Martin O'Malley: 'One unjustified police shooting - like that of Walter Scott - is one too many'

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Lis Smith @Lis_Smith · 5h 5 hours ago
Powerful video from @GovernorOMalley's address today at @NationalAction w/ @TheRevAl #BlackLivesMatter

Martin O'Malley @GovernorOMalley
One unjustified police shooting - like that of Walter Scott - is one too many. #NANConvention2015

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1. »

[yeoman6987]

2. Very true

I hope all the police shootings were investigated 100percent accurate especially when he was Mayor of Baltimore because the opposition will review everyone especially since he has made a statement on it.

[KittyWampus]

4. True. If he's smart he'll use that to his advantage though.

Solving the problem will require a multi-faceted approach.

One part is acknowledging that District Attorneys and Mayors rely on the police force and can't be seen as being adversarial with them. THUS, it's necessary to have a separate office to review cases.

[cali]

3. "It's very, very hard, I think, for white people- any white people- to understand

just what that loss of a precious life does to the constant state of random vulnerability that people of color feel...."

[yeoman6987]

5. I agree. I feel horrible for them so much

But can we relate? Not really.

[tabasco]

6. Not exactly a bold statement

What's O'Malley plan to do about it?

[bigtree]

9. not exactly a 'bold' statement, overall, no

...but he did hint at his approach in his outline of his policy as governor which would be community-based involvement and dialogue, cause-related programs to address violence in a comprehensive fashion, and 'policing the police.'

[Stellar]

7. He said...'black lives matter'...then, All lives matter...

Have there been killings of white people by cops that were video taped, and I might have missed?

[bigtree]

8. he's might get pushback for that statement

Last edited Sun Apr 12, 2015, 12:54 PM - Edit history (1)

...not because it's incorrect, but because it's been used by defenders of recent police killings and brutality as a counter to the 'black lives matter' slogan; not as an inclusive statement, but as a rebuttal. I think O'Malley meant it as an inclusive statement, and I would agree, though not as an equivalency. At any rate, it's not a very astute or particularly sensitive approach (when addressing the black community) to blend the two, imo.

[Stellar]

10. Agreed!

I like O'Malley, from what I've seen of him so far. I do hope he clears that up.

[jwirr]

13. I suspect that some of the homeless and mentally ill people who have been gunned down by cops

were white.

[Stellar]

14. I don't believed they were 'video taped', if killed...

right? I was just trying to recall if there were any reported in the news, like African American killings. I haven't read about any.

[jwirr]

15. No the ones I am thinking about were not videoed.

[Joe the Revelator]

17. Here you go....can't really believe that I have to defend the idea that ' all lives matter'(Graphic)

The problem is an out of control police force, which seems to be endemic. O'Malley is absolutely right, ALL lives matter. That should be, like, our motto or something....

[Stellar]

18. ALL lives DO matter...can't look at anything graphic this morning (most times)...

BUT, I did find kind of what I was looking for. Anyway, just wanted something I could read about, that was video taped.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings/

ETA: oops, I've always read about black people being killed by police but not white folks, just wanted to know.

[Vattel]

11. lol

In regards to O'Malley, the police and POC, I have to agree with David Simon (recently called upon by President Obama to visit the Whitehouse to discuss the war on drugs and excessive incarceration):

"In my city, Baltimore, we had a mayor, Martin O'Malley, who decided he was going to escalate the drug war. Zero tolerance was his mantra, and he put it out there: 'Get everybody off the corners. Clear the corners.' He was running for governor, so, for political reasons, he was basically trying to clear the street a year in advance of the election. We were filming The Wire in Baltimore at the time. And it got to the point that my African-American crew members and actors couldn't get back to their hotel without getting locked up, because they were driving while black. It was just presumed they were out there to cop drugs. So every now and then I'd have to go down and bail out my assistant director or one of my actors. Now, that was what was happening to people who were somewhat notable and had something to say to the cop. Can you imagine how many regular Baltimoreans went down to the city jail charged with nothing?" http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/mar/30/david-simon-americas-war-on-drugs

And Simon was a police reporter in Baltimore for over a decade before doing the Wire.

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16. you realize this has zero bearing on police killings

...and is basically a police dept. policy which even the NAACP, who brought a lawsuit about the arrests, says O'Malley wasn't completely responsible for them and that we should move on.

ask the NAACP what they think today...

Leaders at the NAACP — the group that brought the 2006 lawsuit against the city — said they no longer believe O'Malley should be held responsible for the police strategy. Gerald Stansbury, president of the Maryland State Conference of the NAACP, said the organization has a solid relationship with the governor.

He pointed to O'Malley's effort last year to repeal the state's death penalty — an NAACP priority.

"Clearly, the police problems go well beyond Martin O'Malley," Stansbury said. "There's been ongoing mistrust for some time."

[treestar]

12. Very true

What a travesty these shootings are. They need to take stock and retrain these cops.