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| Death of a princess: Aiyana Jones, victim of the Homeland Security State |
In physics, the term "observer effect" describes how examining a phenomenon can change it, because of the influence of the instruments used to make the observation. Something similar happens to human interactions when cameras are present. The irresistible impulse to play to the lens makes human behavior mannered and self-aware. Every statement becomes a performance, every gesture a pose.
The steady onslaught of police propaganda shows of the "COPS" genre constitute the worst and most dangerous form of "reality" television.
A couple of years ago I coined the term "COPS Effect" to describe how pseudo-documentary programs glorifying the police abet irresponsible (but highly telegenic) use of paramilitary tactics. The presence of cameras during law enforcement operations often triggers a condition I call "Showtime Syndrome," a frequently lethal tendency toward self-dramatization on the part of police.
Conflict and danger, whether genuine or contrived, make for high-impact television; de-escalation and sober, careful police work do not. Thus embedding camera crews with the police -- only officially vetted personnel from State-aligned media are suitable; Mundanes with cameras are subject to summary arrest -- creates a perverse incentive for "peace" officers to choose an approach more likely to result in avoidable death, injury, and property destruction.
Conflict and danger, whether genuine or contrived, make for high-impact television; de-escalation and sober, careful police work do not. Thus embedding camera crews with the police -- only officially vetted personnel from State-aligned media are suitable; Mundanes with cameras are subject to summary arrest -- creates a perverse incentive for "peace" officers to choose an approach more likely to result in avoidable death, injury, and property destruction.
Aiyana Jones, the 7-year-old girl shot to death early Sunday (May 17) during a SWAT raid on her Detroit home, was almost certainly a victim of the "COPS Effect."
Troops from the Detroit Police Department's Special Reaction Team ("troops" is a more appropriate description than "officers") seeking a murder suspect executed a no-knock warrant on the home where Aiyana was sleeping on the couch.
Despite warnings from neighbors that there were children present in the home -- a fact attested by the toys scattered in the front yard -- the SRT paramilitaries chose a Fallujah-style "dynamic entry," hurling a flash-bang grenade through a closed window and storming through the front door with guns drawn.
Despite warnings from neighbors that there were children present in the home -- a fact attested by the toys scattered in the front yard -- the SRT paramilitaries chose a Fallujah-style "dynamic entry," hurling a flash-bang grenade through a closed window and storming through the front door with guns drawn.
The incendiary grenade landed on the couch where Aiyana was sleeping. Her father claims that the child suffered burns as a result. Seconds later, she was dead.
One of the SRT troopers engaged in what was called a "tussle" with Mertilla Jones, Aiyana's grandmother. In the antiseptic and completely dishonest language favored by the state-aligned media, the officer's gun "went off."
This means, apparently, that the inanimate object simply discharged sua sponte, independent of intentional or negligent action on the part of its owner, a fully credentialed member of the exalted "Only Ones" -- as in "law enforcement and the military are the Only Ones who should be permitted to own and carry firearms."
This means, apparently, that the inanimate object simply discharged sua sponte, independent of intentional or negligent action on the part of its owner, a fully credentialed member of the exalted "Only Ones" -- as in "law enforcement and the military are the Only Ones who should be permitted to own and carry firearms."
Firearms in the hands of the hoi polloi, we are told, have a way of spontaneously firing and killing innocent children. Oddly enough, that's what supposedly happened to a beautiful 7-year-old girl named Aiyana Jones.
The raid took place at about 12:30 a.m. The individual being sought at the multi-family dwelling was a suspect in a murder that took place at about 3:00 p.m. the previous Friday. Police report that they arrested the suspect at the duplex where the raid occurred. However, they pointedly refuse to say whether the shooting death of Aiyana Jones took place in the same unit where the suspect was found.
This was not a hostage situation. The proverbial clock wasn't ticking. Why didn't the police quietly set up a perimeter at the targeted address, and wait until the suspect left the building? Why stage a post-midnight paramilitary raid against a home where children were present?
A paragraph found toward the end of a Detroit Free Press account provides a likely answer:
"Outside the home, the department's special response team was prepared to go in. Film crews with A&E's `The First 48' reality show, which follows police departments nationwide during the crucial 48 hours after a homicide is committed, were taping the team for a documentary. Police spokesman John Roach said the tapes will be reviewed as part of the investigation."
In other words, the decision-making process in this investigation was being distorted by the "COPS Effect." The department insists that this was a high-risk warrant enforcement operation, but it wasn't too dangerous to bring a camera crew along. Had the intent been simply to capture a murder suspect, the police could have sent a team of street officers and homicide detectives, rather than the paramilitary goon squad and their archivists.
Detroit is an economic moonscape in which the police -- through the institutionalized larceny called "asset forfeiture" -- have become the single largest source of property crime. The SRT and the Narcotics Enforcement Division (which is trained by the SRT) average two full-force raids each day, most of them conducted against single- and multi-family dwellings.
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A few years ago, the SRT was featured in an A&E "reality" program entitled "SWAT." Viewers learned, among other things, that each member of the 21-officer SRT is given a GI Joe-style "codename" that is "based upon a specific action, or character trait that the officer has. These codenames are used as tactical call signs, similarly to how pilots in the military refer to one another."
If the member of this little club who shot Aiyana hasn't been assigned a codename, I think "Fumbles" would make the best match for his skill-set.
The SRT, described as "one of the nation's most elite SWAT teams," was also featured on Attack of the Show in a segment heavy on hardware porn and loaded with preening and posturing by overgrown adolescents who get to wear bitchin' black outfits and carry great big guns.
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The SRT's armory, cooed the man-crushing host, is "beyond impressive," and its techniques and tactics are "awesome." Sure, the unit isn't all that useful when it comes to protecting life, liberty, and property, but it certainly looks intimidating, especially on television.
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Just another day in the Reich: A child uses the bathroom under the benevolent gaze of a stormtrooper during a paramilitary drug raid. |
Of course, this is precisely the point: Paramilitary outfits of this kind are designed to advertise the might of the State. That's why the cameras were along to capture the early morning raid that claimed the life of Aiyana Jones, and it's why the SRT -- rather than a less dangerous and less telegenic police unit -- was assigned that task in the first place.
The life of Aiyana Jones -- may she rest in God's peace -- ended violently in an act of homeland security agitprop. She wasn't the first to die that way, and won't be the last.
UPDATE
Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who is representing the family of Aiyana Jones, claims that "video footage shows police fired into the home at least once after lobbying a flash grenade through the window."
This apparently contradicts the official account in which Jones was killed by a round fired in an accidental discharge during a "tussle" between one of the raiders and Aiyana's 46-year-old grandmother.
Tune in each Saturday night (8:00-11:00 Mountain Time, 9:00-Midnight Central) for Pro Libertate Radio on the Liberty News Radio Network. Be sure to check out the archives and podcasts as well.
Dum spiro, pugno!
34 comments:
Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad -- Euripides.
Who will make the argument that this country is not absolutely stark raving crazy?
I cannot describe how disgusted I am by this story. These are the decisions and actions of what we are to believe are responsible adults?!!? Are Americans good at anything anymore save mindless violence? I fear we are too far gone to ever make it back.
May God lovingly accept this beautiful child into his arms and grant those who loved her peace.
Since I am not a fan of reality television, when I first read the Detroit Free Press article I skimmed right through the paragraph about A&E's "The First 48" without it even registering on my brain.
Thank-you for pointing out this connection. Knowing that the response team was on camera brings the whole tragic incident into a new light. Now I understand the flash-bang and the paramilitary response. I was wondering why a simple homicide arrest would be so violently executed.
You are spot on. It is indeed a direct result of "showtime syndrome". Just as in the great "spectacles" of the Roman colisuems, the real blame falls on the greatest beneficiaries: the audience and the government.
May the Lord welcome her with open arms.
Which brings up the question of- Is the television program going to show the film, "How to kill a seven year old in the execution of a warrant." A real ratings boost for what goes for entertainment these days. The list of disgusting things grows.
It's only anecdotal but I've been told by some ex-servicemen who were in Fallujah that the tactics being employed by SWAT teams would not be be tolerated by the military.
I'm confused. Is this a "wow" or an absolutely, amazingly, unbelievable, (yet believable) act from our "local protective" police? Brings such comfort to the soul to know we are in such good hands doesn't it?
Heard this on the radio in the car this morning and was wondering if you'd be blogging about it, Will. I work in the Detroit area so is big news here. You didn't disappoint - I missed the (very important) part about the documentary also when I read the online articles. As a father of two little girls (you have two also if I remember correctly) this was so hard to hear about - the cops made the father lay face down in his own daughter's blood. I pray that our Heavenly Father welcomes this precious child into His loving arms and comforts her family left here on earth.
Here's a place where we agree, although I'm not sure what is meant by- "In the antiseptic and completely dishonest language favored by the state-aligned media" your going a bit far there in my opinion but I get your meaning. This is a tragic example for me of corporate media gone askew not state. The only tool we have to change this is regulation? But in any case we agree on the fundamentals. The rest is just political degrees.
Todd asked:
Are Americans good at anything anymore save mindless violence?
I really hate to give Amerika or the detritus that populates it in the majority credit for being “good” at anything. I think I'd prefer to use the word “practiced” here. So, substituting that word in your question for the original, the only answer any attuned observer could offer is a resounding “no.”
@Greyhawk:
I think an even more important question is: Can the A&E Network be held legally or criminally liable, along with “Detroit's Scummiest” for this act of wanton, murderous violence? I would think that a case could be made (albeit with considerable difficulty) that, absent the presence of media, the arrest that served as the pretext for the raid would have been conducted in a much more reasonable and professional manner that would have avoided endangering innocent lives, and thus precluded Aiyana Jones's death. Can any attorneys in the room offer insight?
And finally, as libertarian who believes in non-aggression as codified by “the Golden Rule,” I am not one to inflict violence on others, nor do I wish to see it inflicted upon anyone else. However, should any of the toy soldier-wannabes responsible for Aiyana's death meet a grotesquely violent end themselves, my tear ducts will not dispense one drop of their precious liquid in response to the news. I fear too that my soul would involuntarily feel something akin to acute satisfaction.
If I were that child’s father, I would make it my life’s sole focus to get revenge on the thugs that robbed my daughter of her life. There would be NO quarter given, and certainly none asked. “Revenge is mine sayeth the Lord”, but I know that occasionally he uses human hands to wreak his vengeance. I would pray fervently to be those hands if I were that grieving Daddy.
Thank you for blogging on this today. I, too, read the report yesterday and was hoping you'd write about it. I am so thankful to have found your blog in the past month.
This proves that there is a real problem in the USA(Under Satan's Authority)Individuals who are suppose to protect the civilians of the land, are killing civilians and children. I dont want to hear the Detroit police's exuses for what happened. I want to see justice served to the vicious piece of swine that killed a young child...he should pay with his own life. Fuck the police!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, since the girl was black, instead of focusing on government and police abuses and powers, the media will just incessantly report on the "racism" of the police.
More of the Amerikan Reich's SS (Detroit Area Division) at its' worst.
I'm glad to see that America is waking up to the self evident reality that many of us have been screaming about for years.
That the police in this country are completely out of control. That is most cities you are more likely to be e victim of police brutality than the victim of a "violent crime".
And to the family of this beautiful little girl,
Heaven has one more Angel tonight.
Eventually, I think we're going to start seeing ambushes of SWAT teams.
The on-the-spot-cameraman reminds me of how Vietnam was considered the first real time TV war. I understand many military officers, following the footsteps of that ego tripping blowhard MacArthur from WW2 and Korea, would set up unnecessary and excessive missions for the camera so as to enhance their careers and PR performed excessive. Wonder how many innocent Vietnamese "extras" playing their part suffered and died for those scripted film clips for the six o'clock news.
That does not take away the crime of this raid on this apartment. Most likely it would have happened ths same as SOP anyway, with or without cameras. I mean, think about it--When have any LE suffered anything more then transitory embarrassment from such acts anyway? The fact that they go unpunished and it keeps happening means that the system has already reached a critical corruption level.
Will, this is beyond belief: A child murdered sleeping in her own home! I don't think I would have been aware of the increasing identification of police with the military if not for your blog. Now I notice more and more the little tin god mentality showing up in police "officers." Good lord, can't we be content with slaughtering children in foreign countries? Must we gun down our own, too? Come to think of it, why such a furor over this little girl, but so little over the others? Because she was an American and somehow, is worth more than those children we kill overseas? A shameful incident to match the horrors we inflict on middle eastern children.
Another billboard of tragedy along Empires highway to hell.
This is a sad example, yet again, of the media halo mentality, the "cops-effect", Warhols fifteen minutes of fame. And as its been shown the "story" gets spun from the beginning. One only need remember the Waco raid and how TV camera footage was clearly being shot at the same time. Why? Because they were told to be there for something big to go down and capture it all on tape so later the department could justify its budget.. it's very existence. But, Ooops!, it didn't go down like they'd planned. Just dig around and see if the Detroit chief or some flunky and his department were trying to push for some bond election or pay increase or what not... The camera crew is only an excuse for something else. Follow the money.
And on top of all this miserable tragedy I'm struck by, yet again, the Ubermensch Militarisch outfits being sported by these goons. Are you sure they weren't filming another RoboCop show? As I recall Detroit is where that was set. And, I repeat myself, check and see how many of these paladins are ex-military... or better yet... ex-Iraq/Afghan vets.
Nothing can be done. The oligarchy loves ubiquitous SWAT teams terrorizing the population just as much as it loves massive illegal immigration terrorizing the population of AZ and lowering wage levels and degrading the quality of life everywhere.
SWAT teams in Maryland:
http://reason.com/archives/2010/03/01/45-swat-raids-per-day
(...)
Over the last six months of 2009, SWAT teams were deployed 804 times in the state of Maryland, or about 4.5 times per day. In Prince George's County alone, with its 850,000 residents, a SWAT team was deployed about once per day. According to a Baltimore Sun analysis, 94 percent of the state's SWAT deployments were used to serve search or arrest warrants, leaving just 6 percent in response to the kinds of barricades, bank robberies, hostage takings, and emergency situations for which SWAT teams were originally intended.
Worse even than those dreary numbers is the fact that more than half of the county’s SWAT deployments were for misdemeanors and nonserious felonies. That means more than 100 times last year Prince George’s County brought state-sanctioned violence to confront people suspected of nonviolent crimes. And that's just one county in Maryland.
(...)
We all need to remember that the officer who killed this little girl was only doing his job.
Of course, that's what his job is, terrorizing and killing the lowly serfs so that they will obey their political and corporate masters. Officer Friendly retired long ago. What we have now are Clockwork Orange hooligans with SWAT uniforms and full auto weapons.
This is why I cheer and laugh every time I hear about some cop getting killed.
You should stop using the media cop-prop term "accidental discharge." Certainly if, say, someone with a concealed carry permit shot an innocent bystander by an unintended (or so it is claimed) discharge, it wouldn't be deemed an "accidental discharge" --it would be called a negligent discharge, and he'd be prosecuted for murder or manslaughter.
I pulled this quote from an article about a Canadian soldier shot in a game of quick draw (http://www.themarknews.com/articles/1222-negligent-discharge-what-s-in-a-name):
"A number of armed forces organizations automatically consider any accidental discharge to be negligent, under the assumption that a trained soldier ought to have control of his or her weapon at all times."
I think the Canadian military assumption is standard practice just about everywhere. In my experience, the only thing that qualifies as an "accidental" discharge is something beyond the control of the shooter, such as worn sear causing more than one round to fire from a single pull of the trigger. I bet that's how the Detroit police are trained too.
THANK YOU for posting this! I really like your blog!!
Common Cents
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com
ps. Care to exchange links???
Will,
You just hit another homer way over the center field fence with the bases loaded. You are the Lou Gehrig* of libertarianism.
*Most lifetime grand slam homers.
Despite the inherent awfulness of showing shit like this on TV, there’s a chance the footage could aid an investigation into what exactly happened. For the sake of the girl’s family, let’s hope it does.
Has anybody noticed that the picture of the swat man in the bathroom with the young child who is using the toilet is a picture too close to the border line of child pornography? Who the hell took that picture??? I am appalled.
" Mike Wallace reran the "60 Minutes'" January episode May 23, 1993 and declared, "Almost all the agents we talked to said that they believe the initial attack on that cult in Waco was a publicity stunt--the main goal of which was to improve the ATF's tarnished image." At trial several agents stated that a lead BATF agent yelled the very publicity-conscious phrase "It's showtime!" as they exited the trailers.
From Carol Moore's book, The Davidian Massacre. See http://www.carolmoore.net/waco/TDM-03.html
@ Anon 1:38:
I made that same observation on this blog a year or so ago when Will first posted this pic in an article of similar theme. My very first thought was "I'll bet this picture was shot by a 'sympathetic' copscum just seconds before the clonewarrior copscum sexually assaulted this kid."
As this source would seem to indicate (and this represents mere frost on the tip of the proverbial iceberg), paedophilia is a VERY COMMON trait among today's copscum.
On a separate but related note, God's strength to Aiyana's family for choosing to use the courts to punish the copscum who murdered their child. My own grandson being exactly Aiyana's age, I cannot say for certain that I would take the high road if I was in her father or grandmother's shoes, but I certainly hope and pray (admittedly against all logical odds) that TRUE JUSTICE will be done!
Anonymous @1:26pm:
You are so right. I'm an experienced shooter and I have seen or know of several inadvertent discharges of a firearm. Only one was truly accidental (an old pistol with a badly worn sear). The rest were from negligence. Fortunately, none of them injured a bystander, but two injured the negligent person, one fatally.
I have been a police officer for just over ten years and on our agency's SRT team for over seven. Our tactics and methods of carrying out search warrants has changed with the times. Everyone on the team has heard the stories, passed down by now retired members, of a "running and gunning" age. A time when doors were kicked in and suspects forcefully taken into custody.
My experience on the team has been far from that. We plan out operations in a detailed manner and take into account children, elderly, seriousness of the crime, etc... We have even considered, and used, the "sit and wait" method as mentioned in your article.
I feel sad for the death of Aiyana and for the sorrow felt by her family. There is no excuse for such a loss and it goes without saying, those whom are responsible should be punished for their actions. I have not experienced anything close to what the family is going through and it will be in my mind every time I am on an operation.
I have been on another side of your article. I've been the officer dressed in body armour, holding the infant, or helping the toddler get dressed after an early morning raid in which his crack dealing parents left him to sleep on the couch with nothing but a diaper. Let me mention that it was also in the dead of winter and the parents had the space heater in their room. I look at the picture of the officer helping the child in the restroom and see a side of compassion and of contrast, not of force and mean scary Storm Trooper.
You have to look at officers and SWAT teams as individual units. We all look the same, dress the same, and have similar roles, but to classify us all as "tyrants" is absurd. I can't tell you how much backlash we feel on the East coast when an event ,like the one in the article, occurs half way across the country. How am I directly responsible for the actions of another? We have teams within close proximity of our jurisdiction that have tactics and policies that none of my fellow teammates would feel comfortable acting alongside. The point I'm trying to make is, it would be wrong of an officer to make a judgement on a civilian based on his appearance, his "uniform", or the group he hangs out with. The same should hold true for police.
As far as why a "dynamic entry" is made on warrant for a homicide suspect, there are too many questions and too many factors to address when all of us (the public) don't have access to the specific case. It's easy to sit back and "Monday Morning Quarterback". Does anyone know the history of the suspect, the residence layout and if it is used as a drug house, etc..? Just because neighbors knew there to be kids inside doesn't mean the people are saints. Most drug houses have kids inside.
Blanket criticism of the police and their methods is like criticizing the cable company or an airline pilot. You don't know their job and you don't know why they do what they do....
To the blogger who wrote, "Fuck the police", and the other that "cheers and laughs" at reports of officers getting killed, I'm sure I've responded to the many times that you've called for help and I will continue to do just that. Someday you will appreciate those that put themselves in harms way to protect people they don't know.
I think 'Fallujah-style' was spot on. Many people in law enforcement are either deployed or will be hired from the ranks of veterans. Some of them are sociopathic and some of them are generally good people whose minds are 'broken' by the war(s). Either way, we will see more of this in the future as our urban landscapes - and the relationship between 'security' forces and citizens - start to emulate those we have created overseas.
NEW LAW THE Aiyana Jones BILL
As of this date _____/_____/____________/ no American police officer can murder a unarmed American citizen and remain a police officer! Especially if he or she shoots a person in the back faces down! He or she will be fire immediately! And charge with a crime! If the American citizen is unarmed and under the age of 18 years of age! The police Officer be charge with "first degree murder"! If the unarmed American citizen is unarmed and innocent and is injure by being beaten or taser a cop that is found to use unnecessary force! That cop cannot ever have use of that equipment! He or she will be fire immediately!
All raids that are conducted officers must investigate first that children under the age of 12 ARE NOT PRESENT! If a child or children are present under the age of 12 years old. A raid cannot be conducted! If a senior citizen is present over the age of 60 year old a raid cannot be conducted!
A cop CANNOT taser a pregnant American citizen or senior citizen! If a pregnant citizen is injure from being taser that officer will be charge with double offences! Police can no longer place American citizen on the ground to handcuff nor can they place a knee on a American citizen back,neck or head!
Ones a American citizen is handcuff he or she is place in the patrol car. NOT made to lay on the ground or patrol car. Also a senior citizen on oxygen CANNOT BE TASER!
A AMERICAN CITIZEN
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Little Aiyana Jones is dead just 7 years old at the hands of Detroit Police Officer. They first burn the sleeping child then shot her dead in the neck. In the last ten years it seem that white cops accidentally shoot black children as young as two years old! Tasering senior citizen and pregnant black women are now the norm. Please send this Bill to your Mayor, Senators, President and all law makers! Asked them to past this bill to protect all American!
NEW LAW THE Aiyana Jones BILL
As of this date _____/_____/____________/ no American police officer can murder a unarmed American citizen and remain a police officer! Especially if he or she shoots a person in the back faces down! He or she will be fire immediately! And charge with a crime! If the American citizen is unarmed and under the age of 18 years of age! The police Officer be charge with "first degree murder"! If the unarmed American citizen is unarmed and innocent and is injure by being beaten or taser a cop that is found to use unnecessary force! That cop cannot ever have use of that equipment! He or she will be fire immediately!
All raids that are conducted officers must investigate first that children under the age of 12 ARE NOT PRESENT! If a child or children are present under the age of 12 years old. A raid cannot be conducted! If a senior citizen is present over the age of 60 year old a raid cannot be conducted!
A cop CANNOT taser a pregnant American citizen or senior citizen! If a pregnant citizen is injure from being taser that officer will be charge with double offences! Police can no longer place American citizen on the ground to handcuff nor can they place a knee on a American citizen back,neck or head!
Ones a American citizen is handcuff he or she is place in the patrol car. NOT made to lay on the ground or patrol car. Also a senior citizen on oxygen CANNOT BE TASER!
A AMERICAN CITIZEN
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Little Aiyana Jones is dead just 7 years old at the hands of Detroit Police Officer. They first burn the sleeping child then shot her dead in the neck. In the last ten years it seem that white cops accidentally shoot black children as young as two years old! Tasering senior citizen and pregnant black women are now the norm. Please send this Bill to your Mayor, Senators, President and all law makers! Asked them to past this bill to protect all American!
jaxan97 if you are a police officer all that shit you just wrote is just that SHIT! I was a correction officer State and County and worked as a Drug Counselor in a correctional facility! Over twenty plus years of experience as a law enforcement officer! These incident of black children being murder by cops is a result of not disciplining or correcting white police officers that are stupid racist and down right cowards! Go to Montana where there a Meth Lab on justabout every street majority white children living in these Meth Lab! Police raids going on and NEVER do you hear white children getting accidentally MURDER! These incidents of murdering black children are a result of white people raising their white children to believe white is good and black is less then human. The lack of white leadership in law enforcement and a racist and bias justice system is responsible for the pure hatred of black people and the lack of concern for their life! Black children as young as two and adults black old as 92 are shot and murder by racist stupid low life white cops! If black cops murder as many white children as white cops have murder black children. Those black cops would be in prison. White cops hold the record of shooting and murdering BLACK COPS! From 2005 to 2010 "29" black cops have been either shot and killed or shot by white cops and injure! White cops believe all blacks even black cops are the bad people! jaxan97 you and other cops like you know the truth but are pure coward and afraid to admit the truth about racist cops stupid cops and gun happy coward COP! So black people just wait for the next incident (and there will be one) white cops don't fear discipline and they sure as hell give a damn about a GOD!
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