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Showing Original Post only (View all)You all need to read this, seriously... [View all]
Link to tweet
I was a police officer for nearly ten years and I was a bastard. We all were.
This essay has been kicking around in my head for years now and Ive never felt confident enough to write it. Its a time in my life Im ashamed of. Its a time that I hurt people and, through inaction, allowed others to be hurt. Its a time that I acted as a violent agent of capitalism and white supremacy. Under the guise of public safety, I personally ruined peoples lives but in so doing, made the public no safer so did the family members and close friends of mine who also bore the badge alongside me.
But enough is enough.
The reforms arent working. Incrementalism isnt happening. Unarmed Black, indigenous, and people of color are being killed by cops in the streets and the police are savagely attacking the people protesting these murders.
American policing is a thick blue tumor strangling the life from our communities and if you dont believe it when the poor and the marginalized say it, if you dont believe it when you see cops across the country shooting journalists with less-lethal bullets and caustic chemicals, maybe youll believe it when you hear it straight from the pigs mouth.
This essay has been kicking around in my head for years now and Ive never felt confident enough to write it. Its a time in my life Im ashamed of. Its a time that I hurt people and, through inaction, allowed others to be hurt. Its a time that I acted as a violent agent of capitalism and white supremacy. Under the guise of public safety, I personally ruined peoples lives but in so doing, made the public no safer so did the family members and close friends of mine who also bore the badge alongside me.
But enough is enough.
The reforms arent working. Incrementalism isnt happening. Unarmed Black, indigenous, and people of color are being killed by cops in the streets and the police are savagely attacking the people protesting these murders.
American policing is a thick blue tumor strangling the life from our communities and if you dont believe it when the poor and the marginalized say it, if you dont believe it when you see cops across the country shooting journalists with less-lethal bullets and caustic chemicals, maybe youll believe it when you hear it straight from the pigs mouth.
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It's a long read and every paragraph is worth excerpting. Everyone should read it.
WhiskeyGrinder
Aug 2020
#1
These bastards of qualified immunity are ruining America. Blue America knows it. Red doesn't.
ancianita
Aug 2020
#15
Highly recommend reading the entire essay and some of the best is towards the end.
1plus1equals1
Aug 2020
#20
Thank You for posting this..and especially this part above this post...K & R ... #28
Stuart G
Aug 2020
#37
Good points. Also the point about harassing homeless can scavengers because of
grantcart
Aug 2020
#36
Thanks MrScorpio. This is one of the best writings I've ever come across, from start to finish.
alwaysinasnit
Aug 2020
#38
Worst part: the media never discusses the ramifications of qualified immunity.
live love laugh
Aug 2020
#46