In the wake of numerous assaults on OWS protestors this thanksgiving day there is still a significant and disturbing unwillingness on the part of the American public to question the actions of law enforcement officers whose job is, ostensibly, to protect and serve the public.
So called less lethal technologies have replaced rational thought and communication skills in an ever more militarized and violent police force to the detriment of the American people.
In today's example I'd like to draw your attention to the tragic death of Roger Anthony, a man whose only crime was, apparently, being black and sick.
Per WRALin Scotland Neck NC
Scotland Neck Police Chief Joe Williams said they received a call Monday night about a man who fell off of his bicycle and injured himself in the parking lot of the BB&T bank, 1001 Main St. The caller was concerned that the man was drunk.
When Officer John Turner arrived, he saw Roger Anthony pedaling away along 10th Street. He followed Anthony in his patrol car, briefly put on his sirens and lights and yelled out of the window for him to stop, but Anthony continued to ride away, police said.
Williams said Turner then saw Anthony take something out his pocket and put it into his mouth. At that time, Turner got out of the car and yelled for Anthony to stop. When Anthony didn't stop, the officer used a stun gun on him, causing him to fall off of his bike.
Anthony was transported to Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where he was declared brain dead, his sister Gladys Freeman said. He was taken off of life support on Tuesday.
Freeman said her brother was disabled, suffered from seizures and had trouble hearing. She said he was riding his bike home from her house on Sunday night. Anthony lived alone in an independent living community.
We are increasingly faced with the consequences of our police state. Crimes are no longer defined by broken law but rather inferred whenever we resist authority and the situation is rapidly deteriorating. In some communities we public openly declare our fear of police. And it should be no surprise when we see images such as these:
or when we are faced with the knowledge that police are tasked with doing the work of the INS and DEA as opposed to protecting our communities. Who do the police really serve? I see officers facing the people while protecting themselves and the big money interests that pay them. Is it too cynical for us to predict that the official report on Roger Anthony's death will reveal "the officer acted appropriately according to departmental procedure"?
It's time we had a national dialogue and congressional leadership on the issue of a police force accountable only to itself whose purpose is to protect the powerful from the meek.