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    tonyAnne Branigin
    3/15/19 3:25pm

    I have no words. I’ve experienced something similar. But in my case I was breaking up a domestic violence situation. I was a senior in highschool. It was between a white kid (from a rich privileged area) and his black girl friend. I restrained the white kid. Didnt get violent (although well with my rights to). Police show up. Willfully beat my ass. All being done while the girl pleads to them the situation. I dont trust the police. When I got robbed at gunpoint in college. Didnt call them. Handled it myself. I'm 35 now and the only reason I'd call them now is for insurance purposes.  Car accidents,  etc.. That kind of stuff lasts with. And I have friends and family in law enforcement.  But I still dont trust em.

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      CommentingWhileAmbivalenttony
      3/15/19 4:07pm

      The environment the police have created when it comes to POC acting to help or protect anyone should be criminal. I honestly wouldn’t intervene these days for fear of being assumed to be the perp and getting shot as a result. 

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      Cheese Knee IICommentingWhileAmbivalent
      3/15/19 4:26pm

      Exactly, this.

      If you can be arrested and abused for merely reporting a crime, you’re definitely facing a lot worse with the risk of intervention.

      Which is a vicious, negative cycle that makes POC communities less safe overall.

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    Cheese Knee IIAnne Branigin
    3/15/19 4:01pm

    What I find particularly chilling is:

    “Disorderly conduct and resisting an officer without violence”

    I don’t see a clear definition of those terms in my brief search - it seems like the arresting officer can use those at his discretion for essentially any scenario he wanted to. To power-trip, to punish.

    The fact that Ms. Loving’s victimhood at the hands of a racist, violent neighbour was escalated to being further abused by this racist trash cop is.. vile.

    Of course her trust is irreparably damaged.

    At this point I don’t see how any of us who aren’t translucently white feel anything but terror from potential interactions with police, to hell with any trust.

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      GnatBCheese Knee II
      3/15/19 7:07pm

      I’d assume the disorderly conduct charge was based on her self-admission of throwing the guys plant. Contrary to the article here, every other article says he got his weapon and brandished it in response to the plant being thrown, not the other way around. He insulted her, she escalated by getting physical and throwing plants, he escalated to potentially lethal levels and brought out his gun. Plenty of wrong go go around

      And even if he can successfully claim “Defense of (plant) life”, presumably the proper move is still to arrest him.

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      Old white guyCheese Knee II
      3/15/19 7:31pm

      And soon enough the charges will be dropped, but she’ll be out of money and time, mentally damaged, and living with this for a long time. The cop will get a vacation.

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    LolaFalanasLongAssLegsAnne Branigin
    3/15/19 4:37pm

    She needs to see a counselor/therapist to help her get through this. My heart breaks. She is trying to mother her kids through her trauma, and the body can retain that pain long after its physically healed. I wish we had more information on how we could help. She could also use a good lawyer so she can be compensated and take care of herself.

    Glad they got their shit together and charged Tumm.

    https://www.theroot.com/1833305901

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      sauvageLolaFalanasLongAssLegs
      3/16/19 4:09am

      I’m dealing with the tail end of PTSD myself, from intervening in a domestic violence situation in my case. I was a freaking nutter for a bit: scared of everything, mood swings, angry outbursts, crying fits, the works. It took me a while to understand that what I was experiencing was PTSD, and to get help. (In a country with proper health insurance, that is.) My partner was a freaking saint. I cannot imagine parenting three kids throughout this. My heart goes out to her.

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    HamandCheeseKAnne Branigin
    3/15/19 3:35pm

    Cops are the most dangerous thugs on the streets.

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      Hami83HamandCheeseK
      3/15/19 3:42pm

      If you’re of colour... or poor.

      You never hear rich white kids going through this. It’s pretty clear the institutionalized racism within law enforcement and law in general is atrocious.

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      Cheese Knee IIHami83
      3/15/19 4:05pm

      Don’t forget women. The mysoginist slant of the police forces isn’t to be ignored, either.

      POC women of course face the worst backlash.

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    Old white guyAnne Branigin
    3/15/19 7:37pm

    the suspended cop was tenured and was actually in charge of training two rookies that day.

    First, cops get tenure? Does that mean they can’t be fired (like tenure at a university)?

    Second, if you were looking for a reason cops don’t seem to get any better as time goes on, perhaps its because the crappy cops are the ones training the new cops.

    “OK, so, here we have a situation. You have this one woman here who is all upset because a man called her a name or something, I don’t know, I’m not listening. She’s black, so she’s obviously on the verge of being violent, thus the first thing we need to do is get her to calm down. And if she won’t calm down on her own, we’ll need to make her calm down.”

    “Sir, she says some white dude down the street pointed a gun at her and her friend.”

    “That’s not our concern at the moment. You can see she’s getting very aggravated now, esp. after I told her she couldn’t plug in her phone. If it is a phone. You have to be careful, many a time I’ve heard of blacks carrying guns that look like a phone. OK, she won’t be quiet, take her down.”

    “But she’s the victim!”

    “Not anymore, she’s disregarding my order to calm down, so she’s now under arrest. Take her down physically. But be nice. Don’t shoot her.”

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      individual1Old white guy
      3/16/19 2:02am

      But be nice. Don’t shoot her.....................Thank fuck she didn’t run away, we all know the outcome of that’offense’.

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      Cheese Knee IIOld white guy
      3/16/19 11:14am

      That's...... eerily representative of how the conversation might have actually gone down. 

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    ZabellaAnne Branigin
    3/15/19 4:44pm

    As for Loving, she recently hired a Texas-based civil rights attorney to represent her.

    It would be great if this case leads to appeals which end up at a landmark Supreme Court ruling on police brutality and institutional racism so renowned, future lawyers call it “the second Loving case”. It won’t happen in this timeline, but it would still be great.

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      Cestrumnocturn1Zabella
      3/15/19 9:59pm

      The supreme court is packed with republicans, two of whom are trump nominees 

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      ZabellaCestrumnocturn1
      3/16/19 2:38pm

      Hence the “it won’t happen”. 

      In a world where there’s a Democratic and the courts are being packed with judges who have experience and knowledge of the law, this whole scenario may not have happened. White supremacists wouldn’t be so bold and out in the open if they didn’t have very fine people in the White House.

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    FlamingFeministaAnne Branigin
    3/15/19 9:55pm

    I hope she sues the shit out of the police and the neighbor! Let the thought of Rifle-Puller having to pull all his savings to hire a lawyer then try to take out a second mortgage to pay the settlement ease your pain a little! Then think about ALL the cops that’ll have to scramble to cover and help this jerkoff cop. No matter how racist they might be, he just made all of them have to consider for days, weeks, and months to come, whether his actions were even worth it. One Black woman will be on their minds while the white man who pulled the rifle is gonna get time ANYWAY!

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      individual1FlamingFeminista
      3/16/19 2:07am

      I hope she sues the shit out of the police and the neighbor...............What a lovely outcome, this piece of white trash paying out for the rest of his life.

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    BlaqntelligenceAnne Branigin
    3/15/19 4:13pm

    Long before the whys and wherefores...

    The fact that a full grown male...men don’t behave in this manner...is perfectly okay with violently manhandling a Black woman tells me all I need to know.

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    My KinjaAnne Branigin
    3/15/19 3:39pm

    Another case for the Black Panthers to make a return. Fuck the cops.

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      Cheese Knee IIMy Kinja
      3/15/19 4:13pm

      I would be for this if I didn’t think it would result in more atrocities against POCs.. the cops apparently shit themselves in terror over unarmed black teenagers, and murder them.

      I can’t imagine the USA where cops are well aware of a growing (or established) paramilitary group of armed, highly trained, motivated and cohesive group of black people.

      I think most black people would not be able to leave their houses without risk of death from the police. Merely stepping outside would be seen as a threat.

      As much as I would love to see that kind of uprising against white terrorism and the tyranny of racism, I think the damage to unaffiliated POCs would ultimately be too great...

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      My KinjaCheese Knee II
      3/15/19 4:49pm

      Totally agree. Which is why this new group wold be different. No one said anything about violence. I’m talking about representation. Skilled individuals who know the law and can be called upon to be witnesses and legal defense against a system designed to kill. Instead of calling the police these individuals would assuage fears and provide physical and legal support. Besides the cops are already killing us. Why not make it harder?

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    i am Jack's SMIRKING REVENGEAnne Branigin
    3/15/19 5:10pm

    NEVER EVER call the cops. I am white and I refuse to. I cannot imagine what it like to deal with them as a person of color. They don’t bring clarity or good intentions. They bring chaos, guns, bad attitudes and a backwards ass savior complex. Most of the worst people I went to highschool with are cops. I expect nothing but pain, be it mental, or physical, from the police and have been rewarded with as much in almost every interaction with them

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      Mythrylhavoci am Jack's SMIRKING REVENGE
      3/16/19 2:59pm

      This. My family has pretty good reason to distrust cops I think. We live in a very conservative area and my wife is trans. They don't like us much. She sometimes has to deal with them due to being in management at her job and she's been lucky so far, but I dread the day she gets pulled over for a tail light out or something.

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      i am Jack's SMIRKING REVENGEMythrylhavoc
      3/18/19 12:50pm

      Yeah. Just not something I want in my life. They don’t bring calm, they just exacerbate the inherent chaos in certain situations. I don’t blame you one bit.

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