Stoopid Stuff

Fifty Ways to Get Away with Murder

I know I'm late, but I want to talk about Sean Bell. For a while, just thinking about it would leave me in an impotent rage, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed that the community hasn't reacted to this brutal authoritarian miscarriage of justice at all strongly enough, but with a little distance I think now I can have my say in a way other than screaming obscenities and hurling rocks and bottles.

I'm sure you know the story as well as I do. Sean and his friends were out on the town the night before his wedding. Unarmed, just a couple young guys hitting a strip club and partying before the marriage. A more innocent, American story you cannot tell.

Something happened. There was a confrontation with plainclothes cops, somebody panicked, and FIFTY rounds were fired. All by the police at a car full of unarmed citizens who had every right to be there. Sean Bell was killed, two others were wounded.

Three of the cops went on trial. Surely there must have been something criminal in their actions. On the face of it, strafing a car full of the very people they are supposed to be protecting, slaughtering an innocent civilian, it's clearly a case of lethal misconduct.

The Police Officers were acquitted of any wrongdoing. Walked out the courthouse door, back to their lives. A life Sean Bell no longer had, and a life Nicole would have to find a way to put back together.

Now this happens far too often in America. The cops get a pass for guessing wrong and killing innocent and unarmed citizens because they were frightened, because they THOUGHT the victim had a weapon, because something startled or distracted them, because they were enraged. Fear and anger, never a justification in it's own right, have become the perverted cover story that allows court after court, judge after judge, to allow murderers and thugs to walk free.

This is clearly wrong. Yes, that job is inherently dangerous. But we must be honest here. The attraction of the job to young men and young women is the excitement, the action, the adrenaline. Car chases, foot chases, shootouts - this is the stuff of storybook cops and robbers, and part of the draw. The Police must NOT then be permitted to unleash deadly force on someone who frightens them. They need to ACCEPT the risks and wait it out, knowing they are exposed, knowing they are at risk, and make the right decision EVERY TIME. If they are unwilling to accept that risk, they should find another line of work.

Just as cops cannot be judge and jury, they cannot take someone's life just because he makes them feel at risk. They wear body armor, carry a variety of weapons and have a lot of support. They need to make sure that if they deploy deadly force, they are killing someone who poses a GENUINE risk to themselves or others. That there was not even a gun in Sean Bell's car, that NO rounds were fired by anyone except the police makes this such an egregious case of homicide under color of authority that the acquittals are bitterly laughable.

The other point in this case is the ridiculously excessive firepower deployed. Fifty rounds. Fired by three cops from three angles, into a car. Fifty rounds. Sometime stop by a shooting range and listen to the gunfire, counting fifty. You'll be appalled at what fifty shots is, what it means.

One cop fired 31. Let me translate that number for you. The double action autos they carry, whether they be Glocks, Sigs or Smiths, carry a double column magazine that holds 15 rounds. These magazines are now illegal for you and I to own, but the police get an exception. Along with this fifteen round mag, there is a round in the chamber. So when that cop drew his weapon that night, he had sixteen rounds hot and ready to go. So the shooting starts. This cop runs through his entire first magazine. Now bear in mind, he is NOT under fire. There is no hostile fire at all. Nonetheless, does he stop, evaluate, consider? Does he shout, holler, ask questions, try to determine the situation? Nope. He slaps in a full fifteen round magazine, releases the slide and pushes all additional fifteen rounds downrange into that car full of young black me, out for a night's bachelor party the night before the wedding. 31 rounds. Two full mags, with a reload. He was acquitted of any wrongdoing.

Our country is at grave risk today. At risk of becoming something else. An authority worshiping, highly militarized police state. And so many of our institutions are contributing to the slide. How can we look at Sean Bell's death and not just KNOW this is wrong. This is not us. This MUST not be allowed to stand. How can we allow a judge to make such a biased judgment to support law enforcement over the very people law enforcement is supposed to be protecting?

Sure. Sean Bell's case is just another symptom of what's wrong with America in the early years of the 21st century. But when the symptoms get this bad, this ugly, the disease may very well be terminal...

posted by mikey @ 1:50 PM