thought something like the old CCC would help poor youth. We concluded that no one would sign up.
When I was growing up, protests were certainly permitted. However, they came with rules. Date, time and place of assembly had to be defined and approved in advance. Arrests were made when anyone violated those rules. Looters were treated very harshly. Conversely, the protesters rights were protected.
The only way to stop what is happening is to revert to the rule of law. Rioters should be arrested and charged with felonies. Then, a lot of the white liberal kids attending their $60,000 a year colleges on Daddy’s dime will be slowed down when they realize what a felony rioting charge will look like on their resumes or law school applications
Once again, broken windows policing is proven to work and save lives.
Is this type of violence cyclical? I remember it in the 70’s when older cousins from Wisconsin U would complain about outside people ruining there classes. Students and citizens who deplore this violence for the rich (That is all it) should start complaining by not donating to political leaders or their university leaders. Go to their houses and see what power really means.
Another difference between this and Ferguson is that this incident was captured on a surveillance video.
Next thing we’ll see is them pushing 24/7 surveillance, setting up Big Brother again with Leftist companies profiting.
“Unfortunately the footage was not taken from close enough to show the gun, although it shows Martin raising his arm as described.”
Exactly, that special little snowflake was just making the international gesture for “Hand up. Don’t Shoot!”
Why on earth are police departments dispatching single officers to reported crime scenes like these? Two officers probably could have controlled the situation better and prevented the person from moving away from the police and deploying a weapon. If it reduces available police resources, too bad. You should have thought of that before you allowed community organizers and race hustlers to set the agenda in your community. And if you don’t want Al Sharpton or his ilk speaking for you, then you should counter-protest when the f- the police crowd is out and about.
This might not go very far since the left has all the victims they need for their ongoing agitprop. The leaders on the left undoubtedly understand the limited mental capacity of their intended audience and try to keep things simple. Too many victims would be confusing and would diffuse the anger which feeds the left. Agitators on the left will probably encourage a few riots in Berkeley, Missouri to keep things interesting for their followers. After they have looted and burned down a few stores, and have injure a few policemen they will undoubtedly move on to the more serious business of destroying Western civilization.
Why on earth are police departments dispatching single officers to reported crime scenes like these?
A lot of the police budget goes directly into paying Democrat politicians.
What is left over to cover employees and police training, is probably not all that much even in a major city.
It very much galls me for the claim that this was a majority black police department – as if the race of the officers should make a difference.
Well, now if most cops in a black town should be black shouldn’t that mean that most cops in a majority white town also be white?
Why stop with cops? Let’s make sure that there are few black teachers in the white majority towns as well. How about doctors and lawyers and anyone else who interacts with the public?
Yea, I know, whites who think that are racist; but, blacks thinking that way aren’t.
Mr. Frank: “Recently, I asked a friend if he thought something like the old CCC would help poor youth. We concluded that no one would sign up.”
The CCC and the military back in the day turned a lot of lives around. We had a CCC camp in my home town. They were a tough lot, but the camps were run by the Army and Army discipline was very strict. They had a boxing ring at the camp. Whenever any differences cropped up, the two young toughs had to settle it in the ring. The Camp Boss, a former champion boxer, provided a lesson when one CCC boy refused to obey orders. The young man fancied himself handy with his fists. So, the Camp Boss provided a lesson in pugilism for the challenger and all the camp. That match promoted good behavior and discipline much more so than someone punished by KP, other menial clean up jobs, or the brig.
Getting people to sign up shouldn’t be a problem. When a judge offers jail or stint in the CCC, many will choose the CCC. During my time in the Navy many of our enlisted men were “recruited” in just that fashion – jail or the military. The Boot Camp instructors knocked some sense into most of them. Those that didn’t change their ways in Boot Camp were referred back to the court.
Yeah, I know, we can’t do that today. I’m a dinosaur from another era. But we could save some lives if we did it.
JJ, I vaguely remember the CCC in the pre-war, early war years. My two older, hard scrabble farm boy cousins were in for a short period before they enlisted. The CCC worked just fine because there were no “welfare programs”. Many parents, and many kids, were happy to be some place where they were guaranteed three meals a day that the parents did not have to scramble to provide. Probably not feasible in today’s environment.
In the day, when sitting on a court martial, if the Sailor defendant were asked why he joined the Navy, the answer was usually very predictable; just as you said.
Charles. A novel idea. I think Mr Holder would like to speak to you.
Merry Christmas to Neo, her loyal readers, and thoughtful commenters.
I have to laugh every time I hear the mothers and grandmothers of these thugs interviewed. At my funeral home in California it was Mexican gangbangers. I’d sit down with the family and the mothers and grandmothers and Listen to them wail, “he was a good boy…how this happen?…he weren’t in no gang…” On and on. Then I’d pick up the body from the coroner…covered in gang tattoos, usually with old bullet and knife scars, you get the picture. I guess the little darling just stitched himself up and healed all on his own. What a joke.
Funeral guy,
My hispanic wife who I’ve been married to for two years now is incapable of setting a curfew on her 18 and 25 year old sons who live with us.
I’ve told her something bad will happen and i have to wash my hands of it. I’ve battled enough. The battle i won this year was they have to lock the front door. COMMON SENSE but that took arguing for hours.
As has been pointed out, in an earlier day the military draft or or a nudge from a judge to “volunteer” could straighten out a troubled young man. There was also lots of agricultural work and physical labor to be done. Mines, mills, and factories employed many. Young boys saw married men with lunch buckets going off to work early in the morning. That was what it meant to be a man. Boys in the inner city don’t see that anymore.
Much of the need for labor in heavy industry is gone and the military is way smaller than a generation ago, and it is downsizing. We have a large number of young men that nobody needs.
Bingo, Mr Frank.
And I only see it getting worse.
Thumbs up Mr Frank; My grandfather worked a full time job after the 8th grade and my Dad after the 10th, for the rest of their lives. Granted they weren’t exposed to the “lack of accountability” or depravity that young children are exposed to today, but, in any case, they would not have had the time or the money.
In my bubble, no one buys the “war on black youths” narrative even though many are sympathetic to the notion that black men in general are more likely to be hassled, regardless of the circumstances. It seems many, that tout the more credible allegation(like the president or AG Holder), then proceed to conflate this experience with police shootings; it is a failure in discernment.
Meanwhile, I wonder why, if there really is an EPIDEMIC of white policemen shooting innocent, unarmed black youths, can’t the protesters offer up dozens of UNAMBIGUOUS examples?
its time to put a bit of ideological historical light on this and what is going on…
if one rememers the past and the people who were pushing race issues, then one might realize that what they are pushing is the concept that “blacks did not make the laws, whites did, and blacks should not be subjected to them’… it parallels sharia, ie. different laws for different people… which also parallels feminism’s the law must treat people differently in order to have equal outcomes.
Nelson Mandela
It is true that an African who is charged in a court of law enjoys, on the surface, the same rights and privileges as an accused who is white in so far as the conduct of this trial is concerned. He is governed by the same rules of procedure and evidence as apply to a white accused. But it would be grossly inaccurate to conclude from this fact that an African consequently enjoys equality before the law. Mandela
and feminisms link:
Assume you’re a feminist. To further your political objective, which is to secure advantages for your group, you need to replace a liberal principle, namely equality, with an illiberal principle, to wit, inequality. It would be bad form for you to say so, of course, but that’s not all. In an essentially liberal society such as Canada, pushing inequality would be useless. It simply wouldn’t fly.
But what if you stuck an adjective – say, “formal” – in front of the word “equality”? Then you could contrast “formal equality” with a newly minted concept for inequality that sounded better – say, “substantive equality.” Now you’re on track. While you couldn’t sell the idea of replacing equality with inequality, replacing “formal equality” with “substantive equality” might have legs.
Presto, the feminist party line. George Jonas – National Post March, 1999
The International Women’s Rights Action Watch outlines the agenda of the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, more conveniently called CEDAW
The concept of equality is traditionally understood to mean “the right to be equal to men”. This becomes problematic when it is extended to the understanding that women must be treated exactly like men if they are to gain equality with men. It implies that women must be treated according to male standards, obscuring the ways in which women are different from men and how they will be disadvantaged because of these differences.
and so, you can see this being applied without being explained to the rubes… that women cant be judged by men, blacks cant be judged by whites, islamics cant be judged… etc
NOTHING they do does not have a huge pool of discourse and reasoning that goes on that the common rubes do not care to bother with until, as in neimollers poem, the issue reaches them.
Reconstructing Sexual Equality
Feminist theorists have critiqued both legal equality doctrine and society’s power structure as ‘phallocentric”–that is, reflecting solely the perspective of men. These critiques have fostered two conflicting visions of sexual equality: the “equal treatment” or “‘symmetrical” model, and the “‘special treatment” or “asymmetrical” model. After surveying the spectrum of current equality theory, Professor Littleton proposes her own model of sex- ual equality, called “equality as acceptance, ” which she identifies as essen- tially asymmetrical. She then demonstrates how her “acceptance” model responds to the feminist critiques of equality and power. Professor Littleton argues that women’s biological and cultural differences from men, regardless of whether they are “natural” or constructed, are real and significant. Women’s inequality, she contends, results when society devalues women because they differ from the male norm. “‘Acceptance” would reduce inequality not by eliminating women’s differences, but by reassessing the value society accords to traditionally ‘female” occupations and lifestyles, and revaluing so as to render such value no less than that accorded to equivalent “male” activities
http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1925&context=californialawreview
given black culture, applying white standards of behavior is not to be allowed. when we say that the man is a thug, and breaking the law, we are applying white male ideas of lawful behavior imposed on blacks. when we try to apply equality to women, we are applying white male phallocentric ideas of what is equal, not womens ideas of equal.
tons of this around the elite… they live in ticky tacky boxes and read as to theories of the world, but do not live much in the actual world. which is why when they find themselves outside this faux box world, they are completely disfunctional, and so want to make the whole world the same as the box they live in, rather than they adapt to the world they live in.
Ymarsakar: A lot of the police budget goes directly into paying Democrat politicians.
not really… you should look up things before making up things that sound reasonable, which amounts to pissing in the well and tainting the water of a clear mind..
Asset seizures fuel police spending
From 2001 to 2002, currency forfeitures alone in just nine states totaled more than $70 million
Equitable sharing payments to states have nearly doubled from 2000 to 2008, from a little more than $200 million to $400 million.
what started as a law to seize drug dealer assets… has moved to taking drunk drivers cars…. taking businesses who deposit their money daily, rather than weekly… seizing money if the amount carried is not small (despite that there is no law barring a person from walking around with 100k in their pockets, like that lottery winner that ended up dead). whole properties for finding wild hemp on the land… and on and on.
Matthew M, in the very rural WI county where I am a deputy sheriff, sometime the nearest backup is at the other end of the county, 65 miles away. i have even seen nights where I am the only LEO on the road, in a county 70 miles North South, 35 miles East West.
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