I hate that I have to teach my children to be vigilant when it comes to the police. My overall message is that they should be respectful, but to never trust them.
Imagine a group of people surrounding someone who isn’t doing anything violent or disruptive. All this person wants is to be left alone and mind his own business. The gang surrounding him, instead of minding its own business, jumps on him, chokes him, and then proceeds to smother him against the concrete until he dies. If you haven’t already figured it out, this really did happen. To Eric Garner. On July 17th, 2014 he was choked to death while attempting to have a conversation with the police.
The police officers themselves allege that Eric Garner was selling individual cigarettes tax-free, a non-violent act between consenting adults. This right here is exactly why you can never trust a police officer; because even when doing his job, he may in fact be enforcing unjust laws. Police officers also use violence with government immunity. It should come as no surprise that the officer who murdered Eric Garner isn’t going to be charged. Look at the organization he works for. Statists regularly steal money, threaten violence to anyone who doesn’t comply with their demands, and memorialize leaders who bring about death and destruction to the human race.
Hesitant at first, I ultimately showed the Eric Garner video to my oldest child. The intent was not to scare him or make him dislike the police, but to let him see the state for what it can be. I didn’t tell him who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. I just let him watch the video and waited for a dialog to begin.
My son kept asking: “Why are the police doing that? Why are they doing that to that man? What did he do? I told him we don’t know if he did anything, but it appears that the man just wants to be left alone.
After the takedown of Mr. Garner, my son, an innocent child, asked the most common sense question anyone should have after watching this encounter: “Daddy, are the police going to get in trouble?” Without any input from myself, my 5-year-old son was able to recognize who the aggressor was and who was in the wrong.
Yet, apparently a grand jury and a prosecutor cannot.
I simply left it at, “We don’t know, but I think they should get in trouble.” As a follow-up question, I asked him how he felt about people who attacked others without being attacked first. He said: “Dad, we don’t hit people.”
A thinking mind left to think is typically non-violent, not biased, and doesn’t try and justify wrongdoing.
However, a statist conditioned brain is biased. Some are in favor of the police, some see blacks in a negative light, violence is seen as the norm, and the death of an innocent man can be justified because, well, the extra dose of violence on that day was an accident.
It’s incidents like these that re-energize me to teach my children to think for themselves and to not give a blank check to anyone, including myself. I have to wonder about the people sitting on the grand jury. How much police bias was embedded within them to let this group of thugs off?
– Daniel Ameduri aka The Dissident Dad
For more info see this author’s bio.
“memorialize leaders who bring about death and destruction ”
Doesn’t it just make you want to puke? And the more destructive the ‘greater’ they are considered.
People confuse power with freedom in their own lives and confuse power with moral authority when dealing with their would-be masters, and it leaves them defenseless against the bias. I’m glad you aren’t falling for that B.S.
Keep up the good fight.
again you puking assholes idolize a loser who has over 30 priors for some of the following, check fraud, False statements to the police, driving w/o ins and a license. writing bad checks. Yea go right ahead and just withhold that info from the people just like everyone else in the media. Just another useless p o s who had a heart condition. asthma high blood pressure that contributed to his death from resisting arrest. What is so hard about following the rule of law? when a cop tells you to do something you do it! he would still be alive collecting welfare for his 6 kids along with his wife if he did not resist arrest. You people who worship this clown are a joke. If black lives matter they would say something about the over 1 million black abortions every year or the thousands of black on black murers, black on white hate crimes but no, no protests for that huh?
Ok, so you mention he has 30 priors, so what?
Doesn’t justify a death sentence.
You say he deserves to die because “when a cop tells you to do something you do it.”
You should’ve been born 80 years ago in Germany.
Still doesn’t justify a death sentence.
It’s interesting that YOU are making this about race, not me. Here are some other police brutality stories I have covered. All white or Asian:
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/06/01/19-month-old-toddler-in-critical-condition-after-cops-throw-flash-bang-grenade-into-playpen/
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/05/13/rebellion-in-the-usa-protesters-take-over-albuquerque-city-council-and-attempt-to-arrest-police-chief/
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/11/06/how-a-routine-traffic-stop-in-new-mexico-turned-into-a-nightmare-of-torture-for-david-eckert/
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/04/22/the-war-on-street-artists-puppeteer-unlawfully-arrested-and-harassed-in-nyc-subway/
You are the one who seems to be obsessed with race, not anyone on this site.
Moving along, you failed to mention his death was ruled a homicide: http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-garner-homicide-20140801-story.html
The only pathetic (and transparent) loser here is you, but I’m sure you know that, which is why you have nothing better to do than troll a website with comments that have the logic and intellectual force of a three year old.
Not once did I make this about race ! wtf is your problem? The assholes protesting are the problem. The ones ignoring the rule of law, shooting the cops are the problem. over 100 cops die at the hands of these thugs are the problem. As a former EMT and working as a can for my entire life before I retired in a hospital let me tell YOU something. people die of asthma and high BP and obesity! I can not tell you how many times I have done cpr on young people . As young as 20 from asthma attacks. I suggest you stop pulling the race and victim card. I have seen and done more dealing with the public and been into parts of Phila people like you would never have the balls to walk in. I have hauled ungrateful people of al races out of car accidents. been puked on . Hauled dying people down 3 flights of stairs and asked for nothing in return. Been punched by drug addicts for helping a medic ruin there high with narcan. So again I ask you who the hell do you think you are to call me a racist? These ignorant protesters idolize thugs. pure and simple. If you can not handle that, YOU are the one who has a problem! When you have the balls, guts and intellect to do what I have done in life , talk to me. Until then go worship your useless trash
Ok, you are either a paid troll or completely delusional and unstable. I feel sorry for you.
1) Cops being killed has seen absolutely zero uptick in 25 years. Here are some facts. Take your meds before reading: “Despite an uptick in officer deaths in 2010 versus 2009, police officers are less likely to be killed in the line of duty today than they were 25 years ago.” http://www.copblock.org/2198/is-violence-against-cops-really-increasing/
2) Race was not mentioned in the post you commented on with regard to Garner, yet you wrote: “If black lives matter they would say something about the over 1 million black abortions every year or the thousands of black on black murers, black on white hate crimes but no, no protests for that huh?”
You brought it into the dialogue, thus demonstrating what’s really going on within the mush encased in your cranium.
3) People protesting are the problem? Yes, as I said, you were born 80 years too late and in the wrong country.
4) Who pulled the race card? You did. Show me in this post where the race card was pulled.
5) Useless trash? You are a very sad and angry person. I’m sorry for whatever happened to you in life. Whether it was as simple as being dropped on the head as a child. Clearly something made you angry and miserable. I feel bad for you.
6) Where did I call you a racist? I said you made this about race. Take your medicine you sad, delusional old man.
7) Cops are systematically stealing from the people: http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/07/28/asset-forfeiture-how-cops-continue-to-steal-americans-hard-earned-cash-with-zero-repercussions/
They deserve to be critiqued.
Oh, and no one cares about what you did in life here, because it made you, insane, grumpy, mean and irrational.
yea. blacks lives matter my ass huh? truth hurt asshole? then fucking do or say something about it other than protesting or supporting a fucking thug dickhead! what a piece of shit you clowns are! these protests never change a fucking thing except the entitlement attitude, more free shit for the welfare leeches. Tired of them sucking off the tax payers. You are fucking clueless like the rest. nothing I said was not true. let me know when the feds stop paying for abortions will you?
You just did exactly what I wanted you to. Discredited yourself for all to see.
No need to interact with you ever again.
Thanks for playing.
I like the way your comment system doesn’t provide for deletions or editing.
As a dad, I truly appreciate what you’re trying to do with your children, as well as with those of us who read and hopefully think. Your article’s topic is on point – there are those who will pass unjust laws, enforce unjust laws and there are even more who aspire to power rather than service. That’s a good lesson for anyone – children or not.
As I get older though, I begin to notice some of the other lessons that may be a little more subtle. On a practical standpoint, whether a law is just or not, violating it and resisting arrest is probably going to open you up to some physical jeopardy, especially if you’re a lot bigger than the “enforcer.” We pretty much expect them to win, regardless of the law. I suspect most of them would probably like to go home at night, too.
There is still a strong problem with racial attitudes in this country, no matter what we may personally believe (just read the Comments). There will always be those who parrot what others say, rather than thinking. The people who ignore or promote those unthinking actions are all dangerous. Teach your children to notice them like red flags or the stripes on a skunk. They are tangible warnings. My experience has been that the old adage about leopards not changing their spots is pretty good – someone who thinks of and treats somebody else based on color, sexual preference, gender, religion or whatnot, will treat you the same way, given any rationalization.
But the lesson that I’d point out is the propensity for any “side” (statist, or otherwise), to desperately look for the examples that prove their point. The strength of the example quite often proves how frequently that behavior really happens – the weaker the example, the less frequently it may happen, therefore “any example” needs to be exploited. If this gentleman had been doing something else, with no prior record, we might have seen a different result – and the outrage would be more justifiable, if not.
As it is, there is no question we have some unjust laws. We also have a bigotry problem. And, we also have some problems with some of those enforcing laws – just or not – not being held accountable for their actions. But, by jumping on an example like this, we weaken our ability to truly illuminate the problem and thereby gain consensus to solve it. There will always be those other statists who will jump all over any complicity of one party, as a means to minimize the argument and lend credence to whatever banality they and their echo chamber already believe. That, to me, is the real lesson and danger in situations like these.
Keep up the good fight.
Great article…I can’t help but think about what could have been going on in the grand juries heads. I have a theory involving fear: in mock rape trials involving date rape situations, all men juries were much more likely to convict than all women juries. The reason was that men identified with the would be rapist and tried to distance themselves psychologically (i.e. that wouldn’t happen to me, I would have respected when she said no, etc) from him, leading to a conviction. The women juries identified with the victim and did the same psychological distancing (that wouldn’t happen to me. She drank with him and invited him inside and I would never do that), leading to an acquittal. The jury would have identified psychologically with Eric Garner and proceeded to come up with all the reasons that this horrible tragedy would not happen to them, so they blamed the victim (I doubt it works the same way on the thin Blue Line due to the clan indoctrination). Tragic all around. I’ll take my Dad’s advice: Don’t call the police unless you have a dead body (and presumably an alibi).
Respect is supposed to be earned and until cops actually actively start weeding out the bad ones they’re all scum. As Williiam Grigg, Christopher Cantwell and other libertarians have pointed out there is no such thing as a good cop. Yea sure you’ll get a retired one speak out once a while but thats after their pension is secured and not much can be done do them.
Also the verdict shows that in so-called “cop hating” liberal New York City, they’ll lick the boots of the state’s thugs as much as “law and order” conservatives do. For the record I never thought a conviction was going to happen.
Buzz, you are a pathetic hate-filled idiot. You are your own punishment.
I thought the same thing about Buzz but chose to ignore his comments. That’s a good debate for encountering trolls…do you ignore them, delete them, flag them, engage them, or have a conversation about them (hopefully without them)?
Buzz also has too little time for Capitalization.
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html