Of all the things

[KentuckyWoman]

9 minutes. NINE.

Not one person stepped up to pull him off Mr. Floyd. Not one.

3 other cops. A busy intersection. Store employees. Dozens of people. Not a single one felt safe enough to act.

There is no way to spin that into 1 bad cop or even 4 or even 1 department. It is all of society. America sat by and put up with this.

I hope the push this time sticks long enough to put an end to this and keep it. My attention span is not what is was in the 1960's. Hopefully enough of American can sustain to see it through.

[Beakybird]

1. You could be killed or critically injured.

But maybe more people are ready to risk their lives when they see an injustice.

[TreadSoftly]

3. Let's hope. There is a "person in uniform" habit to be overcome

There are real consequences to people who "interfere" with anyone in uniform. Not sure how to fix that.

Anyway, you are right: I am sure that we will start to see persons standing up for others. Maybe a linked arms approach might've worked.

[lunatica]

15. Look at the way the cops are treating peaceful protesters

and these protesters actually have a plan on how to march and how to resist. As an old pacifist I know that peaceful marches are planned and managed. MLK jr and the black community made plans that included peaceful resistance. Do I need to add how they were met by the police?

People do have plenty of examples to remember when it comes to dealing with cops who are given legal permission to kill someone in front of an audience.

People care. But people don’t want to get killed, which chances are they will if they interfere.

[underpants]

2. Apparently the 3rd precinct was home to rogue cops

This thread is locked but the link is still there. Good reporting.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=2510389


Maybe everyone there just knows that the cops can get away with a lot and they stood by.

[LizBeth]

4. You are demanding an awful lot here. That young woman (black) was fried for not stepping in.

She was already emotionally traumatized watching it live while making a video and pleading with them to let him go. She was a mess and we saw in interviews after. Then I read yesterday, people like you are pointing the finger and demanding to know why she did not step in.

She is seeking help. That is a high demand you place on her, for her life. You can hardly claim she does not care.

[LakeArenal]

5. I thought the same.

A bystander watches four cops killing a very large Black man. And a woman is supposed to step in????

Geez....

[scarletlib]

8. You step in and the least the cops will do to you

Is to arrest you for interfering. That’s not good. Civilians trying to step in may become subject to the same violence. If you are African American maybe your life is forfeit.

[Mariana]

12. In a situation like that, the cops will beat you up and/or kill you

if you interfere. Count on it. IF you survive, you'll go to prison for a good long time.

[KentuckyWoman]

6. I agree with you.

I am sorry, I did not mean to imply any civilian should have done more. I doubt I would have ... despite my privilege .

There is a time when I might. Assuming I might get a little roughed up, and probably need a lawyer but not end up in a coma or dead. Those days, if they existed, are gone.

[LizBeth]

10. Right. 2 things this conversation brings up. So so many people did stand up. Not with death,

we couldn't. That is what police state creates. But our Democracy, we did stand up. So there is that.

The other was, I totally agree with you. I considered it. I have literally put my body out there with bullies. Even little. As a girl. I do not know why, but my body just does it. But, I wouldn't/couldn't with this because murdering me would be ok then, in so many views. A bit sacrificial in a police state.

[Lars39]

14. And just seventeen!

[diva77]

7. This makes me think of the Milgram experiment and what it revealed about

human behavior.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

The Milgram experiment(s) on obedience to authority figures was a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. They measured the willingness of study participants, men from a diverse range of occupations with varying levels of education, to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience. Participants were led to believe that they were assisting an unrelated experiment, in which they had to administer electric shocks to a "learner." These fake electric shocks gradually increased to levels that would have been fatal had they been real.[2]

SNIP

[Yavin4]

9. Armed police have immunity from murder.

If that girl stepped in, she could have been killed and the police would have been justified for doing so because she interferred with police.

[LizBeth]

11. I didn't realize this to now. I have said all this time, even police, .... fuck me, even Presidents,

have to follow the law. I have learned that neither the President or our police have to follow law. I only learned about that immunity thing.

[Mariana]

13. They would have said she assaulted them.

Even if she had survived, her life would be ruined. They'd have tacked on every felony charge they could conjure up, and she would have been put away forever.