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john crawford
For AP, Being Shot by a Cop Makes You a Suspect
Jun 08, 2015
I often think the clearest glimpse into a media outlet's view of an issue comes not in the articles that directly engage it, but in the little throwaway descriptions--the shorthand used to sum up the story.
Take a look, then, at this AP wire report (6/8/15), in which an account of a brutal policing incident at a Texas pool offered this by way of background:
Incidents involving white law enforcement and black suspects have raised concerns across the US, in particular since last August when a white police officer fatally shot a black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri, fueling sometimes violent protests and a nationwide "Black Lives Matter" movement.
No, the "incidents" raising concerns have not involved black "suspects." Freddie Gray was not a suspect, nor Akai Gurley. Tamir Rice and John Crawford held toy guns, and Ferguson officers evidently "suspected" Michael Brown of nothing more than not walking on the sidewalk. A number of those killed have been "suspected" of being mentally ill and in need of help.
As a matter of fact, the presumption by law enforcement--and media--that any black person involved in an altercation with police must be a criminal suspect is part of the outrage driving public protest.
Telling, too, that in its description of police killings in the news over the last several months--including one officer who went free after leaping on top of the car of two unarmed black people and firing dozens of bullets into them, and another who saw all charges dropped for a putting a bullet through the head of a 7-year-old girl sleeping on her living room sofa--the only thing AP sees fit to describe as "violent" are the protests.
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Conservative Media And Cop Killers Of A Different Color
Dec 23, 2014
On June 8, 2014, white, anti-government, tea party supporters shot and killed two Las Vegas police officers. Conservative media was conspicuously silent.
On Saturday, Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot and killed NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos as they sat in their patrol car, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Brinsley, who had made "very anti-police" statements on Instagram, was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police spokesmen and conservative media were quick to blame the murders on the widespread protests of police killings of unarmed black males such as Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford, Tamir Rice, and others.
- Patrick Lynch, of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said there was "blood on their hands [of] those that incited violence on the street under the guise of protest ... [blood] on the steps of city hall, in the office of the mayor."
- Former New York Police Commissioner and "stop and frisk defender" Ray Kelly accused New York City mayor Bill De Blasio of running an "anti-police campaign last year when he ran for mayor."
- Right-wing actor James Woods took to Twitter and called on police officers to turn their backs on the mayor and "PigSharpton."
- Clueless actress and Fox News Contributor Stacy Dash tweeted, ""These murders are the natural result of the #Jihad on cops that @TheRevAl & @deBlasioNYC has called for. They should be held accountable."
NYPD Union Head Whines: Mayor de Blasio Starting a $&#^ing Revolution!The head of the New York City Police Union accuses NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio of running a “revolution” out of city hall... This clip ...
None was more outspoken than failed presidential candidate, and former Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani. On "Fox & Friends Sunday," Giuliani blamed the officers deaths on "four months of propaganda starting with the president that everybody should hate the police."
GIULIANI: We've had four months of propaganda starting with the president that everybody should hate the police. I don't care how you want to describe it, that's what those protests are all about. The protests are being embraced, the protests are being encouraged, the protests, even the ones that don't lead to violence, and a lot of them lead to violence, all lead to a conclusion: the police are bad, the police are racists. That is completely wrong. Actually the people who do the most for the Black community in America are the police.
Never mind that President Obama called for anyone who protests these shootings and grand jury decisions to "do so peacefully." Never mind that the president has said that there's "no excuse" for violence. The irony of a black president is that his most innocuous utterances that America still has racial problems are interpreted by conservatives as radical and "anti-white."
Never mind that a majority of cop killers have been white. Conservatives blame police killings of, and violence against blacks, on black lawlessness run amok.
Never mind that the #BlackLivesMatter movement has condemned the murders of officers Liu and Ramos. Conservatives blame the movement collectively for the murder of officers Liu and Ramos.
Never mind that Brinsley had his own run in with NYPD last year. Never mind that Brinsley had a long history of mental illness. Conservatives will blame the #BlackLivesMatter movement for his crimes.
This conservative penchant for collective blaming was absent on June 8, when Jerad and Amanda Miller -- both white -- shot and killed Las Vegas police officers Igor Soldo and Alyn Beck, as they had lunch at a strip mall. The couple dragged the officers' bodies from their booth, draped Beck's body with the yellow "Gasden flag" popular with the tea party movement, and pinned a note to Soldo's body reading "This is the beginning of the revolution." The couple stole the officers guns and ammunition, and fled to a local Walmart. Jerad Miller was shot and killed by police. Amanda Miller died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Reports surfaced of Jerad Miller's anti-government posts to Facebook, and Alex Jones "Infowars" message board -- including a post titled, "The Police (to kill or not to kill)." The Millers camped out at Cliven Bundy's ranch, where Bundy's "militia" pointed guns at sheriff's deputy's and threatened to kill federal officers. Jerad Miller was even interviewed at the ranch, before being booted for his "radical" views.
Conservatives were less than outraged. Instead of blaming Cliven Bundy, Alex Jones, or the tea party movement, they tried to paint the Millers as radical leftists. Conservative media refused to call the Las Vegas shooting terrorism.
Perhaps Ismaaiyl Brinsley is just a cop killer of a different color, as far as conservative media is concerned.
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NFL Star Refuses to Apologize After Plea for Justice for Police Victims
Cleveland Browns player said the 'number one reason for wearing the T-shirt' was the thought of what happened to Tamir Rice and John Crawford happening to his own son
Dec 16, 2014
Cleveland Browns receiver Andrew Hawkins says he should not have to apologize for wearing a T-shirt that called for "Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford," two Ohio victims of recent police killings.
Hawkins' shirt, which he sported while walking onto the field before Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, spurred ire from the head of the Cleveland Police Union, who called the statement "pathetic" and demanded an apology from the Browns organization.
"I have a 2-year-old little boy," Hawkins said during a passionate press interview on Monday. "That little boy is my entire world. The number one reason for me wearing the T-shirt was the thought of what happened to Tamir Rice happening to my little Austin scares the living hell out of me."
A Cleveland police killed the 12-year-old Rice in November as he was carrying an air gun in a public park; the coroner has ruled his death a homicide. Crawford, a father of two, was shot and killed in August by a local police officer in a Walmart in Beavercreek while holding a BB gun. In both instances, the officers had allegedly perceived the guns were real rifles.
"My heart was broken for the parents of Tamir [Rice] and John Crawford, knowing they had to live that nightmare of a reality," he continued, adding that he "made the conscious decision to wear the T-shirt."
Responding more directly to the police criticisms, Hawkins said: "My wearing of the T-shirt wasn't a stance against every police officer or every police department [...] My wearing of the T-shirt was a stance against wrong individuals doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason to innocent people."
He added that justice is "a right that every American should have, and also justice should be the goal for every American."
"Ultimately," he said, "it means fair treatment."
You can watch the entire press statement below.
Browns' Andrew Hawkins explains why he wore a 'Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford' T-shirt atCleveland Browns wide receiver Andrew Hawkins gives a statement on why wore a “Justice for Tamir Rice and John Crawford” ...
Hawkins' statement has followed similar actions from a number of professional athletes, who have also voiced solidarity with the growing outrage over police violence against black people and what is seen as a broken system of justice in the United States.
Following the police backlash, the Browns released a statement saying the team "respect[s] our players' rights to project their support and bring awareness to issues that are important to them if done so in a responsible manner."
On Tuesday, Crawford's family filed suit against Walmart arguing that the retail giant was at fault for Crawford's killing because the store had left the BB gun, which resembles a rifle, unlocked and easily accessible.
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