On Friday, the police showed up to a end-of-the-year pool party that was in action. Apparently, some of the kids didn't live in the neighborhood and didn't have permission to be there. Police were angry because the kids didn't leave, and one white police officer ended up pulling a gun on the unarmed teens, and pushing a fifteen year old black girl to the ground. The police officer was placed on leave.

https://reason.com/blog/2015/06/07/cop-pulls-gun-on-unarmed-black-kids-at-p

http://heavy.com/news/2015/06/mckinney-texas-cop-officer-police-gun-unarmed-black-teens-girl-assault-attack-arrest-pool-party-video-suspended/

So what do you guys think? Was it about race? Or did the kids just not know when to leave? What do you think about the police being suspended?

Don't worship the authorities however you do have to respect them, I am sure part of the story is missing and the girl acted in a way which forced the police to act accordingly which is considered wrong in the eye's of the mis informed people.

>>2 I understand what you're trying to say, but think about this carefully for a second:

A grown man pulled a gun and held down a teenage girl in a bathing suit. Im sure she was def hiding something in that that would have been so much of a threat to the cop's life that he had to "act accordingly".

Honestly, no matter if the kids were refusing to leave or not the cop shouldn't have responded in such a violent way to such a minor offense. Idk if it's about race, but tbh I feel like they wouldn't have done that same thing to the kids if they were white given a lot of cases (and by a lot of cases I mean cops have been treating black people badly for minor offenses all throughout US history).

Honestly, there's so much about racism these days you don't who is actually being racist and who isn't.

What's sad is that so many police officers are doing wrong deeds. They make the ones that actually are good look like horrible beings and not all of them are.

>>3 I agree with you that had they been white they would've been given a slap on the wrist. Honestly, I don't think they should've handled a girl in a bathing suit that way unless she clearly had some visible threat.

I have some questions though. With everything going on around how blacks are treated by police why are so focused on if a white cop shoots a black person? What if it was a black cop shooting a white person? Or a hispanic cop shooting an asian? I'm not saying it's not important but I want to know if we would get a strong reaction if it were different races pulling the trigger.
Either way, the situation with the police really bothers me and it makes me feel like there are few I can trust if any.

I heard about this, the girl had been threatening the cop. He had the right to hold her down. It's against the law to threaten cops even with words.

If this is the story I'm thinking of....^^;

>>5 Please don't throw out accusations like that. Stuff like that tends to muddy the story and desensitize readers to it. It's not written anywhere in the article provided that the girl threatened the cops, nor was it mentioned in the video provided that recorded her arrest.

That being said, the teens were in the wrong for being at a community pool without permission. Thing is, the one who invited them (who lived there) probably didn't know that they needed to ask permission before inviting their friends.

That's how things got escalated. Racial slurs were thrown and a fight broke out, which led to the cops being called.
When the cops arrive, things get fuzzy.
The teens say that as soon as they arrived, a lot of party-goers ran and left the scene, and it prompted the cops to start giving unlawful arrests everywhere. The cops, however, report that an interaction with the teens occurred first, and that after the teens ignored being asked to leave multiple times did they start arresting people.

Thing is, it's hard to believe the cops after the number of cases similar to Tamir Rice's shooting (murder), when they claimed to have warned or spoke with the suspect (victim) before shooting them, when recordings and witnesses say otherwise.

_____

I took out some quotes I thought were interesting:

"...the Teens who were at the community pool told Buzzfeed News the fight started between adults and teens when the adults made racist comments, including telling the black youths to “return to Section 8 housing.”

"Brooks, who is white, told Buzzfeed, “Everyone who was getting put on the ground was black, Mexican, Arabic. [The cop] didn’t even look at me. It was kind of like I was invisible.”"

It's getting harder and harder to trust a police officer's side of the story. Sure there are good ones out there but it's hard to believe and trust them anymore. There is only 2 or 3 that I would actually call for help but the rest...I don't think I would call them or I might be the one in trouble.

That being said, it's only natural that the officers' stories would be questionable. Look at all things in media revolving around them. You have the Tamir Rice incident, the one with Michael Brown, and then we got cops driving while drunk and running over people and killing them.

Research the Oscar Grant shooting. Police shot him while they were pinning him to the ground. There's actual footage of it. He just shot the man right there...like...it was just uncalled for.

>>4 The reason people are being so strung up about it now is because it's literally been going on for so long and people are getting tired of it (remember when blacks would get arrested for sitting in a restaurant during the civil rights movement?), and with handy media devices like phones to record videos at the scenes (like this for example), people know about it more quickly.

but yeah, even my college psychology textbook talked about how police are biased towards blacks, they call it the "shooter bias" and it's been tested. the example they used was one case in the '90s when a man was at his front door, tried to get his ID out of his wallet, and the police shot him for no reason other than thinking he had a gun and was black.

>>7 it's like cases like ferguson all over again, we dont know the truth other than a video because everyone's story clashes.

>>8 and then there was that time a police officer got fired for shooting a dog, but do they get fired for killing a human being? nah. it should be illegal for police officers to kill anyone unless their life or someone else's is visibly in danger. they should be our protectors :l

>>9 I never really saw what skin color had to do with someone being a threat. Like, unless they clearly pose a danger, you don't kill them based on the assumption of their skin color.

The dude got fired for shooting a dog but when a person is killed they keep their job? Whaaaaaaaat???? If a cop kills anything without proof of danger they should be fired. A human is dead and they keep their job but when a dog is dead he loses it. Somthing ain't right with that one. What is the difference. If he loses his job for killing a dog he should not only lose his job for killing a human, but he should go to prison. How does the law decide a police officer keeps his job for killing a person but losing it when he shoots an animal? It makes no sense.

>>8 All I want is for the public and the government to acknowledge that police officers are human too, and that they can be erroneous or just plain corrupt as much as anyone.

I know all about Oscar Grant; the cop claims he meant to reach for his taser and accidentally shot him instead. My mom was a Sheriff so I've seen and held a gun and pepper spray and a taser. How the fuck did he mix that up?

Besides Rice, the other name that comes to mind is John Crawford from the Walmart shooting. They claim that not only did they approach him with warnings to put the weapon down, but also that he pointed the gun at them before they opened fire.
Not only did the surveillance camera not show them giving any warning before firing on Crawford, but it also shows him having DROPPED THE GUN and hiding behind a shelf shouting at the police that the gun wasn’t real. The lethal weapon in question? An air rifle…sold at Walmart…that he had just picked up off a shelf…
To make it worse, this happened in Washington- an OPEN CARRY state.

So now, if you pick up a toy gun at Walmart prepare to have the cops called on you and be gunned down for making a police officer “in fear for his life”.


>>9 Because Ferguson is so controversial I'll never feel it's worth mentioning it in a debate. No matter what instigating words the cop may have said, no matter that had been let go from his previous department under filed complaints of racism, no matter the witnesses that say Brown never charged at the officer or that Brown even had his hands up, no matter the sheer distance (over a 100 ft) from the body and the cop car, people will always remember him for the "strong arm robbery" and reaching for the cop's gun (which there is evidence of).

>>10 http://rt.com/usa/176220-illinois-officer-fired-killing-dog/

tl;dr black people's lives are less than that of a dog's.

>>11 I mentioned it because of its controversy. Yes, I agree, I'll never fully believe either side of the argument besides that I still don't agree the police had to act that exact way (especially during the riot, it was uncalled for IMO).

>>12 Whoops, I meant Ohio not Washington.

>>13(shrugs) video and photo accounts on Tumblr from the people there say that most of the rioters came from out of town to take advantage of the situation.

As long as we can separate rioters and protestors, that's all I care about.

>>14 eh idk at this point. i used to be so hard opinionated about ferguson when i first learned about it until i realized how wonky all the sources are.

>>12 I don't know much about weapons but I don't see how you confuse a gun for a taser. That officer is a complete dumbass. Don't you hold a gun differently than you would a taser?

I actually hadn't heard about John Crawford until now. IIt seems like every officer "fears for their life" now nevermind they signed up to put their life on the line. If Crawford dropped the toy gun and hid, he clearly had no intent to harm them. If Ohio is an open carry state, why are they worried about someone having a gun? Unless he's walking around trying to hurt people they shouldn't draw weapons on people. Let someone pick up a NERF dart gun for their kid and they'll be on the ground dead. It's ashame cops aren't thinking rationally anymore.

>>13 Police do so much anymore it wouldn't surprise that this is the view on black people. It doesn't matter what race someone is, a person is a person and the fact that the law ids getting away with killing innocent people is sickening. It's nice to know that my father's life and friend's life has a value less than that of a dog. Ugh...this is enraging. Officers really need to put themselves in check but I have no idea how to do that. They get away with so much it seems impossible.

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