Wow.
Americans are so retarded today that they say the US government only spends money on welfare.
Americans scream Stalin invaded France in 1940 before Germany did.
Americans say Nazis don't exist.
Americans scream destroying your economy with a trade war is a positive indicator.
Americans don't mind if articles about the police state are censored, because Americans don't care about tyranny or censorship.
Americans claim Muslims don't believe in God.
Americans say that the US never had black people before today.
Americans insist that the USPS is wonderful because stamps are cheap, but Americans are simply unable to understand that the USPS receives subsidies from American taxpayers.
Americans swear that the US doesn't have any churches.
Americans insist that the US always had food stamps.
Americans swear a country will die without debt.
Americans say that the USA always had TSA groping.
Americans scream that the government should force companies to give food to the homeless.
Americans swear that the US does not have a Ponzi economy because you can buy products online with a smartphone.
Americans insist the US is not at war with any country now.
Americans swear that the US debt doesn't need to be paid back.
Americans scream tyranny that happened 2 weeks ago is no longer relevant.
http://f2bbs.com/thread/154776/1#bottom
Americans say certain tyranny today under Socialism is better than Capitalism that leads to possible tyranny tomorrow.
Americans scream that the elites want to crash the economy so the USA will be a free country again.
Americans have become so batshit insane now that they would rather insult the messenger who warns of the dangers of tyranny instead of criticizing the government that is enslaving them.
Americans swear tyranny is wonderful if you live in a society.
Americans say anyone who loves freedom is a Commie.
Americans swear anyone who hates tyranny is a reactionary.
Americans insist that living in North Korea would be better then living in South Korea.
Libertarian
boosted
Libertarian
boosted
@dcjogger Gunna protect and serve the shit out of you
Americans scream dogs in restaurants are unsafe, but then Americans turn around and say seeing-eye dogs in restaurants are just fine.
Americans say that they love the police state, but when Americans travel to Communist shitholes like Vietnam, Americans are happy to drink in public.
Americans swear airlines would have a vested interest in crashing their planes if airlines were not regulated, but regulated airplanes still crash.
Americans insist everyone would die of food poisoning if people didn't wear a shirt in a restaurant, but people in China don't wear shirts in restaurants without a problem.
Americans scream only businesses are evil and love to pollute the environment, but the Socialist utopia in the USSR was an environmental disaster.
Libertarian
boosted
@dcjogger@gameliberty.club it only takes killing 88 people to free 60 percent of the worlds wealth, why you gotta make it seem so extreme
Wow.
Americans are so retarded today that they say the US government only spends money on welfare.
Americans scream Stalin invaded France in 1940 before Germany did.
Americans say stealing the wealth of millionaires will encourage people to work hard and start businesses.
Americans insist Trump is an outsider, but why did the elites run critical stories about Clinton 24/7?
Americans swear that Nazis don't exist.
Americans scream tyranny is fantastic because Libertarians never win.
Americans say that the US never had black people before today.
Americans insist that the USPS is wonderful because stamps are cheap, but Americans are simply unable to understand that the USPS receives subsidies from American taxpayers.
Americans swear that the US doesn't have any churches.
Americans insist that the US always had food stamps.
Americans swear a country will die without debt.
Americans say that the USA always had TSA groping.
Americans scream that the government should force companies to give food to the homeless.
Americans swear that the US does not have a Ponzi economy because you can buy products online with a smartphone.
Americans insist the US is not at war with any country now.
Americans swear that the US debt doesn't need to be paid back.
Americans scream tyranny that happened 2 weeks ago is no longer relevant.
http://f2bbs.com/thread/154776/1#bottom
Americans say certain tyranny today under Socialism is better than Capitalism that leads to possible tyranny tomorrow.
Americans scream that the elites want to crash the economy so the USA will be a free country again.
Americans have become so batshit insane now that they would rather insult the messenger who warns of the dangers of tyranny instead of criticizing the government that is enslaving them.
Americans swear tyranny is wonderful if you live in a society.
Americans say anyone who loves freedom is a Commie.
Americans swear anyone who hates tyranny is a reactionary.
Americans insist that living in North Korea would be better then living in South Korea.
One reason patriots need to leave the USA now is that if the Civil War is started today then who is the target?
The globalists? Jews? Politicians? The Gestapo? Commies? Nazis? Soldiers? Reporters? Homosexuals? Females? Muslims? Blacks? Illegal immigrants?
Are you going to kill everyone?
The elites are selling wars, debt, and tyranny and Americans are buying.
What can you do?
Libertarian
boosted
Yes, gun violence is a problem in America, although violent crime generally remains at an all-time low.
Yes, mass shootings are a problem in America, although while they are getting deadlier, they are not getting more frequent.
Yes, mentally ill individuals embarking on mass shooting sprees are a problem in America.
However, tighter gun control laws and so-called âintelligentâ background checks fail to protect the public from the most egregious perpetrator of gun violence in America: the U.S. government.
Consider that five years after police shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old man in Ferguson, Missouri, there has been no relief from the governmentâs gun violence.
Hereâs what weâve learned about the governmentâs gun violence since Ferguson, according to The Washington Post: If youâre a black American, youâve got a greater chance of being shot by police. If youâre an unarmed black man, youâre four times more likely to be killed by police than an unarmed white man. Most people killed by police are young men. Since 2015, police have shot and killed an average of 3 people per day. More than 2,500 police departments have shot and killed at least one person since 2015. And while the vast majority of people shot and killed by police are armed, their weapons ranged from guns to knives to toyguns.
Clearly, the U.S. government is not making America any safer.
Indeed, the governmentâs gun violenceâinflicted on unarmed individuals by battlefield-trained SWAT teams, militarized police, and bureaucratic government agents trained to shoot first and ask questions laterâposes a greater threat to the safety and security of the nation than any mass shooter.
According to journalist Matt Agorist, âmass shootings ⦠have claimed the lives of 339 people since 2015⦠[D]uring this same time frame, police in America have claimed the lives of 4,355 citizens.â
Thatâs 1200% more people killed by police than mass shooters since 2015.
For example, in Texas, a police officer sent to do a welfare check on a 30-year-old woman seen lying on the grass near a shopping center, took aim at the womanâs dog as it ran towards him barking, fired multiple times, and killed the woman instead.
In Chicago, a SWAT teamâwearing âarmy fatigues with black cloth covering their faces and wearing goggles,â armed with automatic rifles, and throwing flash-bang grenadesâcrashed through the doors of a suburban home and proceeded to storm into bedrooms, holding the children of the household at gunpoint. One child, 13-year-old Amir, was âaccidentallyâ shot in the knee by police while sitting on his bed.
In St. Louis, Missouri, a SWAT team on a mission to deliver an administrative warrant carried out a no-knock raid that ended with police kicking in the homeownerâs front door, and shooting and killing her dogâall over an unpaid gas bill. Taxpayers will have to find $750,000 to settle the lawsuit arising over the copsâ overzealous tactics.
In South Carolina, a 62-year-old homeowner was shot four times through his front door by police who were investigating a medical-assist alarm call that originated from a cell phone inside the home. Dick Tench, believing his house was being broken into, was standing in the foyer of his home armed with a handgun when police, peering through the front door, fired several shots through the door, hitting Tench in the pelvis and the aortic artery. Tench survived, but the bullet lodged in his pelvis will stay there for life.
In Kansas, a SWAT team, attempting to carry out a routine search warrant (the suspect had already been arrested), showed up at a residence around dinnertime, dressed in tactical gear with weapons drawn, and hurled a flash-bang grenade into the house past the 68-year-old woman who was in the process of opening the door to them and in the general direction of a 2-year-old child.
These are just a few recent examples among hundreds this year alone.
Curiously enough, in the midst of the finger-pointing over the latest round of mass shootings, Americans have been so focused on debating who or what is responsible for gun violenceâthe guns, the gun owners, the Second Amendment, the politicians, or our violent cultureâthat they have overlooked the fact that the systemic violence being perpetrated by agents of the government has done more collective harm to the American people and their liberties than any single act of terror or mass shooting.
Violence has become our governmentâs calling card, starting at the top and trickling down, from the more than 80,000 SWAT team raids carried out every year on unsuspecting Americans by heavily armed, black-garbed commandos and the increasingly rapid militarization of local police forces across the country to the drone killings used to target insurgents.
The government even exports violence worldwide, with one of this countryâs most profitable exports being weapons. Indeed, the United States, the worldâs largest exporter of arms, has been selling violence to the world for too long now. Controlling more than 50 percent of the global weaponry market, the U.S. has sold or donated weapons to at least 96 countries in the past five years, including the Middle East. The U.S. also provides countries such as Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Iraq with grants and loans through the Foreign Military Financing program to purchase military weapons.
At the same time that the U.S. is equipping nearly half the world with deadly weapons, profiting to the tune of $36.2 billion, its leaders have also been lecturing American citizens on the dangers of gun violence and working to enact measures that would make it more difficult for Americans to acquire certain weapons.
Talk about an absurd double standard.
If weâre truly going to get serious about gun violence, why not start by scaling back the American police stateâs weapons of war?
Iâll tell you why: because the government has no intention of scaling back on its weapons.
In fact, all the while gun critics continue to clamor for bans on military-style assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and armor-piercing bullets, the U.S. military is passing them out to domestic police forces.
Under the auspices of a military ârecyclingâ program, which allows local police agencies to acquire military-grade weaponry and equipment, more than $4.2 billion worth of equipment has been transferred from the Defense Department to domestic police agencies since 1990. Included among these âgiftsâ are tank-like, 20-ton Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, tactical gear, and assault rifles.
There are now reportedly more bureaucratic (non-military) government agents armed with high-tech, deadly weapons than U.S. Marines.
While Americans have to jump through an increasing number of hoops in order to own a gun, the government is arming its own civilian employees to the hilt with guns, ammunition and military-style equipment, authorizing them to make arrests, and training them in military tactics.
Among the agencies being supplied with night-vision equipment, body armor, hollow-point bullets, shotguns, drones, assault rifles and LP gas cannons are the Smithsonian, U.S. Mint, Health and Human Services, IRS, FDA, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Education Department, Energy Department, Bureau of Engraving and Printing and an assortment of public universities.
Seriously, why do IRS agents need AR-15 rifles?
For that matter, why do police need armored personnel carriers with gun ports, compact submachine guns with 30-round magazines, precision battlefield sniper rifles, and military-grade assault-style rifles and carbines?
Short answer: they donât.
In the hands of government agents, whether they are members of the military, law enforcement or some other government agency, these weapons have become routine parts of Americaâs day-to-day life, a byproduct of the rapid militarization of law enforcement over the past several decades.
Over the course of 30 years, police officers in jack boots holding assault rifles have become fairly common in small town communities across the country. As investigative journalists Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz reveal, âMany police, including beat cops, now routinely carry assault rifles. Combined with body armor and other apparel, many officers look more and more like combat troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.â
Does this sound like a country under martial law?
You want to talk about gun violence? While it still technically remains legal for the average citizen to own a firearm in America, possessing one can now get you pulled over, searched, arrested, subjected to all manner of surveillance, treated as a suspect without ever having committed a crime, shot at and killed by police.
You donât even have to have a gun or a look-alike gun, such as a BB gun, in your possession to be singled out and killed by police.
There are countless incidents that happen every day in which Americans are shot, stripped, searched, choked, beaten and tasered by police for little more than daring to frown, smile, question, or challenge an order.
Growing numbers of unarmed people are being shot and killed for just standing a certain way, or moving a certain way, or holding somethingâanythingâthat police could misinterpret to be a gun, or igniting some trigger-centric fear in a police officerâs mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety.
With alarming regularity, unarmed men, women, children and even pets are being gunned down by twitchy, hyper-sensitive, easily-spooked police officers who shoot first and ask questions later, and all the government does is shrug, and promise to do better, all the while the cops are granted qualified immunity.
Killed for standing in a âshooting stance.â In California, police opened fire on and killed a mentally challengedâunarmedâblack man within minutes of arriving on the scene, allegedly because he removed a vape smoking device from his pocket and took a âshooting stance.â
Killed for holding a cell phone. Police in Arizona shot a man who was running away from U.S. Marshals after he refused to drop an object that turned out to be a cellphone. Similarly, police in Sacramento fired 20 shots at an unarmed, 22-year-old black man who was standing in his grandparentsâ backyard after mistaking his cellphone for a gun.
Killed for carrying a baseball bat. Responding to a domestic disturbance call, Chicago police shot and killed 19-year-old college student Quintonio LeGrier who had reportedly been experiencing mental health problems and was carrying a baseball bat around the apartment where he and his father lived.
Killed for opening the front door. Bettie Jones, who lived on the floor below LeGrier, was also fatally shotâthis time, accidentallyâwhen she attempted to open the front door for police.
Killed for running towards police with a metal spoon. In Alabama, police shot and killed a 50-year-old man who reportedly charged a police officer while holding âa large metal spoon in a threatening manner.â
Killed for running while holding a tree branch. Georgia police shot and killed a 47-year-old man wearing only shorts and tennis shoes who, when first encountered, was sitting in the woods against a tree, only to start running towards police holding a stick in an âaggressive manner.â
Killed for crawling around naked. Atlanta police shot and killed an unarmed man who was reported to have been âacting deranged, knocking on doors, crawling around on the ground naked.â Police fired two shots at the man after he reportedly started running towards them.
Killed for wearing dark pants and a basketball jersey. Donnell Thompson, a mentally disabled 27-year-old described as gentle and shy, was shot and killed after policeâsearching for a carjacking suspect reportedly wearing similar clothingâencountered him lying motionless in a neighborhood yard. Police âonlyâ opened fire with an M4 rifle after Thompson first failed to respond to their flash bang grenades and then started running after being hit by foam bullets.
Killed for driving while deaf. In North Carolina, a state trooper shot and killed 29-year-old Daniel K. Harrisâwho was deafâafter Harris initially failed to pull over during a traffic stop.
Killed for being homeless. Los Angeles police shot an unarmed homeless man after he failed to stop riding his bicycle and then proceeded to run from police.
Killed for brandishing a shoehorn. John Wrana, a 95-year-old World War II veteran, lived in an assisted living center, used a walker to get around, and was shot and killed by police who mistook the shoehorn in his hand for a 2-foot-long machete and fired multiple beanbag rounds from a shotgun at close range.
Killed for having your car break down on the road. Terence Crutcher, unarmed and black, was shot and killed by Oklahoma police after his car broke down on the side of the road. Crutcher was shot in the back while walking towards his car with his hands up.
Killed for holding a garden hose. California police were ordered to pay $6.5 million after they opened fire on a man holding a garden hose, believing it to be a gun. Douglas Zerby was shot 12 times and pronounced dead on the scene.
Killed for calling 911. Justine Damond, a 40-year-old yoga instructor, was shot and killed by Minneapolis police, allegedly because they were startled by a loud noise in the vicinity just as she approached their patrol car. Damond, clad in pajamas, had called 911 to report a possible assault in her neighborhood.
Killed for looking for a parking spot. Richard Ferretti, a 52-year-old chef, was shot and killed by Philadelphia police who had been alerted to investigate a purple Dodge Caravan that was driving âsuspiciouslyâ through the neighborhood.
Shot seven times for peeing outdoors. Eighteen-year-old Keivon Young was shot seven times by police from behind while urinating outdoors. Young was just zipping up his pants when he heard a commotion behind him and then found himself struck by a hail of bullets from two undercover cops. Allegedly officers mistook Youngâ5â4,â 135 lbs., and guilty of nothing more than taking a leak outdoorsâfor a 6â tall, 200 lb. murder suspect whom they later apprehended. Young was charged with felony resisting arrest and two counts of assaulting a peace officer.
This is what passes for policing in America today, folks, and itâs only getting worse.
In every one of these scenarios, police could have resorted to less lethal tactics.
They could have acted with reason and calculation instead of reacting with a killer instinct.
They could have attempted to de-escalate and defuse whatever perceived âthreatâ caused them to fear for their lives enough to react with lethal force.
That police instead chose to fatally resolve these encounters by using their guns on fellow citizens speaks volumes about what is wrong with policing in America today, where police officers are being dressed in the trappings of war, drilled in the deadly art of combat, and trained to look upon âevery individual they interact with as an armed threat and every situation as a deadly force encounter in the making.â
Remember, to a hammer, all the world looks like a nail.
Weâre getting killed, execution-style.
Violence begets violence: until we start addressing the U.S. governmentâs part in creating, cultivating and abetting a culture of violence, we will continue to be a nation plagued by violence in our homes, in our schools, on our streets and in our affairs of state, both foreign and domestic.
Libertarian
boosted
@dcjogger Yeah, you "libertarians" got it all figured out. WHEN will you elect a candidate to an office above dog catcher?
Wow.
Americans are so retarded today that they say the US government only spends money on welfare.
Americans scream Stalin invaded France in 1940 before Germany did.
Americans insist Trump is an outsider, but why did the elites run critical stories about Clinton 24/7?
Americans swear that Nazis don't exist.
Americans scream tyranny is fantastic because Libertarians never win.
Americans say that the US never had black people before today.
Americans insist that the USPS is wonderful because stamps are cheap, but Americans are simply unable to understand that the USPS receives subsidies from American taxpayers.
Americans swear that the US doesn't have any churches.
Americans insist that the US always had food stamps.
Americans swear a country will die without debt.
Americans say that the USA always had TSA groping.
Americans scream that the government should force companies to give food to the homeless.
Americans swear that the US does not have a Ponzi economy because you can buy products online with a smartphone.
Americans insist the US is not at war with any country now.
Americans swear that the US debt doesn't need to be paid back.
Americans scream tyranny that happened 2 weeks ago is no longer relevant.
http://f2bbs.com/thread/154776/1#bottom
Americans say certain tyranny today under Socialism is better than Capitalism that leads to possible tyranny tomorrow.
Americans scream that the elites want to crash the economy so the USA will be a free country again.
Americans have become so batshit insane now that they would rather insult the messenger who warns of the dangers of tyranny instead of criticizing the government that is enslaving them.
Americans swear tyranny is wonderful if you live in a society.
Americans say anyone who loves freedom is a Commie.
Americans swear anyone who hates tyranny is a reactionary.
Americans insist that living in North Korea would be better then living in South Korea.
Yes, gun violence is a problem in America, although violent crime generally remains at an all-time low.
Yes, mass shootings are a problem in America, although while they are getting deadlier, they are not getting more frequent.
Yes, mentally ill individuals embarking on mass shooting sprees are a problem in America.
However, tighter gun control laws and so-called âintelligentâ background checks fail to protect the public from the most egregious perpetrator of gun violence in America: the U.S. government.
Consider that five years after police shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old man in Ferguson, Missouri, there has been no relief from the governmentâs gun violence.
Hereâs what weâve learned about the governmentâs gun violence since Ferguson, according to The Washington Post: If youâre a black American, youâve got a greater chance of being shot by police. If youâre an unarmed black man, youâre four times more likely to be killed by police than an unarmed white man. Most people killed by police are young men. Since 2015, police have shot and killed an average of 3 people per day. More than 2,500 police departments have shot and killed at least one person since 2015. And while the vast majority of people shot and killed by police are armed, their weapons ranged from guns to knives to toyguns.
Clearly, the U.S. government is not making America any safer.
Indeed, the governmentâs gun violenceâinflicted on unarmed individuals by battlefield-trained SWAT teams, militarized police, and bureaucratic government agents trained to shoot first and ask questions laterâposes a greater threat to the safety and security of the nation than any mass shooter.
According to journalist Matt Agorist, âmass shootings ⦠have claimed the lives of 339 people since 2015⦠[D]uring this same time frame, police in America have claimed the lives of 4,355 citizens.â
Thatâs 1200% more people killed by police than mass shooters since 2015.
For example, in Texas, a police officer sent to do a welfare check on a 30-year-old woman seen lying on the grass near a shopping center, took aim at the womanâs dog as it ran towards him barking, fired multiple times, and killed the woman instead.
In Chicago, a SWAT teamâwearing âarmy fatigues with black cloth covering their faces and wearing goggles,â armed with automatic rifles, and throwing flash-bang grenadesâcrashed through the doors of a suburban home and proceeded to storm into bedrooms, holding the children of the household at gunpoint. One child, 13-year-old Amir, was âaccidentallyâ shot in the knee by police while sitting on his bed.
In St. Louis, Missouri, a SWAT team on a mission to deliver an administrative warrant carried out a no-knock raid that ended with police kicking in the homeownerâs front door, and shooting and killing her dogâall over an unpaid gas bill. Taxpayers will have to find $750,000 to settle the lawsuit arising over the copsâ overzealous tactics.
In South Carolina, a 62-year-old homeowner was shot four times through his front door by police who were investigating a medical-assist alarm call that originated from a cell phone inside the home. Dick Tench, believing his house was being broken into, was standing in the foyer of his home armed with a handgun when police, peering through the front door, fired several shots through the door, hitting Tench in the pelvis and the aortic artery. Tench survived, but the bullet lodged in his pelvis will stay there for life.
In Kansas, a SWAT team, attempting to carry out a routine search warrant (the suspect had already been arrested), showed up at a residence around dinnertime, dressed in tactical gear with weapons drawn, and hurled a flash-bang grenade into the house past the 68-year-old woman who was in the process of opening the door to them and in the general direction of a 2-year-old child.
These are just a few recent examples among hundreds this year alone.
Curiously enough, in the midst of the finger-pointing over the latest round of mass shootings, Americans have been so focused on debating who or what is responsible for gun violenceâthe guns, the gun owners, the Second Amendment, the politicians, or our violent cultureâthat they have overlooked the fact that the systemic violence being perpetrated by agents of the government has done more collective harm to the American people and their liberties than any single act of terror or mass shooting.
Violence has become our governmentâs calling card, starting at the top and trickling down, from the more than 80,000 SWAT team raids carried out every year on unsuspecting Americans by heavily armed, black-garbed commandos and the increasingly rapid militarization of local police forces across the country to the drone killings used to target insurgents.
The government even exports violence worldwide, with one of this countryâs most profitable exports being weapons. Indeed, the United States, the worldâs largest exporter of arms, has been selling violence to the world for too long now. Controlling more than 50 percent of the global weaponry market, the U.S. has sold or donated weapons to at least 96 countries in the past five years, including the Middle East. The U.S. also provides countries such as Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Iraq with grants and loans through the Foreign Military Financing program to purchase military weapons.
At the same time that the U.S. is equipping nearly half the world with deadly weapons, profiting to the tune of $36.2 billion, its leaders have also been lecturing American citizens on the dangers of gun violence and working to enact measures that would make it more difficult for Americans to acquire certain weapons.
Talk about an absurd double standard.
If weâre truly going to get serious about gun violence, why not start by scaling back the American police stateâs weapons of war?
Iâll tell you why: because the government has no intention of scaling back on its weapons.
In fact, all the while gun critics continue to clamor for bans on military-style assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and armor-piercing bullets, the U.S. military is passing them out to domestic police forces.
Under the auspices of a military ârecyclingâ program, which allows local police agencies to acquire military-grade weaponry and equipment, more than $4.2 billion worth of equipment has been transferred from the Defense Department to domestic police agencies since 1990. Included among these âgiftsâ are tank-like, 20-ton Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, tactical gear, and assault rifles.
There are now reportedly more bureaucratic (non-military) government agents armed with high-tech, deadly weapons than U.S. Marines.
While Americans have to jump through an increasing number of hoops in order to own a gun, the government is arming its own civilian employees to the hilt with guns, ammunition and military-style equipment, authorizing them to make arrests, and training them in military tactics.
Among the agencies being supplied with night-vision equipment, body armor, hollow-point bullets, shotguns, drones, assault rifles and LP gas cannons are the Smithsonian, U.S. Mint, Health and Human Services, IRS, FDA, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Education Department, Energy Department, Bureau of Engraving and Printing and an assortment of public universities.
Seriously, why do IRS agents need AR-15 rifles?
For that matter, why do police need armored personnel carriers with gun ports, compact submachine guns with 30-round magazines, precision battlefield sniper rifles, and military-grade assault-style rifles and carbines?
Short answer: they donât.
In the hands of government agents, whether they are members of the military, law enforcement or some other government agency, these weapons have become routine parts of Americaâs day-to-day life, a byproduct of the rapid militarization of law enforcement over the past several decades.
Over the course of 30 years, police officers in jack boots holding assault rifles have become fairly common in small town communities across the country. As investigative journalists Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz reveal, âMany police, including beat cops, now routinely carry assault rifles. Combined with body armor and other apparel, many officers look more and more like combat troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.â
Does this sound like a country under martial law?
You want to talk about gun violence? While it still technically remains legal for the average citizen to own a firearm in America, possessing one can now get you pulled over, searched, arrested, subjected to all manner of surveillance, treated as a suspect without ever having committed a crime, shot at and killed by police.
You donât even have to have a gun or a look-alike gun, such as a BB gun, in your possession to be singled out and killed by police.
There are countless incidents that happen every day in which Americans are shot, stripped, searched, choked, beaten and tasered by police for little more than daring to frown, smile, question, or challenge an order.
Growing numbers of unarmed people are being shot and killed for just standing a certain way, or moving a certain way, or holding somethingâanythingâthat police could misinterpret to be a gun, or igniting some trigger-centric fear in a police officerâs mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety.
With alarming regularity, unarmed men, women, children and even pets are being gunned down by twitchy, hyper-sensitive, easily-spooked police officers who shoot first and ask questions later, and all the government does is shrug, and promise to do better, all the while the cops are granted qualified immunity.
Killed for standing in a âshooting stance.â In California, police opened fire on and killed a mentally challengedâunarmedâblack man within minutes of arriving on the scene, allegedly because he removed a vape smoking device from his pocket and took a âshooting stance.â
Killed for holding a cell phone. Police in Arizona shot a man who was running away from U.S. Marshals after he refused to drop an object that turned out to be a cellphone. Similarly, police in Sacramento fired 20 shots at an unarmed, 22-year-old black man who was standing in his grandparentsâ backyard after mistaking his cellphone for a gun.
Killed for carrying a baseball bat. Responding to a domestic disturbance call, Chicago police shot and killed 19-year-old college student Quintonio LeGrier who had reportedly been experiencing mental health problems and was carrying a baseball bat around the apartment where he and his father lived.
Killed for opening the front door. Bettie Jones, who lived on the floor below LeGrier, was also fatally shotâthis time, accidentallyâwhen she attempted to open the front door for police.
Killed for running towards police with a metal spoon. In Alabama, police shot and killed a 50-year-old man who reportedly charged a police officer while holding âa large metal spoon in a threatening manner.â
Killed for running while holding a tree branch. Georgia police shot and killed a 47-year-old man wearing only shorts and tennis shoes who, when first encountered, was sitting in the woods against a tree, only to start running towards police holding a stick in an âaggressive manner.â
Killed for crawling around naked. Atlanta police shot and killed an unarmed man who was reported to have been âacting deranged, knocking on doors, crawling around on the ground naked.â Police fired two shots at the man after he reportedly started running towards them.
Killed for wearing dark pants and a basketball jersey. Donnell Thompson, a mentally disabled 27-year-old described as gentle and shy, was shot and killed after policeâsearching for a carjacking suspect reportedly wearing similar clothingâencountered him lying motionless in a neighborhood yard. Police âonlyâ opened fire with an M4 rifle after Thompson first failed to respond to their flash bang grenades and then started running after being hit by foam bullets.
Killed for driving while deaf. In North Carolina, a state trooper shot and killed 29-year-old Daniel K. Harrisâwho was deafâafter Harris initially failed to pull over during a traffic stop.
Killed for being homeless. Los Angeles police shot an unarmed homeless man after he failed to stop riding his bicycle and then proceeded to run from police.
Killed for brandishing a shoehorn. John Wrana, a 95-year-old World War II veteran, lived in an assisted living center, used a walker to get around, and was shot and killed by police who mistook the shoehorn in his hand for a 2-foot-long machete and fired multiple beanbag rounds from a shotgun at close range.
Killed for having your car break down on the road. Terence Crutcher, unarmed and black, was shot and killed by Oklahoma police after his car broke down on the side of the road. Crutcher was shot in the back while walking towards his car with his hands up.
Killed for holding a garden hose. California police were ordered to pay $6.5 million after they opened fire on a man holding a garden hose, believing it to be a gun. Douglas Zerby was shot 12 times and pronounced dead on the scene.
Killed for calling 911. Justine Damond, a 40-year-old yoga instructor, was shot and killed by Minneapolis police, allegedly because they were startled by a loud noise in the vicinity just as she approached their patrol car. Damond, clad in pajamas, had called 911 to report a possible assault in her neighborhood.
Killed for looking for a parking spot. Richard Ferretti, a 52-year-old chef, was shot and killed by Philadelphia police who had been alerted to investigate a purple Dodge Caravan that was driving âsuspiciouslyâ through the neighborhood.
Shot seven times for peeing outdoors. Eighteen-year-old Keivon Young was shot seven times by police from behind while urinating outdoors. Young was just zipping up his pants when he heard a commotion behind him and then found himself struck by a hail of bullets from two undercover cops. Allegedly officers mistook Youngâ5â4,â 135 lbs., and guilty of nothing more than taking a leak outdoorsâfor a 6â tall, 200 lb. murder suspect whom they later apprehended. Young was charged with felony resisting arrest and two counts of assaulting a peace officer.
This is what passes for policing in America today, folks, and itâs only getting worse.
In every one of these scenarios, police could have resorted to less lethal tactics.
They could have acted with reason and calculation instead of reacting with a killer instinct.
They could have attempted to de-escalate and defuse whatever perceived âthreatâ caused them to fear for their lives enough to react with lethal force.
That police instead chose to fatally resolve these encounters by using their guns on fellow citizens speaks volumes about what is wrong with policing in America today, where police officers are being dressed in the trappings of war, drilled in the deadly art of combat, and trained to look upon âevery individual they interact with as an armed threat and every situation as a deadly force encounter in the making.â
Remember, to a hammer, all the world looks like a nail.
Weâre getting killed, execution-style.
Violence begets violence: until we start addressing the U.S. governmentâs part in creating, cultivating and abetting a culture of violence, we will continue to be a nation plagued by violence in our homes, in our schools, on our streets and in our affairs of state, both foreign and domestic.
Libertarian
boosted
Most people support the police state until they become a victim of it.
- Libertarian
- https://neinchan.com/pol/
Joined May 2019
