The cover of Time Magazine...

[one_voice]

Time magazine's cover story this week explores the aftermath of a South Carolina police officer shooting an unarmed, retreating black man. Despite a disturbing trend of black men dying at the hands of police officers around the US, Time's cover shows why this incident is different — a video emerged.

*snip*

The cover, which shows stills from a cellphone video taken by a bystander, shows North Charleston police officer Michael Slager moments before firing eight shots at Walter Scott, an unarmed black man whom he stopped earlier for having a broken taillight.

Five of those shots hit Scott, and he died at the scene.

Before the video emerged, Slager had told a different story.

According to Slager's version, during a scuffle Scott had taken control of his Taser, and Slager fired his weapon because he felt threatened.

After the video became public, Slager was fired from the police force and charged with murder.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/times-cover-says-black-lives-matter-2015-4#ixzz3WrIp1oaH

[cyberswede]

1. "this time..."

yeah.

[samsingh]

31. there have been many many times

I fear that the number of black people murdered by cops will be an incredibly high number

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

35. Shoulda been: "what the fuck took so damn long to charge these assholes with murder?"

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. Happily recommend./NT

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. How about "About time the charge is murder..."

[Gidney N Cloyd]

12. ...

[AllyCat]

19. ^^^this

[Kath1]

53. Thank you!

My thoughts, exactly.

[libdem4life]

4. What has more power than a gun? A cell phone camera. n/t

[homegirl]

7. A picture

is worth a thousand words.

[yellowwoodII]

6. I like it

I already knew that. But say it again.

[Stellar]

8. hear,hear n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. k&r

[Rosa Luxemburg]

10. This has been going on for years throughout the USA

nice to know the Times has admitted that it 'cares'

[Maraya1969]

18. Has it always been this bad? If that is true I feel sick.

I feel a responsibility to always have my video recorder on now also.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

29. I think it has.

We're not seeing anything new. What's new is that we're seeing it.

Ie, it's been going on all along, there's just more evidence available, and people are sharing that evidence more widely, which makes it harder for police to simply write up whatever the hell they want in the police reports and automatically be believed by the public at large.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

46. ^ n/t

[bvar22]

47. It has become so routine for cops to carry a "throw down" gun

for when they shoot an unarmed person
that it has become a TV cliche'.

[tblue37]

23. Time Magazine, not The New York Times. nt

[qwlauren35]

11. I have this funny feeling

That this edition of Time won't sell well, and that the Letters to the Editor will praise cops and say that Time is blowing things out of proportion.


Hopefully, I'm wrong, but let's give it two weeks and see what happens.

[ann---]

28. You may be right

which worries me that this murderer will not be convicted because of
a sympathetic white jury.

[cascadiance]

54. Those of us who don't purchase corporate media should make a point of buying this issue!

AND buying it with our credit card and not cash, so that they can tie back to our history of NOT buying other corporate media so that they can see the potential customers they are losing now when they have made a habit before this issue of only covering infotainment instead of news. Maybe if enough of us go out and make a point of doing this, we can make a point to them that their infotainment mantra they've been following in recent decades is the WRONG approach, both from the standpoint of the principles of a free press, AND that they aren't making as much money as they could if they would do it right.

I used to work at a tv station for local news then back in the early 80's, when the Reagan war on the news media started.

I remember then the sales department pressuring the news department to prioritize news based on how much the content of the news story was similar to the lead in show before the 11 PM news on the network, rather than its newsworthiness. I remember then also that there were labor unrest issues where a number of people trying to organize labor were fired and it was unreported by the two companies that controlled all of the news media in that city.

BUT, I also remember some many very decent reporters then, and news producers, that as the decent human beings they were, fought hard to bring us the news then, and not allow these forces to stand in the way of it and often times were able to succeed doing so. Perhaps there are people in Time that are also using this story as a way of defying the corporate agenda on a given occasion, and in these situations, they need to get us supporting them so that they can do it again.. and again... and AGAIN!!!!

I remember finding on the newswire as it was coming off the ticker the story of John Belushi dying then during the local news broadcast, and was able to get it to the news anchor to read it on the local news before they went to national news then. News can work I want to believe. We just need to make a mission of it, and not stop when the money people try to make it stop!

[brooklynite]

13. This is the corporatist media, right?

[RiffRandell]

14. K&R!

[myrna minx]

16. This is an appalling suggestion. I recommend you deleting this.

[johnnyreb]

17. Good on Time, sear those words into the public mind.

[Moonwalk]

20. Time magazine is being optimistic....

That this time the charge is murder (and yes agree it should read "about time the charge is murder&quot , doesn't mean black lives matter. It won't mean that till (1) the charge sticks, and (2) the repercussions of this lead to significant and powerful changes.

Until and unless these happen, Time is presenting a faulty premise.

[nilram]

22. damn, I'm buying this. Not that I need the news, but

maybe they'll get my me$$age. Thanks.

[tblue37]

24. Me, too, though I normally don't buy _Time_. nt

[Major Hogwash]

25. Well, maybe now we can have a discussion in this country of white cops who kill unarmed black men.

YA THINK???

[merrily]

26. ALL. LIVES. (SHOULD). MATTER.

All lives should always have mattered. Unfortunately, money and power and class and race divisions seem to have mattered much, much more.

Can we change? Do we want to? Will we?

[madokie]

27. The thing is the very best President America has had

since day one is a Black Man. I'd give my life for his any day any time. Yes I'd do that. To me the most important thing is the future of my 8 year old grand daughter and this President cares about her about as much or more than I do, if thats even possible.

[samsingh]

30. very sad and powerful - kick 1000 times

fuk all the idiots who have apologized for murdering cops in the past - mostly repugs and fox news imbeciles.

[Jefferson23]

32. Takes a video to make the cover of Time. n/t

[justiceischeap]

33. There was a video of Eric Garner's death

and no Time magazine cover.

[Jefferson23]

34. Exactly, because they decided that video was not definitive enough, evidently.

They have no courage at Time.

[rhett o rick]

36. An issue here that should not be overlooked is the fact that the Police lie about murder.

That should be a crime. They do it because there is no consequences, even when caught red handed. There must be consequences if it's discovered that the Police Dept is lying to cover up evidence in a police shooting event.

[Jackpine Radical]

39. I'm gonna suggest we cut a little slack in this case.

Not for the killer, but for the Dept.

Prior to the emergence of the video, afaik, the only initial information the PD had about the incident was from the murdering cop. I find it hard to fault them for releasing what he said--it was really all they had, and of course there his huge public pressure to release something.

They may or may not have properly investigated the killing without the video emerging. They might have ended up being complicit in the coverup, but they never really had an opportunity to demonstrate otherwise.

[uppityperson]

42. others were there not administering CPR like they said they did and a second cop saw

him plant the "evidence", seen on the video. So no. Other cops supported those lies.

[Jackpine Radical]

45. OK. To be honest, I didn't delve into the details before commenting.

It's no doubt a personal failing of mine, but I have no taste for violent crime stories of any kind, & find it painful reading. Of course, I just retired from decades as a criminal forensic psychologist, so I guess I earned my aversion to crime stories.

[bvar22]

48. They KNOW.

They ALL know.
Most carry untraceable throw down (throw away) guns for when they shoot unarmed people. They just drop it next to the body.
This is so common that it has become a TV cliche.

[Jackpine Radical]

56. I know at least 2 cops whom I would trust to do the right thing

in just about any situation.

Most of them, maybe not.

[Sparhawk60]

37. Good

Hopefully, this will be the beginning of change.

[WillyT]

38. K & R !!!

[libodem]

40. Survival technique:

[img][/img]

[L0oniX]

41. +1

[qwlauren35]

43. Wow!

Talk about accurate.

[libodem]

44. This toon showed up on DU

Just after a discussion in another thread about how officers have gone after people for literally looking at them wrong and not lowering his eyes.

Dragonfly brought up a point about Apes. If you stare at one they will charge you. Cop behavior has become animalistic.

[hifiguy]

49. The difference is that a bear will stop if it thinks you are dead.

A kkkop will make damned sure that someone actually IS dead and won't walk away. See that horrible video where a cop sicced a dog on an unconscious and unresponsive man who later died. And yes, the man was black.

[libodem]

51. I saw that

But couldn't click. Horrifying.

[tabasco]

50. LATE.TO.THE.PARTY

Asshole media needs a murder video before it screeches about the problem of our quasi-police state.

[Rex]

52. This time.

Should never be a FIRST time!

[Eleanors38]

55. Unfortunately, there is Rodney King Video Syndrome...

Wherein what is obvious to all is sufficiently spun to mean something completely different, at least by the time some jury is deliberating.