When I saw the video the other night of a man being suffocated by a police officer kneeling on his neck, I turned to my daughter and said, "There will be riots over this."
I was living in a suburb of Washington DC when Martin Luther King Jr was murdered. My grandmother was living in an apartment "in the district" and my mother ran police lines to bring her out as her mother's block burned.
Some of my readers are well aware that I am a wildlife advocate. Some may even call me an activist, and I would take that as a compliment. I have attended hearings, submitted comments on proposed legislation, and made many comments on editorials and forums and surveys regarding the treatment and hunting regulations regarding Maine's wildlife.
One of the methods trappers use to dispatch an animal caught in a leg hold trap is to first stun it with a blow to the head, and then press a foot to the throat until the animal is suffocated. Many of us in the wildlife advocate group feel, justifiably so, that this method of killing an animal is inhumane and cruel.
Yet, right in my own living room, I see a HUMAN BEING, forcibly held to the ground and then slowly suffocated by a knee to the neck -which took at least 6 minutes and continued several minutes beyond that.
ALL if the officers involved should be charged with murder. The responding EMTs should be called to account for reportedly merely "checking several times for a pulse". Where was the CPR?? What was the reaction of the murderer when he realized he had just killed a human being? Where is the video that would feebly attempt to justify such a violent response from the officers?
Why didn't the bystanders jump in? If I had been in the vicinity of such a crime, you would have certainly heard me if not seen me attempting to stop what was happening.***
Edit: the following is a link to the story of the 17 year old African American girl who took the video https://www.tmz.com/2020/05/28/teen-recorded-george-floyd-video-traumatized-backlash/
Everyone owes this girl a huge thank you for her calm and action while this was happening!
I am sure many people feel the same shock and frustration. While my daughter and I both agree burning and looting is not an agreeable response, I attempted ot explain the frustration of demonstrators and how this mob mentality can develop under certain circumstances.
If only one of the responding officers had tackled the murderer things would be so much different. Society cannot stand for this kind of abuse and condonment of violence. It's way past time to make sure your vote counts.
I was living in a suburb of Washington DC when Martin Luther King Jr was murdered. My grandmother was living in an apartment "in the district" and my mother ran police lines to bring her out as her mother's block burned.
Some of my readers are well aware that I am a wildlife advocate. Some may even call me an activist, and I would take that as a compliment. I have attended hearings, submitted comments on proposed legislation, and made many comments on editorials and forums and surveys regarding the treatment and hunting regulations regarding Maine's wildlife.
One of the methods trappers use to dispatch an animal caught in a leg hold trap is to first stun it with a blow to the head, and then press a foot to the throat until the animal is suffocated. Many of us in the wildlife advocate group feel, justifiably so, that this method of killing an animal is inhumane and cruel.
Yet, right in my own living room, I see a HUMAN BEING, forcibly held to the ground and then slowly suffocated by a knee to the neck -which took at least 6 minutes and continued several minutes beyond that.
ALL if the officers involved should be charged with murder. The responding EMTs should be called to account for reportedly merely "checking several times for a pulse". Where was the CPR?? What was the reaction of the murderer when he realized he had just killed a human being? Where is the video that would feebly attempt to justify such a violent response from the officers?
Why didn't the bystanders jump in? If I had been in the vicinity of such a crime, you would have certainly heard me if not seen me attempting to stop what was happening.***
Edit: the following is a link to the story of the 17 year old African American girl who took the video https://www.tmz.com/2020/05/28/teen-recorded-george-floyd-video-traumatized-backlash/
Everyone owes this girl a huge thank you for her calm and action while this was happening!
I am sure many people feel the same shock and frustration. While my daughter and I both agree burning and looting is not an agreeable response, I attempted ot explain the frustration of demonstrators and how this mob mentality can develop under certain circumstances.
If only one of the responding officers had tackled the murderer things would be so much different. Society cannot stand for this kind of abuse and condonment of violence. It's way past time to make sure your vote counts.
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