The last 72 hours have been the most disturbing news that I have seen since 9/11 - - the police-involved shootings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota - - subsequently the tragedy in Dallas where 5 officers were killed along with nearly a dozen more officers and civilians injured during a large protest against how the police handled the Sterling and Castile incidents. Here are the facts on each case with a starkly contrasting view against each other.
Alton Sterling facts:
- A homeless black man called 911 to report a man(Sterling) who was brandishing a gun and threatened the homeless man.
- Sterling had not only a lengthy rap sheet but he was also a registered sex offender for impregnating a 14 year old - - six years younger when he was 20.
- The gun was in Sterling's pocket, according to Baton Rogue police sources.
- Two officers were wearing body cameras which would shed more light on the shooting, however they "mysteriously" fell off in the moments before the fatal shots were fired by the officer in the viral video.
Now for the Philando Castile facts
1. Castile was was driving with his girlfriend and their 4 year old daughter in their vehicle when police officers pulled him over for a busted taillight.
2. Castile had a licensed permit to carry his pistol, and he told the officer who pulled him over as such. Castile was exercising his second Amendment rights to carry a firearm - - one which the racially biased NRA didn't mention him by name - - and that was more than 48 hours after the shooting when the NRA finally opened up their big mouths.
3. The shooting happened with the 4 year old daughter in the back seat. Now imagine the trauma that girl is going through now seeing her dad shot dead.
Then the Dallas massacre - - this was an unspeakable tragedy when 5 police officers were shot dead by a sniper who had a grudge against white officers. The officers were protecting minorities who were part of the Black Lives Matter movement in protesting the Sterling and Castile shootings. Amidst all this - - I called over a year ago for the importance that it's not just black lives that matter but its all lives matter - - everyone is a human being no matter the skin color or background - - police officers are human beings too. However the evils of racism are rooted in a few white police officers. If Castile was white, would the outcome be different? Hmmm - - there were 8 instances where while males had a gun and none of them were ever shot by officers I would also like to point out that when my in-laws came to my house at 2 AM in the morning, someone in the neighborhood called the cops - - if it was a white couple coming in at 2 AM, it would be a different story.
As long as you have a few bad apples in everyone, racism will never go away - - the events in the last 72 hours reaffirm this.
I have written about these incidents myself, and hate to tell you this, but your "facts" in the Castile case are a little off and out of date. 1. The officer never stated that he was pulling them over for a broken taillight (that was the girlfriend's claim, and has recently changed). Castile and his vehicle matched suspects from a robbery the day before. The officer is on tape radioing this in before he tried to pull them over.
ReplyDelete2. The state of Minnesota has issued a statement that there is no concealed carry permit on record for Castile (despite claims by his girlfriend and his family). In fact, he was a convicted felon, meaning he couldn't lawfully own or carry a gun anyway.
3. I truly feel sorry for his daughter, but it was her father's actions that resulted in his own death. The gun was in his lap (as seen by a glimpse from the girlfriend's Facebook video) and the cop told him repeatedly not to touch it, not to go for it.
It's noted that Castille's gun permit was issued by the Hennepin County Sheriff's office, not the state of Minnesota. How he can still have a legal gun permit despite his felony conviction is beyond me. As for the officer stopping the vehicle because he resembled a robbery suspect, that is now without a doubt.
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