Murder Is No Solution To Systemic Injustice

There is no justification for the murder of any police officer - as happened in Brooklyn, NY on December 20, 2014. Such an act only becomes an excuse for hateful supporters of oppression to shout louder in their quest to repress others. We should not want a society where, by killing others that we dislike, we all become blind to the direction of the hand of justice. 

The killer of the 2 NYPD police officers who we now know were both wonderful individuals was, as we also now know, a mentally ill man with documented evidence of multiple psychiatric hospitalizations who was able to get his hands on a gun. One of the murdered cops was a recently married man whose wife is now a widow even before she experiences the joy of marriage to the love of her life. The other, a recently certified Christian Chaplain was a father of two. 

The same people who always tell us after every mass murder that the only issue at stake is mental illness now prefer to deny that mental illness played a part in these murders. They want us to believe that the only issue here is revenge killing by a man with some race-propelled vendetta against police officers.  Here is the truth: the only issue here is the infinite availability of guns in our society. We should stop giving cover to the NRA and their supporters whenever these senseless but avoidable tragedies occur. 

Now, we have two good men who will not be at the table with their families this Christmas. As a society, we should all bury our heads in shame. May their souls rest in perfect peace. 

The Police Versus Society

If you are over 10 years old, male, poor and/or a member of a racial/ethnic minority group anywhere in the world and have never been abused, lied against, killed by a police officer or known someone who has, you should count yourself very fortunate and pray that this continues to be the case.  

The composition of people demonstrating across the United States in reaction to the (in)action following recent police murders are teaching us what some people don't want us to learn: that this is not just a racial matter; it is instead a matter of humanity and a question of what kind of world we want to live in. Those who prefer to maintain the unintelligent argument that the victims of police bullets die because they resist arrest need to ask themselves what arrest attempts or orders 12 year-old Tamir Rice of Cleveland resisted from a cop who came out of a cruiser shooting at him and killing him within 2 seconds of the cruiser arriving where the child was. What orders did Akai Gurley resist when he walked innocently into the hallway of his NYC housing with his girlfriend and was immediately murdered by a police officer without even as much as word spoken between him and the cop? 

The time for making excuses for police officers should be history. We do not pay or arm them to kill us. They should protect us from criminals; not be the criminals. We shouldn't have to fear the police more than we fear criminals.  For as long as our society (indeed our world) continues to make excuses for irresponsible, self-absorbed, empty, blood-hungry and racist police officers, for so long shall we continue to be victims of their abuses. Enough is enough!