At a time when America has already heard too much about trigger happy police officers, a pig in Wichita, Kansas tips the scale, yet again. In response to an anonymous call that came in from California, phoning in a false police report, the cops in Wichita arrived at what they thought was the address indicated, (it wasn't) and opened fire when the door was answered. Andrew Finch heard noises near his home, and opened his front door; it was that simple. He had no idea that the police were outside his house with weapons drawn. In less than thirty seconds after he opened the door for them, they shot him. It almost appears that they had planned, in advance, to shoot whoever opened the door when they arrived. His children were forced to leave the house and stand outside in frigid weather with no shoes, while these public servants ripped through the house in a frenzied search for anything that might exonerate the pig who pulled the trigger. They ended up taking the screen door. A very important piece of information that has not been shared with the rest of us is the name of the cop who committed this murder. According to police in Wichita, the whole incident was the fault of a prankster in California, who has since been apprehended. As Wichita Police Chief Troy Livingston sees it, none of this was law enforcement's fault or responsibility. While making false statements to law enforcement is a terrible thing to do, no one should have to worry that a cop is going to knock on the door and shoot to kill over something he or she was told by someone else.
Kurt Kerns, the attorney who represents Andrew Finch's family, has given this statement: ..While the family is pleased an alleged swatter was detained, the
swatter did not shoot an unarmed man stepping out onto his porch.That
was a WPD Officer. While the WPD has attempted to deflect the cause of
death to a phone call- Andrew was killed by a bullet fired by an officer
who clearly had no cause to fire.
Prank or no prank- no officer
claimed to have seen a weapon before firing, and that fact alone makes
this shooting reckless at best. The family remains hopeful that all responsible are brought to justice including the shooter.
Chuck Canterbury, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police, recently wrote a letter to Walmart, whining because their website sold T-shirts stamped with the words, "Black Lives Matter". This, he complained, offends police officers. Where's the eye-rolley when I need it? Walmart caved, and took the shirts and sweatshirts that have the slogan, along with the word "Bulletproof" off of their website. But merchandise stamped with the slogan "Blue Lives Matter" is still for sale on Walmart's website.
Walmart is a retail giant, and is apparently rich enough to take a loss on any merchandise it will not be able to sell online, now that the police's little feelings have been hurt. Walmart has just told the world that while policemen matter to them, minorities, especially the Black community, are not terribly important. Chuck Canterbury stated that he feels that the sale of clothing bearing the words, Black Lives Matter, is divisive to communities, but he fails to mention the division caused by the inordinate number of deaths of minority civilians at the hands of police officers.
Anyone who wants a shirt that says Black Lives Matter can purchase one here. The less we patronize racist retail giants, the better for everyone, in many ways.
Michael Slager, the white policeman who shot a black man named Walter Scott after a traffic stop in South Carolina last year, might go free after his trial because there is one person on the jury who seriously think that shooting a man who is not armed and is running away from, not toward, an officer, somehow puts the officer in danger. It appears that we have a juror who either thinks that cops should have open season to shoot whoever they wish, with no accountability, or we have a juror who does not feel that the victim's life had any value because the victim was black. Either way, this juror is a waste of space and oxygen. The judge has ordered the jury to deliberate until Monday, if need be. Court will reconvene then.
This police officer justifies all those who refer to policemen as "pigs". The racist attitude of the juror who feels that he cannot, in good conscience, convict a police officer who simply shoots and kills an unarmed man who is not even facing him, is creating an even bigger problem for America. What this juror is really telling us is that he thinks murder for racist reasons is okey-dokey, as long as no one who looks like him (the juror) is the victim.
Michael Slager, the racist pig, depicted above. If he goes free, I think pictures of his enablers and his family should be shared on social media, along with their names. Murder is not okay.
Jeronimo Yanez, the Minnesota pig who, in July, opened fire on Philando Castile and killed him during a traffic stop for no reason, has finally been charged with something called second degree manslaughter. His girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, streamed the incident on Facebook, for the entire world to see. Yanez not only was completely unconcerned about the innocence of Castile and Reynolds, he also did not care about the safety of Reynolds's four year old daughter, who was also in the car and watched the shooting.
While manslaughter is not as serious of a charge as first or second degree murder, there have been problems in the recent past in gaining convictions of these police officers who feel that a badge is a license to commit murder. For that reason, it was probably a better guarantee of accountability for for a black victim's life to charge the killer with a lesser charge, and at the same time, a better guarantee that this defendant will never prowl the highways as a police officer again.
Above is Jeronimo Yanez, who kept the peace by committing a murder in front of a woman and a child, in his police get-up; and Philado Castile, who, unfortunately, crossed the path of a racist cop who felt like pulling the trigger for no reason.
Want to know how to stop angry people from taking the law into their own hands against the violent, heavy handed police officers who have been recklessly shooting minorities, lately? Abolish qualified immunity for all police, and force them to obey the law. If pigs faced the same consequences for crime as the rest of the population, it is likely that they would not be as trigger-happy around minorities as they so often are; and if victims and other aggrieved parties had access to justice, there would be fewer people taking the law into their own hands.
Sheriff David Groves, of Cherokee County, Kansas, decided to help Missouri out with a bench warrant for some guy named Doug Alexius. Alexius had missed court for a misdemeanor charge, and getting him back to wherever he was supposed to be was a matter of top priority. The pigs in Kansas have stated over and over again that Alexius was wanted for a felony, but upon closer scrutiny, it has become clear that this was only a bench warrant for missing court. To fast forward to December 16 of 2015, Groves decided that since a woman named Nita Lane had once dated Mr. Alexius, he must have hidden in her home. So he sent a nice fat pig to knock on her Galena, Kansas door. She put a clothespin on her nose (not really, but she should have) and told the pig that Mr. Alexius did not live at her home, was no longer a friend or acquaintance, and was not inside the home at the time. The pig came back with an outdated infrared camera, and without stopping to read the directions for use, snapped some shots of the house. As it happened, there were sources of heat inside! Imagine that, in the middle of December! Mr. Piggie knocked on the door again, and informed Ms. Lane and her children that they had to evacuate the premises while he and his SWAT team goons "negotiated" with the "fugitive from justice".
This is where Kansas cops and the FBI tore into the upstairs of
Nita Lane's house. The broke a bunch of windows, too.
Ms. Lane gathered up her children and vacated, while repeatedly telling the pigs that their quarry was not on the premises. The pigs responded by spending nineteen hours calling out epithets and threats to an empty house. Finally, after an entire night, followed by the next day, of threatening to "rotate his officers out", Sheriff Groves and the FBI decided it was time to give up and go have doughnuts and coffee. While searching, they poked holes in the side of the house, used a wrecker to smash the upstairs, threw the childrens' toys and personal belongings everywhere, tore apart the Christmas tree and stomped on all the ornaments, and threw the Christmas tree out the window.
The FBI decided that all the windows, the siding, the walls, and the structure of the house, itself, could be fixed with $8,000.00, which they graciously offered to the now homeless Ms. Lane and her children. To be completely real here, $8,000.00 probably wouldn't even get the family a new roof, let alone fix all the other damage done by the police in Kansas. No mention was made of reimbursing the family for the furniture, or for the childrens' toys. A gofundme page has been set up to help.
We now hold fundraisers for the victims of police violence. Is there anyone out there, still, who does not understand why policemen are known colloquially as "pigs''? It might also be worth a mention that despite the status of Doug Alexius as a fugitive, The FBI and Kansas law enforcement do not appear terribly interested in media coverage to assist in his capture.
"I was right there and he went for the gun. I had no choice," is the lie told by Tim Loehmann after shooting twelve year old Tamir Rice in November, 2014.
Why do police officers in America lie? Since most investigations of police officers are done by individuals and organizations that are pro police and racist, why was Tim Loehmann even motivated to make false statements? For instance, reporting that Rice had the gun in his hands, when the video clearly shows he did not. Also, Loehmann stated that Rice was sitting at the table at the recreation center in a group of people, while the video very clearly shows that Rice was alone. Let us also not forget that Loehmann wrote that he told Rice three times to put his hands in the air, when the video shows that he did not say a word to Rice, but shot him instantly.
This is why policemen are often referred to as pigs. I hope Tamir Rice's community can find a way to get justice.
Once in royal david's city stood a lonely cattle shed,
Where a mother held her baby.
You'd do well to remember the things he later said.
When youre stuffing yourselves at the christmas parties,
You'll just laugh when I tell you to take a running jump.
You're missing the point I'm sure does not need making
That christmas spirit is not what you drink.
So how can you laugh when your own mothers hungry,
And how can you smile when the reasons for smiling are wrong?
And if I just messed up your thoughtless pleasures,
Remember, if you wish, this is just a christmas song.
(Hey! Santa! Pass us that bottle, will you? )
....................Lyrics and music by Ian Anderson
