There Was Nothing He Could Have Done To Deserve It

September 7, 2020

Every time an unarmed black person is shot by American police, people will dig into the victim's history to see what kind of things they'd done wrong in order to justify their murder -- or attempted murder. We've seen it so many times with high-profile cases, most recently with Jacob Blake.

The recent events with Blake, as well as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others, have been so heinous and unjustified that even some right-wing politicians and supporters of the police have not been able to deny that what happened was wrong on every level. However, there are still some whose blind support of the police is so strong (people who would be called 'bootlickers' by many in my circle of friends) that they still try to find ways to justify these senseless murders, whether the excuse is "He had a knife in his car" or "He was a felon" or "She used to date a drug-dealer" or whatever else they can come up with. "He didn't obey their commands" is a popular one, insisting that "If you obey the cops, you won't get shot."

There are three glaring things wrong with this way of thinking. The first one is assuming that anybody who's done anything illegal or wrong in their lifetime deserves to die for it, even if it's something like passing a counterfeit bill, stealing, or doing drugs. Since when is a death penalty acceptable for these crimes? (Additionally, how many of us have never done anything illegal or anything we regret?)

Second, when you say that you won't be harmed if you obey the cops, you're more or less saying that cops have the right to insist you do whatever they want under threat of violence. Who's to say their requests will be reasonable? That they won't take advantage of that? As we've seen, they clearly have issues with holding each other accountable.

But the third flaw in this way of thinking is what I want to address here, and that is the fact that the police don't have the right to kill you even if you have committed a horrible crime. In speaking of victims of police brutality, we often refer to them as "innocent people." While their innocence is an important part of the narrative, it's equally important to remember that this innocence is not the only thing that should protect them from being killed.

The only acceptable reason for police, or anyone else, to shoot somebody, is self-defense in the face of imminent danger. A man who's unarmed, outnumbered, and not even facing you, is not an imminent danger. Even in the aftermath of a violent crime, it wouldn't have been self-defense. It would have been punishment. Revenge. And it is not the cops' place to exact revenge.

It is only their place to arrest you, even if you are guilty. That's why there are other components of our justice system, such as judges and juries. The job of the police is to take you into custody, and eventually you will be in a courthouse where your punishment can be decided. And while you are in their custody, they're responsible for your safety. While they seem to understand this in cases of white supremacist domestic terrorism -- those perpetrators of violent hate crimes almost always seem to be apprehended safely, sometimes even being bought Burger King by the police afterward -- they always seem to forget when the person has darker skin or the appearance of what they consider a "thug." (And in some cases, with other types of people, though the numbers are not proportionate.) Suddenly, they think they are judge, jury and executioner, the sole entity responsible for deciding someone's fate.

Jacob Blake did absolutely nothing wrong that I'm aware of. But still, the bottom line is there is nothing he could have done to "deserve" to be shot seven times in the back by the very people who swore to protect and serve. Regardless of your opinion of the victim, this is a legal fact and one of the reasons we even have a justice system. I don't care if the man had just murdered someone in front of them. If he was unarmed, facing away from them, trapped between them and his vehicle, outnumbered, and close enough for them to grab him by the shirt, he could have been apprehended safely. End of story.

The cop who opened fire on him, at such a close range that he was able to hold the man's shirt while shooting him, didn't do it because it was the last resort to keep himself and others safe. He did it because he wanted to.

White supremacists and other violent types -- on or off of the police force -- are looking for excuses to shoot someone because they get off on it. The only reason most of them don't commit these violent crimes normally is because they're afraid of going to prison. They are drawn to a career in law enforcement because they think it will give them the opportunity to commit their violence without the fear of going to prison -- and they've been proven right many times. There's a reason so many domestic abusers seek out law enforcement careers as well. Frequently-cited statistics say that a whopping 40% of police officers in America are domestic abusers. That number is not a coincidence. People like that seek out a job on the police force for a reason. It's all about power and control for them. They want to wear a badge because it gives them the power and control they seek. But people like that are the last people who should be policing anyone.

They're opportunists who just want to hurt and kill people, like poachers looking for permission to trap and kill animals. And when they finally have an opportunity, they'll excitedly take it. They are hunting human beings and it needs to stop.

tags: black lives matter, police brutality, jacob blake