beyond black and white America is grey (sanity?)

This Facebook post yesterday attracted comments from white Republican friend Mark, white retired U.S. Navy officer Jim, whom I got to know somewhat in Key West, and white Democrat Facebook friend Diane.

Sloan Bashinsky

Maybe photo of Derek Chauvin killing George Floyd should be prominent in every law enforcement precinct in America. Been seeing on Facebook pretty good amount of right wing reaction to Chauvin being convicted on all counts. Absolutely zero acceptance that he is guilty. All sorts of arguments having zero relationship with actual facts. Then was the argument that the jury feared retaliation if they did not convict. I think the jury should be given round the clock protection from people who say Chauvin was railroaded.

 

 

 

Mark
Sloan, you're just flat out wrong about right wing reaction not accepting the verdict. You're spending too much time on slantbook and your favorite propaganda site CNN... Most everyone I know saw this as murder 11 months ago and still today... I am pleased with the verdict, the system worked! Was George Floyd a choir boy, HELL NO, he had a checkered thuggish past. But he did not deserve to die beneath the knee of this BAD COP.

Sloan Bashinsky
Glad you saw it as murder. Try reading, again what I wrote about what I am seeing on Facebook, which is a fact. Here it is, to save you time.
"Been seeing on Facebook pretty good amount of right wing reaction to Chauvin being convicted on all counts. Absolutely zero acceptance that he is guilty. All sorts of arguments having zero relationship with actual facts. Then was the argument that the jury feared retaliation if they did not convict."

Mark
No need to copy/paste as I saw your post. I think the jury got it right, but Maxine Waters may have given a “get out of jail card” to Chauvin out of her ignorance which is nothing new as she is a professional race baiter...

Sloan Bashinsky
Those FB right wingers remind me of people who say the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump and Antifa stormed the Capitol.
Maxine Waters should be muzzled and removed from Congress re her actions and words before the verdict came in, and Nancy Pelosi, too, for defending Waters.

Jim
Sloan, I'm with Mark. I think right-leaning, conservative people all saw it as murder. They had no issue with the charges our outcomes. What I do see them soap boxing are the riots and looting as a result of the crime. Yeah, I think that's wrong but folks gotta ask why they're so mad that they riot? That is much more difficult to answer and resolve. Everyone on both sides of the aisle need to work on that. Defunding police isn't the answer but raising taxes to provide for more social services may be.

Diane
Mark, that is well said
Sloan, I'm sure Chauvin still wants to tell you, he was just doing his job & many will agree, guess what? We just proved - he wasn't & we aren't going to support this in any way. Chauvin gave us a real live display of white privilege- killing another human before our eyes

Sloan Bashinsky

Diane, That he did, and based on what I already have seen on Facebook, I bet millions of white conservative Americans think Chauvin never should have been prosecuted. I really tire of white conservatives endlessly pointing the finger at blacks, BLM, when their own house plenty foul.

Sloan Bashinsky

Jim, I think you live in a parallel dimension, if you say right-leaning conservative people all (emphasis all) saw it as murder and had no issue with the charges and outcome. I deplore the riots, be they over a white cop killing a black person, or be they whites storming the Capitol. It seems to be a fact, if a white cop kills a black suspect, there will be riots. Perhaps white cops should think about that a bit more? 

A white cop killed a black teen girl yesterday, who was slashing at another young black woman with a kitchen knife. Police are supposed to stop people from doing that to other people. But shoot her 4 times, once after she hit the ground? I read that this morning. I am totally against defunding police departments, however my years Key West taught me that cops don't police cops very well, consider the 3 cops who stood by while Chauvin killed Floyd. I think a coming together across the aisles is not likely, but wish it was.

Jim

Sloan, curious if you saw anything else in that body cam video besides the officer shooting the girl who appeared ready to stab someone?

Sloan Bashinsky

I have not seen that video, just read about it, will try to see the video later. But if you care to elucidate my ignorance, I'm all ears.

The person who posted about it on FB said the video was too awful to post, and my comment to her was the video was crucial evidence.

Jim

Not only do you see the officer shooting the girl about to stab another girl but you see a black man kicking a girl who is down on the ground. He is not shot. So the officer focused on the person with the weapon though another victim was being attacked at the same time. Very chaotic. I think the officer did the right thing.

Sloan Bashinsky

If only one officer at scene, think he had to focus on girl with knife. It ain't easy being a cop in America today. The knife case seems very different genre than cops killing George Floyd and Daunte Wright.

Jim

You’re absolutely right. Each scenario has it’s own decision points. I’m glad the police are sharing body Cam footage with haste. I think it reduces the low flash point of a potential riot.

Sloan Bashinsky

I recall Key West PD and Sheriff slow to have officers wear body cams, and after they had them, oh, he forgot to turn it on that time, or it got erased, etc. Good thing bystanders at Floyd's execution had their own cameras.

I agree on sharing body cams with public to try to head off riots.

Sloan Bashinsky

I just now watched the body cam, finally found it at YouTube after opening several articles only to read they would not show the cam because it's too graphic. Clearly, a black woman is wielding a large knife in her right hand and is swinging it right to left, point of blade at another black woman close enough to be stabbed in her left ribs. Also, a black man kicking a third black woman on the ground some distance from the other two women. I can't see the shooting in the video, I think I heard a series of shots. If the cop had not shot the woman with the knife, and the other woman was stabbed, would the cop be blamed for that? Found myself thinking today, people behaving rabid with a knife, gun, club, or whatever, perhaps they should have thought ahead of time about how that might turn out? What a mess.

Police officer shot and killed teen girl holding a knife, bodycam shows

Police officer shot and killed teen girl holding a knife, bodycam shows

 

sloanbashinsky@yahoo.com