Barnes and Frei on the Potter verdict
This discussion is well worth hearing. I’ve cued it up for the twenty minutes that are relevant to the Potter conviction. Their remarks only reinforce my belief that any white Minneapolis police officer should quit the force immediately, in order to protect him or herself:
Potter has yet to be sentenced, but Mohamed Noor was recently re-sentenced to only 57 months in prison (from the original 12.5 years) following his trial in the death of Justine Damond, whom he shot recklessly four years ago for no reason whatsoever, since she posed absolutely no threat and had called the police only to report a crime being committed in her neighborhood. Potter should spend no time at all in prison for her mistake but, should she receive a more severe sentence than the incompetent Somali immigrant (whom many consider to have been hired purely for reasons of “diversity”), it will be another miscarriage of justice and yet more proof of the insanity into which Minneapolis (home to Ilhan, the poster-child for ingratitude) has descended.
I knew, when Chauvin was charged, much less convicted, that it would be wise for any police officers to get jobs out of the Twin Cities.
“Their remarks only reinforce my belief that any white Minneapolis police officer should quit the force immediately, in order to protect him or herself:” neo
To remain is now to risk Chauvin and Potter’s fate, a kind of Russian roulette, played every minute of every day, whether on duty or not.
Those voters who support this insanity have voluntarily taken responsibility for it. The buck stops at their feet.
I’ve spent time in Minneapolis-St. Paul over decades and know some folks there very well. One has to be careful to paint with a broad brush, but cities do have personalities and the Twin Cities have always confused me. The general attitude of folks is nice and, perhaps, overly generous. They have a term for it, “Minnesota nice.” Yet there is also a distinct layer of stubbornness. It feels more like martyrdom than a steadfast belief in Liberal philosophy. A Scandinavian stoic-ness and steadfastness. Results don’t matter. Being cordial and steadfast do.
They tend not to argue. You can cite statistics to them and they won’t refute them. But they also make it obvious that they have no intention of changing their minds. Very stubborn, but almost no sense of self-righteousness.
Odd culture. Maybe Norway is similar?
Rufus,
I was in the Texas National Guard, but got attached to a Minnesota National Guard Unit for months in CONUS, then Germany, then on to Kosovo.
I will say one thing about them. I believe that the average Minnesota National Guardsman is taller than the average Texas National Guardsman, at least back circa 2005. And that is not just because there are way, way, more hispanics in the Texas Guard. I think it is that way with the average white, non hispanics between the two units.
All that Viking blood verses the Irish, Scott, English and German blood lines of Texans.
Rufus
Occurs to me that self-righteousness manifests as part of a defensive feeling. If you think, subconsciously, that your position is not adamant and titanium, rock-solid and copper-bottomed, then perhaps some of that defensive discomfort may manifest itself as self-righteousness.
If, on the other hand, you’re convinced down to your bones that you’re right–no contest–no defensiveness is necessary.
This would also apply to noticing unfortunate results. They don’t count and can be rationalized.
Got a wonder here:
Potter reached for her Tazer, called it out. Did the general public take this to mean it was a non-lethal-force circumstance marred by the unjustified use of lethal force?
IOW, did the Tazer poison the well?
Certain attorneys have said the situation justified, in MN law, lethal force. Presume that’s true. But the public has been allowed to believe it was a non-lethal force situation and thus the pistol was entirely unjustified.
If she’d pulled her pistol yelling “I’ll shoot you!” several times, would this have gone better for her?
In MN, is the Tazer a lethal-force weapon? It’s not guaranteed not to kill.
And Noor gets six years….
whom he shot recklessly four years ago for no reason whatsoever, since she posed absolutely no threat and had called the police only to report a crime being committed in her neighborhood
‘Reckless’ suggests he disregarded a risk a reasonable person would have perceived and heeded. Actually, he quite deliberately put a bullet in her abdomen and she bled out.
There is so much more. Wright’s estate has three claims against it concerning guns. In the first case, December 2019, was the initial reason for his warrant. The person with Wright plead guilty, although Wright had the gun. Wright’s trial was put off due to covid. I had a gut wrenching feeling when the verdict was announced.