Deputy ambushed and executed on the outskirts of my n'hood.

[BackInTex]

Here's what's happening in my neck of the woods, literally, 4 miles from my house, only neighborhood between there and here, in the parking lot of a restaurant we frequent.

Deputy ambushed and executed while pumping gas into his squad car


Suspect still on the loose at this time. Sheriff's deputies and highway patrol everywhere.

Two weeks ago the Black Panthers were in Prairie View, about 15 miles up the road from where I live, protesting with assault rifles and chanting "Off the pigs!". I do not think this is a coincidence.

The suspect in the deputy's murder is black.

I knew this deputy. He was a contracted patrol for our neighborhood. He had a wife and two kids.

[SpacemanSpiff]

I heard on the radio news (6am ET) that the perp has been nabbed, apparently with the assistance of his mom.

This is another one who needs to be sent up the river for a long, long time. Shooting someone from the back multiple times for no good reason other than his occupation isn't what civilized folks do.

[silverscreenselect]

Two weeks ago the Black Panthers were in Prairie View, about 15 miles up the road from where I live, protesting with assault rifles and chanting "Off the pigs!". I do not think this is a coincidence.

Here's some context for BiT's Black Panther story:

The New Black Panthers are in the news these days, most recently for holding a protest this week in front of the infamous Waller County Jail in Hempstead, Texas, where Sandra Bland died in custody on July 13 following a traffic stop and arrest days earlier.

Bland, 28, had recently moved from the Chicago area to work at her alma mater, Prairie View A&M University. Although her arrest was ruled a hanging suicide by local authorities–not the first in that jail–many questions remain unanswered, and many in the black community are not having it.

Bland’s family, concluding Bland had no reason to commit suicide, filed a wrongful death civil rights lawsuit against the arresting officer, state trooper Brian Encina, and other officials last week.

The New Black Panthers, numbering at around 25, participated in a two-hour, nonviolent protest, shouting “Oink, oink! Bang, bang!” and “The revolution has come! Off the pigs!” They said they were there not only to protest the death of Sandra Bland, but “other crimes against black people,” according to KGNS-TV. A number of the group’s members were armed, and they were surrounded by barricades of mostly white police officers from numerous departments.

The parallels–or more aptly the contrasts–between the New Black Panthers and the Oath Keepers beg for a closer look.

Members of the Oath Keepers, a predominantly white, rightwing militia group, were present at last weekend’s protests in Ferguson to mark the first anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. Oath Keepers include former and current police and military who believe President Obama is a dictator and an enemy of the state, and have vowed to protect the Constitution and disobey orders they believe are illegal.

Members came to the #BlackLivesMatter protest armed with semi-automatic rifles, bulletproof vests and camouflage outfits. And yet, the group was not confronted by police, and therefore not arrested, though St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said their presence was “both unnecessary and inflammatory,” according to NBC News.

Meanwhile, protesters have continued to focus the spotlight on Waller County Jail, as they should. The constant protests seem to be getting to Sheriff Glenn Smith, who recently told a white clergywoman who protested at the jail to “go back to the church of Satan that you run.”

And BiT, I would think that you of all people would be just thrilled that members of your community are parading around in public, carrying semi-automatic rifles and exercising their right of self-defense (and free speech to boot). I'd think you'd want to see more of the Black Panthers, perhaps marching down your own street, to try to keep you and your family safe .

[BackInTex]

SSS, excuse my French but you don’t know a F***king thing about this. You pull some quote out of some source you won’t even bother reference.

I have seen, watched, and listened to hours of coverage of the Sandra Bland and the Black Panthers incidents. This happened 15 miles from my house. You Google and find some article that fits your world view.

Find the video of her arrest. Of course you probably think it O.K. to act a complete asshole to law enforcement when being pulled over. I guess that is protected under the constitution, but live with the consequences. Or rather kill yourself as a result of them. Her response to law enforcement, and similar responses (Michael Brown and others) is not the result of the sometimes over the line police behavior, it is the cause. Blacks are arrested all over this country thousands of times a day without incident. In almost all of the well publicized incidents, the person being arrested resists, to the extreme, endangering the officers.

Find the stories about the true reason she was stopped in the first place. Find the stories where your folks accuse the police of killing her before she got to the station; find the stories where your folks claim she was dead when they took her mug shot. They were all lies intent on inflaming the blacks against law enforcement.

There is video of Sandra Bland walking to her cell after being booked and photographed. But still your folks work to incite the blacks against the police.

Find the stories that show who Sandra Bland was before she came to Prairie View.

Find the stories where Bland’s own family, for three days, refused to help her raise $500 for bail. They too were tired of her crap I guess.
At the time of her suicide, Bland still owed $7,579.00 in court fines resulting from five traffic stops in various Chicago suburbs (including a DUI), and she had been cited several times for her failure to pay those fines.

Find the reports that Bland had been previously ‘cutting’ herself.

Find the reports that Bland was vocal on the issue of police encounters with African Americans in the months leading up to her death in a jail cell in Texas -- had at least 10 encounters herself with police in both Illinois and Texas in past years.
Find the reports where Bland was arrested and plead guilty to shoplifting.

Bland had no respect for law enforcement. It showed in the video. She was getting a warning ticket for changing/crossing over three lanes of traffic erratically. But her attitude about everything that has gone wrong in her life is because she is black kept her from coming out of that situation a free woman. Your folks have assured her attitude and likely that of the thug that kill Deputy Darren Goforth. And now she is dead and I hope to hell soon so will be the thug killer.

But based on your post, you think it appropriate for groups to call for the deaths of others in public. That it is O.K. to call for the killings of specific people, especially cops. I for one think that crosses the line of free speech. And it’s ironic that those such as yourself will justify blacks’ fear of law enforcement because of a ‘history of violence’ but when a white person fears being attacked by a black person dressed as a gang member, they are ‘racist’.

[BackInTex]

R.I.P. Deputy Goforth

[Bob Juch]

Nothing excuses the shooting of Deputy Goforth, but incidents like this certainly increase the likelihood of more of them.

Video Shows Texas Police Shoot Man With His Hands Up

http://www.ksat.com/news/exclusive-vide ... d-shooting

[Beebs52]

Dickosity reigns.

[silverscreenselect]

Find the video of her arrest. Of course you probably think it O.K. to act a complete asshole to law enforcement when being pulled over. I guess that is protected under the constitution, but live with the consequences. Or rather kill yourself as a result of them.

It is apparently okay to act as a complete asshole if you're white, but not if you're black. He arrested her for insisting on her rights and failing to extinguish a cigarette in her own car. This is the same cop who later says he will "light her up."

What you don't understand is that what for you seems perfectly harmless, being asked to leave your car, is not quite so benign for a black person, especially a black woman, for whom the car may offer the only bit of protection available against a white cop. But you don't think things like that could happen and they undoubtedly couldn't to you because you're white. They've never happened to me either those times I've been stopped and ticketed (admittedly I was never smoking). But they do happen disproportionately often to black people.

By the way, here's a sampling of what happens if you're white and point a gun at or sometimes even fire at police officers:

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties ... get-killed

[BackInTex]

They have a suspect in custody. He lived .6 miles from the location of the shooting.

HCSO: Suspect arrested, charged in shooting death of sheriff's deputy

[BackInTex]

By the way, here's a sampling of what happens if you're white and point a gun at or sometimes even fire at police officers:

Are you saying that every non-white person who threatens a white cop gets killed and every white person that does, doesn't?

Seems to be what you are implying, anyways.

The fact is, if Bland had acted respectfully (a high bar for her I'm sure) she would not have been arrested, at least on that occasion.

The fact is, had Trevon Martin just told George Zimmerman, where he was going, he would be alive, well, he would have at least lived beyond that moment.

The fact is, had Michael Brown kept his "hand up" and stopped, the officer would not have shot and he would have lived another day until he threatened his next victim.

The fact is, had each of those individuals acted in a civilized manner they would likely still be around today. Each are responsible for what happened to them.

[silverscreenselect]

By the way, here's a sampling of what happens if you're white and point a gun at or sometimes even fire at police officers:

The fact is, if Bland had acted respectfully (a high bar for her I'm sure) she would not have been arrested, at least on that occasion.

The fact is, had Trevon Martin just told George Zimmerman, where he was going, he would be alive, well, he would have at least lived beyond that moment.

The fact is, had Michael Brown kept his "hand up" and stopped, the officer would not have shot and he would have lived another day until he threatened his next victim.

The fact is, had each of those individuals acted in a civilized manner they would likely still be around today. Each are responsible for what happened to them.

That's like saying that women who dress provocatively are responsible for being raped.

Zimmerman had no authority whatsoever to accost Treyvon Martin and ask him one single question. Martin was well within his rights to ignore ZImmerman completely.

The cop had no right to force Bland out of her car. That arrest was illegal.

I'm still not sure of the legality's of Brown's situation since the Ferguson authorities weren't interested in conducting a real investigation instead of just figuring out a way to get off the hook.

And there have been far too many examples of black people who simply haven't responded in some way that meets white people's expectations quickly enough to avoid getting shot. That kid with a pellet gun in Cleveland lasted about two seconds before he got shot.

You look at things from your white middle class upbringing where you feel reasonably comfortable that if you respond politely to cops they will politely let you on your way in a minute or so. That's not how life works for a lot of black people, not just gang bangers but average law abiding citizens. If Ben Carson or Clarence Thomas sees some flashing lights in his rearview mirror on a dark stretch of road some night, I doubt they would feel completely comfortable.

I had an experience a couple of years after I was robbed where I was stopped in the city of Duluth on the way home from work about 8:30 one night. I actually had the proverbial tail light out, and, when stopped, I couldn't find my current insurance card (I had about a dozen expired cards in my wallet but sat there fumbling around looking for the current one). The encounter ended after about a minute with the cop saying "I'm sure it's in there somewhere just make sure next time you can get hold of it easier and fix the tail light." (or something like that). And I felt stupid and embarrassed but not afraid. I highly doubt that if I had been black, I would have left there quite so quickly without a good bit more hassle.


The cop had no right

[BackInTex]

I highly doubt that if I had been black, I would have left there quite so quickly without a good bit more hassle.

You'd be happier as a black man, wouldn't you? Your guilt is quite evident.

It's not black or white, it's about having respect, it's about being civilized. I guess you don't think blacks should be held accountable for not being either. I think everyone should be held accountable for it.

[silverscreenselect]

It's not black or white, it's about having respect, it's about being civilized.

This guy had respect and was civilized?

[mrkelley23]

Well, he does have his arm around a Blackhawks fan. Pretty uncivilized.

[Bob78164]

The fact is, if Bland had acted respectfully (a high bar for her I'm sure) she would not have been arrested, at least on that occasion.

She shouldn't have had to. And my guess is that if she were white, she wouldn't have had to. Showing disrespect for authority is not cause for arrest. --Bob

[ghostjmf]

Almost all the times I've been stopped for speeding I got a ticket. Even when I wasn't speeding. Wish I had fought the one that made my Mass insurance go up for years. But never have I been asked to get out of the car. Or told I was making suspicious moves when I went for my license & registration, which were in my purse; one observer of the recording on Sandra Bland said "well, what's not on the recording is that she may have been reaching into her purse" as though that were a criminal act at a traffic stop.


Its the weirdo stops that make me suspect I was stopped for having too-curly hair in a particular neighborhood. But let go when I turned out to look "too white to probably be black". I've already recounted the stop for "signalling, but not for enough minutes (minutes?!)". There was another for "not coming to a complete stop at a blinking red light when there were pedestrians in the cross-walk 3 blocks away". I pretty much said "yes, officer" & promised I would do in future what I'd been told, both times. In general, its good to say "yes, officer" etc. That's just common sense, whatever color you are.

And however innocent of the accused act you are, sadly; I once was stopped, face-on, no racial mistake-prototyping there, by an officer who insisted I hadn't stopped at a stop sign. I said I was so sorry & would never do that again. I didn't get a ticket. I went back & looked; there was no stop sign. It's the exit at the east end of the north side of the Porter Square Cambridge shopping center lot, if anyone's checking. Used to be a sign there as you exited. After they redid the lot, they left out the sign (the west end, closest to the stores, still has its sign, I believe). Its only common sense to stop there, nevertheless. (And I had stopped, too, but just didn't argue it.)


The though that you could be flagged as "resisting" by going after your license & registration has me sickened, though. If you're black, that is.


I am aware that officers who stop cars may be looking for something they are not obliged to disclose to you. And make up some traffic thing to justify the stop. Acquaintances once told me about getting the "out of the car, hands against the wall" treatment, to which they complied. The officers after not finding guns told them they & their car closely fit the profile of a very recent murder. But in addition to there being no guns, smoking or otherwise, their plate & car turned out not to be an exact match. I guess they were told as apology, but the officers didn't have to. Just wanted to, I guess. I also know people who were given 3 minutes in the middle of the night to leave their motel, along with all the other residents except the suspect, when police raided their motel (after spraying mucho tear gas which got on everybody's belongings) for a murder suspect. They only found out what was happening from news media, much later. Despite being held all night at the police station (this was in the days before carryable media) in a very odd assemblage of "what they could grab" clothes. Despite repeated queries, the police never directly explained.


Its just that the reason for the stop should not be "driving while black".

[flockofseagulls104]

It's not black or white, it's about having respect, it's about being civilized.

This guy had respect and was civilized?

Did he riot, loot, destroy property or kill anyone, SSS?