The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[Malthus]

Here's an article about the ad campaign - it's to drum up interest in a new TV series.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.wired.com/2012/09/byzantium-security-international/amp

So, in short, it could be a real photo. Which was my question.

Thank you, Malthus.

Perfect photo if it is real.

It appears to be a real photo, albeit from eight years ago.

Plato wrote real works about fictional exchanges some years ago, but they still convey a message that is relevant.

The photo here is amusing because smiling cops in front of this ad (real or not) appears to convey the message that the cops approve of it, and are happy to guard the 1% and not care about anyone else.

My guess is that the pic was serendipitous, that the cops were not even aware of the ad, and the photographer got a lucky shot with plenty of ironic value. 

However, assuming they were aware of it, and were posing deliberately with it, doing so now in the middle of a huge crisis over public confidence in policing would be very tone-deaf on their part, to say the least ...

[Barrister]

However, assuming they were aware of it, and were posing deliberately with it, doing so now in the middle of a huge crisis over public confidence in policing would be very tone-deaf on their part, to say the least ...

Photo was from 2012.

[Malthus]

However, assuming they were aware of it, and were posing deliberately with it, doing so now in the middle of a huge crisis over public confidence in policing would be very tone-deaf on their part, to say the least ...

Photo was from 2012.

I know - see upthread where I said as much. 

[FunkMonk]

AP is reporting that the active-duty military forces sent to DC are starting to be pulled back to their home bases. The large protests have been all peaceful here since the initial rioting ebbed away, I think.

[The Brain]

AP is reporting that the active-duty military forces sent to DC are starting to be pulled back to their home bases.

So the Air Force is still out there?

[FunkMonk]

AP is reporting that the active-duty military forces sent to DC are starting to be pulled back to their home bases.

So the Air Force is still out there?

Don't forget Space Force.

[The Brain]

AP is reporting that the active-duty military forces sent to DC are starting to be pulled back to their home bases.

So the Air Force is still out there?

Don't forget Space Force.

Dammit!

[Barrister]

AP is reporting that the active-duty military forces sent to DC are starting to be pulled back to their home bases.

So the Air Force is still out there?

Don't forget Space Force.

That show is not as good as I thought it would be, in particular for all the big-name talent they have.

[PDH]

I know - see upthread where I said as much. 

I seem to recall that photo was from 2012

[The Brain]

2012 never actually happened. The Mayans were wrong.

[grumbler]

2012 never actually happened. The Mayans were wrong.

Some 1500 years ago, the Mayans predicted you would say that.

[The Brain]

2012 never actually happened. The Mayans were wrong.

Some 1500 years ago, the Mayans predicted you would say that.

OK that's actually spooky af.

[merithyn]

The photo here is amusing because smiling cops in front of this ad (real or not) appears to convey the message that the cops approve of it, and are happy to guard the 1% and not care about anyone else.

My guess is that the pic was serendipitous, that the cops were not even aware of the ad, and the photographer got a lucky shot with plenty of ironic value. 

That was my point. But clearly I'm an idiot for thinking so. It certainly, according to DG, didn't warrant the pinch face.

[The Larch]

The Youtube algorithm is a smart cookie, today it recommended me watching this episode on "The Broken Policing System" from Hasan Minhaj's show, from last September. It touches on many of the issues that need reform, some of which we mentioned over here. Training, virtual legal inmunity, attitudes, collusion with attorneys, the role of police unions in protecting their own...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km4uCOAzrbM

[Syt]

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/03/us/george-floyd-officers-charges/index.html

All four former officers involved in George Floyd's killing now face charges

(CNN)The former Minneapolis Police officer who pressed his knee into George Floyd's neck was charged with second-degree murder and the three other officers on scene during his killing are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, according to court documents.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's official announcement of the charges is expected to come Wednesday afternoon, more than a week after Floyd was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide protests that call for the end to police violence against black citizens.

The three other officers on scene, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

Chauvin, who had his knee pressed into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, had previously been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Lane and Keung, who helped restrain Floyd, and Thao, who stood near the others, were not initially charged.

Two autopsies on Floyd determined that he died by homicide. Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo fired the four officers and said they were "complicit" in Floyd's death. Floyd's family and protesters nationwide have called for them to be arrested and convicted for the killing.

According to the video and the criminal complaint, Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd's neck as Floyd pleaded that he could not breathe, as witnesses protested that he was dying, and even as Lane twice asked to turn him onto his side. Still, Chauvin kept his knee on his neck for almost three minutes after Floyd became unresponsive, the complaint states.

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for the Floyd family, said on Twitter that the family was gratified with the new charges.

"FAMILY REACTION: This is a bittersweet moment. We are deeply gratified that (Ellison) took decisive action, arresting & charging ALL the officers involved in #GeorgeFloyd's death & upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin to felony second-degree murder," he said.

Under Minnesota law, third-degree murder is defined as causing the death of a person "by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind," without regard for life but without intent to kill.

Second-degree murder, a more serious charge, is defined as when a person causes the death of another "without intent to effect the death of any person, while committing or attempting to commit a felony offense," according to an amended criminal complaint.

Minnesota AG cautioned for patience

Ellison was appointed by Gov. Tim Walz to take over the case from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman on Sunday.

A former Demoratic congressman, Ellison previously said that he had "every expectation" that charges will be filed against the officers and that he hoped they'd come soon. But on Monday, after taking over the case, he cautioned against a rush to judgment and said prosecutors will be careful and methodical in bringing charges.

"We are moving as expeditiously, quickly and effectively as we can," he said. "But I need to protect this prosecution. I am not going to create a situation where somebody can say this was a rush to judgement."

Police officers are rarely charged with crimes for violence against black men, and even in those rare cases, juries have repeatedly shown an unwillingness to convict. The list of such failed cases is long.

In 2017, for example, the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Castile was found not guilty of second-degree manslaughter and intentional discharge of firearm that endangers safety.