Racist Rock Head speaks out on behalf of the poor blacks

[Delmar]

Fri Dec 24, 2021, 12:36 PM
Star Member MineralMan (140,942 posts)

Kim Potter Is Guilty, and Is a Symptom of Something Very Ugly


My wife and I have been following her trial. We work at home and the livestream of her trial was on our TV, so we could hear it in our offices. She and I have disagreed somewhat on the case. She is somewhat sympathetic to Potter, while I am much less so.

The double guilty verdicts, though, we agreed on. I had my doubts about how the trial would turn out. Many people were sure it would end in acquittal or a hung jury. My wife thought a hung jury was most likely, and I though the verdict would be guilty on the lesser charge.

I am please that the jury found her guilty of both charges, and that she was immediately remanded until her sentencing, which I believe will end up with her spending several years in prison.

I'm sorry for her fate, truly. However, it was a just verdict. As a police officer, she gave in to the common belief that young black men deserve a different sort of treatment than other people. That's why young black men driving cars get pulled over for expired tags and air fresheners hanging from their mirrors, while people who are not young black men do not. Police and many others think that young black men have probably done something wrong, have a warrant out on them, or are just up to no good and should be stopped and checked out further. So, they are subject to more suspicion, harsher treatment, and fearful responses by police officers.

So much so that Kim Potter, in what was probably a fearful state, grabbed a lethal weapon instead of her taser. Never mind that having expired tags and an air freshener should not be reason to pull anyone over in the first place. Daunte Wright, the young black man in question was even more fearful than the cops. And rightfully so. He knew that he was in serious peril. More than one cop was present and he was, well, a young black man with an active warrant.

Sensibly, he was afraid. He did not want to deal with a couple of cops. He knew what happens all too often to young black men who have to deal with cops. So, he may have been less than cooperative with the police and even panicked. That's because cops who think that young black men are intrinsically dangerous, approach them abruptly and with a heavy authoritarian attitude. That amplifies the fear in the young black man they have stopped and exacerbates an already tense situation.

So Daunte Wright was not sufficiently submissive and cooperative to appease the two cops. They found out about the warrant and were going to arrest him. He did not want to be arrested. So, Kim Potter, seeing the non-cooperation, decided to escalate the response and reached for a weapon. But, in her own fear, she didn't pay attention. So, instead of the yellow, bulky taser, she grabbed her pistol. She didn't look at her hand. She didn't notice the different feel or weight. She yelled, "Taser, Taser, Taser," and then shot Daunte Wright in the chest with a bullet, ending his life.

Now she's going to prison. There it is.

How could this have been prevented? By deliberately not treating young black men driving cars any differently than anyone else driving a car. By simply ignoring such minor violations as an expired tag or dangling air freshener. That's what they do with young white men, women, and old geezers like me. They notice the violation and just shine it on and let the drivers go on their ways. But, not when it's a young black man driving the car. Nope. Young black men are bad. They're dangerous. They're criminals. That's the mindset the cops have about young black men driving cars. So, young black men driving cars end up dead at the hands of cops way, way, way more often than anyone else.

Now, another Twin Cities cop is going to prison for killing a young black man who was driving a car. Will things change? You'd think so. You'd think someone would figure out that equation and put a stop to it. Will that happen? I do not know. I can only hope that it does.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216179955

You don't have to bother reading this long stupid post--the gist of it is that the cops shouldn't attempt to apprehend black men with warrants out for their arrest because the black men might do something stupid that gets themselves killed to avoid getting arrested.  Also, the cops don't enforce the law on white men.  On second thought, go ahead and read it and marvel at how stupid this primitive is.

A little farther down in the thread, Rock Head really shows his true colors.

Response to MichMan (Reply #20)Fri Dec 24, 2021, 01:45 PM
Star Member MineralMan (140,942 posts)
23. That's a good point, up to a point.

However, cops see a lot of cars every day. Around here, if a car is more than about 6 years old, the driver is probably a person of color. Not 100% of the time, but more likely than not. If the car is a large American sedan and more than 6 years old, the odds are even higher that the driver is a POC.

Why? Because older cars are mostly driven by people without a lot of money. Here, rust eats cars quickly. Older cars are the only affordable cars around here, and even they are too expensive.

Cops see cars all day long. If it's a Honda with a coffee can muffler, you can pretty much guess who's driving it around here. If it's an older American full-size car, you can do the same. If it's a late model car, though, you probably don't know, but you do know it's not someone with a low income level.

Cops are probably about 75% accurate in guessing what the person in the driver's seat looks like for almost any car they encounter.

You can always spot the blacks by their big old rusted out broke down jalopies, according to Rock Head. 

Response to MineralMan (Reply #23)Fri Dec 24, 2021, 01:52 PM
MichMan (5,936 posts)
25. Vehicle profiling instead of racial profiling

I'm an older while man with a 10 year old VW.

A word to the wise, don't wait until your parents die and leave you a big pile of money to go out and buy a shiny new car--it just might save your life.

[DLR Pyro]

I'd love to see that fool work a night as a Law Enforcement Officer in a poor neighborhood and tell me he will treat everyone equally.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

I got pulled over for expired tags. However, I did have a driver's license and insurance, no outstanding warrants, no restraining orders, and I did not fight the cop. YMMV

[franksolich]

Oh, gag me with a spoon, Mose.

[Movie buff- The Sequel]

" That's why young black men driving cars get pulled over for expired tags and air fresheners hanging from their mirrors, while people who are not young black men do not."
Bull.
I'm white (AND drive a car more than 6 years old, btw), and about 4 months ago, a cop strongly reprimanded me for having expired tags. I then got them renewed as soon as possible afterwards.

[ADsOutburst]

Sensibly, he was afraid. He did not want to deal with a couple of cops. He knew what happens all too often to young black men who have to deal with cops. So, he may have been less than cooperative with the police and even panicked. That's because cops who think that young black men are intrinsically dangerous, approach them abruptly and with a heavy authoritarian attitude. That amplifies the fear in the young black man they have stopped and exacerbates an already tense situation.

So Daunte Wright was not sufficiently submissive and cooperative to appease the two cops. They found out about the warrant and were going to arrest him. He did not want to be arrested. So, Kim Potter, seeing the non-cooperation, decided to escalate the response and reached for a weapon. But, in her own fear, she didn't pay attention. So, instead of the yellow, bulky taser, she grabbed her pistol. She didn't look at her hand. She didn't notice the different feel or weight. She yelled, "Taser, Taser, Taser," and then shot Daunte Wright in the chest with a bullet, ending his life.

Bull.

By the time she pulled her weapon, the situation had already escalated. Wright had escaped the officer trying to arrest him, and was about to drive away, potentially endangering the other officers.

And, um, you can't just flee because you don't want to be arrested. He had a warrant. They were right to arrest him.

How could this have been prevented? By deliberately not treating young black men driving cars any differently than anyone else driving a car. By simply ignoring such minor violations as an expired tag or dangling air freshener. That's what they do with young white men, women, and old geezers like me. They notice the violation and just shine it on and let the drivers go on their ways. But, not when it's a young black man driving the car. Nope. Young black men are bad. They're dangerous. They're criminals. That's the mindset the cops have about young black men driving cars. So, young black men driving cars end up dead at the hands of cops way, way, way more often than anyone else.

My white geezer dad has been pulled over for expired tags.

Wright was treated like a criminal once thee cops found out that there was a warrant for his arrest for aggravated robbery.

[thundley4]

" That's why young black men driving cars get pulled over for expired tags and air fresheners hanging from their mirrors, while people who are not young black men do not."
Bull.
I'm white (AND drive a car more than 6 years old, btw), and about 4 months ago, a cop strongly reprimanded me for having expired tags. I then got them renewed as soon as possible afterwards.

That would have ended differently if you were black...

and had warrants out for your arrest...

and tried to flee from the cops and endangered the cops or others.

[SVPete]

Y'all can set me straight if I'm wrong, but my impression (not having followed the case very much) is that Potter drew her gun instead of her Taser while under pressure (perhaps she did lots of training drawing her gun but not drawing her Taser?) and fired her gun thinking it was her Taser. And the jury decided that failure/negligence met the standard of being criminal.

[dandi]

Y'all can set me straight if I'm wrong, but my impression (not having followed the case very much) is that Potter drew her gun instead of her Taser while under pressure (perhaps she did lots of training drawing her gun but not drawing her Taser?) and fired her gun thinking it was her Taser. And the jury decided that failure/negligence met the standard of being criminal.

That seems to be the gist of it.

[ADsOutburst]

Y'all can set me straight if I'm wrong, but my impression (not having followed the case very much) is that Potter drew her gun instead of her Taser while under pressure (perhaps she did lots of training drawing her gun but not drawing her Taser?) and fired her gun thinking it was her Taser. And the jury decided that failure/negligence met the standard of being criminal.

For what it's worth, the defense (including a use of force expert and other officers) made the case that Potter had the right to use deadly force in that situation, even though she intended to use her taser.

I'm not sure I buy their conclusion, but the argument coming from various legal commentators is that the prosecution should have needed to prove recklessness, at least on the higher manslaughter charge. That may sound like it's of little consequence, but recklessness is supposed to mean that the defendant was cognizant of the risk, and took the action anyway, whereas negligence means they were not aware of the risk. The prosecution basically made the two seem interchangeable.

[CollectivismMustDie]

All that crying, yet not a single pointed finger toward Black culture, which is where this all comes from.

Not a single mention of the disproportionate criminality of black people versus other demographics.

If you excuse immature, criminal culture, you are the problem, rock head.

[SVPete]

All that crying, yet not a single pointed finger toward Black culture, which is where this all comes from.

Not a single mention of the disproportionate criminality of black people versus other demographics.

If you excuse immature, criminal culture, you are the problem, rock head.

  and QFT. Blacks who do well - like whites, Asian, Hispanics, etc. who do well - seldom ever make headlines or the 6 O'Clock news, and thus are invisible, but many of those who have acted out the Victimology, Easy-Money-and-Sex-and-Drugs, Thug, and Government-Dependence sub-cultures make themselves very visible, in very unpleasant ways.

[Delmar]

For what it's worth, the defense (including a use of force expert and other officers) made the case that Potter had the right to use deadly force in that situation, even though she intended to use her taser.

I'm not sure I buy their conclusion, but the argument coming from various legal commentators is that the prosecution should have needed to prove recklessness, at least on the higher manslaughter charge. That may sound like it's of little consequence, but recklessness is supposed to mean that the defendant was cognizant of the risk, and took the action anyway, whereas negligence means they were not aware of the risk. The prosecution basically made the two seem interchangeable.

That's the way I heard it too.  Potter intended to use the taser because of the danger of shooting the wrong person accidentally, not necessarily out of any concern for the criminal Duante Wright.   

[BamaMoose]

That's the way I heard it too.  Potter intended to use the taser because of the danger of shooting the wrong person accidentally, not necessarily out of any concern for the criminal Duante Wright.

I saw an interview with a police instructor which poked a hole in that defense.  He noted several errors in the attempt to arrest Wright that, if done properly, might have changed the outcome.  The officer attempting to handcuff Wright didn't follow procedures which would have given him physical dominance over the criminal.  When Wright broke free, Potter's duty under use of force protocols should have been to assist in physically restraining him.  When Potter immediately went for her taser she skipped that step, which the expert explained opened the door for a claim of excessive use of force.  Grabbing her handgun rather than her taser further demonstrates that she was not qualified to be in that situation.  My take away from the whole mess is that the officers involved were poorly trained and she just happened to be the one left holding the bag.  If she had followed use of force rules (physically restrain, then taser, then, if appropriate, deadly force) she never would have been charged.  I expect an appeal and a lighter sentence for her, with the defense pushing hard on her lack of proper training.  It's unfortunate that Daunte Wright will be remembered as a BLM martyr, rather than the violent criminal that he was.

As for the claim by Rockhead that white people don't get pulled over for expired tags, my blond, blue-eyed, very white wife got pulled over a few years ago for expired tags.  Since she didn't get violent with the cop and she didn't have outstanding felony warrants and the cop could pull up her registration on his computer and see that it was current, she drove away without a ticket.  The only use of force was when she got home and head slapped me because I hadn't yet put the new registration stickers on either of our vehicles.  In my defense, they had only been sitting on my desk for two or three months, which is hardly enough time to climb to the top of the honey-do list.

[DLR Pyro]

As for the claim by Rockhead that white people don't get pulled over for expired tags, my blond, blue-eyed, very white wife got pulled over a few years ago for expired tags.  Since she didn't get violent with the cop and she didn't have outstanding felony warrants and the cop could pull up her registration on his computer and see that it was current, she drove away without a ticket. 

and there, boys and girls is the lesson we can all take away from this scenario and a fool proof way to make sure that you go home safely after an encounter with Law Enforcement. 

[Aristotelian]

and QFT. Blacks who do well - like whites, Asian, Hispanics, etc. who do well - seldom ever make headlines or the 6 O'Clock news, and thus are invisible, but many of those who have acted out the Victimology, Easy-Money-and-Sex-and-Drugs, Thug, and Government-Dependence sub-cultures make themselves very visible, in very unpleasant ways.

And when successful blacks do get publicity, folk like the DUmp hate on them for leaving the plantation, thinking for themselves, and working for a living. All of which are anathema to the modern left.