America’s plan to justify the killing of unarmed Black people: Indict them for their own murders.
It goes without saying that over the course of three months, there has been a lot of media coverage over the killing of Ahmaud Arbery and rightfully so. This man was out jogging, minding his own business when two white men decided to carry out vigilante justice because they assumed that Arbery had committed a crime. The police in Glynn County, GA along with the District Attorney’s office have been engaging in a massive cover-up. It wasn’t until the video of the shooting got released that any traction took place in this case. After public outcry over a videotaped lynching was exposed, then and only then did Governor Brian Kemp request the GBI to investigate the case. Within days both of the McMichael’s, father and son, were in custody and charged with murder, and some have questioned how could the GBI move so swiftly yet Glynn County and District Attorney’s throughout the Southeast region of Georgia could not. What has been discovered is that Glynn County’s Police Dept is filled with corrupt law enforcement officials, which include the recent indictment of the Police Chief and three former high ranking police officers for violating the oath, influencing witnesses and attempted perjury. It has also been discovered that an officer told the owner of the property to not contact the Glynn Co. Police Dept. when someone entered the property but to contact Gregory McMichael and he would handle it. Personally, I have never heard of a civilian being given the authority to handle police work and I am pretty sure that this was indeed illegal. However, what I find intriguing is throughout the backlash and protesting is the narrative that prompted the shooting in the first place. What made these men decide to follow, pursue and murder Ahmaud. It is the idea that many folks throughout the area and the country want to play out, that Ahmaud was breaking into a house so he was rightfully murdered. Candace Owens, of Turning Point USA fame, and a controversial black conservative gave way to this narrative in one of her tweets.
This narrative is also the reason why his previous criminal history was publicized and became a centerpiece to the entire story. This is what happens every time a black person is killed unarmed by either police or white folks. The idea to criminalize the victimized.
Fast forward to March 13th, Breonna Taylor, a young black female EMT in Louisville, KY was murdered while she was sleeping when three officers of the Louisville Police Dept’s Narcotics division attempted to serve an arrest warrant for someone who didn’t live in the home and was already in police custody. Yes, I said the person for whom the warrant was to be serve was already in custody. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who fired back and was initially accused of wounding one of the police officers was charged with attempted murder, and still remains in custody under house arrest, which inflamed the Louisville’s local FOP (Fraternal Order of Police), as they have publicly decreed that Kenneth Walker is a menace to society and should not be under house arrest but in jail. Now, I am not a lawyer by any stretch but I think the castle doctrine clearly states you have the right to defend yourself in your dwelling and it is believed that the police never announced themselves before entering the home. New reports have suggested that it was not Walker who shot the police officer but rather friendly fire, because these officers where firing shots from three different rooms in three different directions. These officers were not wearing body cameras and there are no eyewitnesses to the raid. I have advocated that no-knock raids, are a by-product of the racist war on drugs’ era in our country and should be abolished. Taylor nor Walker had any prior criminal history and the firearms in the house were legally purchased. It’s been two months since the shooting, no charges have been filed against the three police officers, the investigation into the events on that night are still in progress somehow, and yet now a local News agency used a FOIA (freedom of information act) request to look into the work history of Breonna Taylor with the Louisville FD.
You may ask why they did it, I can assure you that it is because they have to find a reason to justify Taylor’s murder. It is not because they care to show that she was an upright citizen and first-responder. Surely, she must have had some type of disciplinary infraction, poor evaluations, horrible work ethic, or anything that could paint her in a negative image so White America could sleep easier knowing that these police officers did their jobs with care instead of malice and recklessness. See the object of this game is not to get justice for Breonna it is justify her getting murdered in cold blood.
These narratives have played out in every single case that has involved unarmed black people being unjustly murdered by police and white folks. Look at every single case over the past seven years and you will see the pattern. The attempt to switch the narrative and paint the deceased as a criminal, thug, super-predator, while simultaneously giving an image of the perpetrators as god-fearing, law abiding citizens who were only doing their jobs or doing the work of the public at large. It also the same reason why many like to try and down play the race card in these attacks by using white supremacist talking points surrounding Black on Black crime.
Neither Arbery or Taylor deserved to die, and those involved in their murders should be prosecuted to fullest extent of the law, regardless if they are sworn to protect or not. As a country we cannot continue to have black folks be the victims of unjustified killings and be criminalize for their own murders. We must call out this blatant racism as soon as it happens, if not justice will never be served.
Peace and Love Always,
Unapologetically Blakk
