The only parallel is both are cops who had multiple issues with abusing their power and should have been fired long ago.
Hard, fast, emphatic, passionate, shout-it-from-the-rooftops, 24pt font "FUCK NO!!!!!" for the above. That’s a fucking crock of bullshit, and I’m calling you on it. That part of
@Blizzard ‘s reply that this was directed to is spot the fuck on. In fact, dare I say that the institutional rot present in the failed leadership of this department goes past training, and sits firmly entrenched in the day-to-day function of same.
The chief of police is appointed by those elected officials that the general public hold in good faith (
) to keep the safety and best interests of the citizens in mind. These same elected officials aren’t going to appoint a leader who is diametrically opposed to their vision. They are going to hire someone who has similar ideals. Someone from outside a given metropolitan area may not have the same specific plan for moving a particular department and municipality forward walking into that interview. However, they aren't going to get hired if they aren't generally agreeable to what the mayor/council/commission have in mind overall for that central plan. That means any subconscious disdain that the elected leadership may harbor for the local electorate can be reflected in the leadership of the enforcement arm of that local government.
Now, when you hire in someone that genuinely gives a damn about the community they're policing, they're going to make damn sure that the officers are on the same page. It's a painfully slow process at times, depending on what the prevailing culture is at the department at date of hire. Sometimes the negative influences openly push back on the new leadership; sinecures need to be protected, after all. The chief makes sure his or her standards for hiring are met, and the changes at the bottom eventually rise to meet the change at the top. This is how you get cops on departments that aren't afraid to stand out in the age of Twitter and protest against police brutality.
When you're in an area that the elected officials don't give two shits about their local electorate beyond their tax bracket and vote counts, they're going to hire in a chief that gives less of a tinker's damn than they do, because guess who's never going to run for office. That subtle outlook on the "unwashed masses and rabble rousing proletariat that votes every couple of years" transfers through the chief and to the boots on the ground. That exacerbates the "us vs. them" mentality that already exists simply as a function of what they do. The subordinates become convinced of their own authority as conferred by that piece of tin and a sidearm, and they eventually believe themselves to be nigh on untouchable. The local police union doesn't help to disavow them of that misconception. This is how you get trigger happy policemen with zero compunction regarding how they treat the citizens they are sworn to "protect." Anyone that speaks out against the negative environment gets hammered out of the department, and most likely leaves law enforcement altogether. One-man-armies never win wars.
A Hispanic shot Philando Castile. A Somali shot Justine Damond. A Caucasian killed George Floyd. This isn't racism; this is indicative of a pervasive rot in the leadership of the Minneapolis metro area (I insert that caveat because the PC shooting happened in a suburb of Minneapolis). Power tripping is allowed and supported; prove me wrong.
They did, you just likely didn't see or hear about it if you aren't in that circle.
First of all, I wouldn't trust Shaun King to tell me the sky was blue. His debacle with resurrecting the North Star publication is but the latest incident that serves as a solid indictment of his character.
Secondly, I guess Tariq Nasheed isn't in that circle, either. Then again, Twitter is an eternal flame style dumpster fire that serves as a portal straight to Dante's fifth circle of Hell. Many of the replies to his tweet were far less supportive of "justice for Justine" than the OP. "Folks only care because the deceased was white," was the overall theme I detected.
