The death of George Floyd was an entirely avoidable death. The officer who knelt on his neck will be held criminally and likely civilly liable as well. The chaos from that tragedy has been massive, horrible and planned.
The other day in Atlanta, a couple of officers were called to a Wendy’s because a man fell asleep in his car in the drive-thru. After 40 minutes of the police calmly talking with him (the entire video is at the end of this article), the person, Rayshard Brooks attacked and knocked down two officers, grabbed the Taser from one of the officers and started to run off. One officer tried to Taser Mr. Brooks as he ran off. Mr. Brooks then turned around and pointed the Taser at an officer. Mr. Brooks was promptly shot dead for his efforts.
Let me explain why Mr. Brooks was given the treatment he received. Yes, a Taser is a “less-than-lethal” weapon. It is meant to incapacitate the target. It can be lethal if the person being Tased has a pacemaker or heart condition and the electricity from the Taser disrupts the heart or pacemaker.
It has come out (that’s why I delay my commenting on things like this) that Mr. Brooks had multiple felonies on his record and he was on parole at the time of his death. This article has footage of the actual moment Mr. Brooks was shot just in case you’re still clinging onto the fantasy that Mr. Brooks was innocent and undeserving of being shot. Mr. Brooks started to fight when he was told he was being arrested, which meant he was going back to jail, being on parole and all. That’s why he resisted. And just in case you didn't hear about it, both officers rendered first aid immediately to try and keep Mr. Brooks alive.
Consider this possible evolution of events: Mr. Brooks shoots an officer with the Taser, incapacitating him. Mr. Brooks then relieves the helpless officer of his (lethal) firearm and kills one or both officers. Any human being, officer or civilian, in such a situation, must act under the premise that this is Mr. Brooks intent. To act like Mr. Brooks would not do something like that is stupid and the probable result is a dead officer. This was a justified shooting, six ways from Sunday. The officer acted appropriately to defend his life and the lives of others.
For any of you who thinks what I just described is BS, read this: Man who shot trooper on Route 33 gets up to 110 years in prison, because the same thing happened. Two police attempted to arrest this man. When the critical moment arrived, the officers hesitated using lethal force and Daniel Clary shot both officers with one seriously wounded.
This one happened in West Memphis, AR, about 20 minutes from my house. Two dead officers that went horribly wrong in the space of about 30 seconds.
Back to the point at hand. In the wake of officers defending their lives and the lives of others, what does the Mayor of Atlanta do? Fires the officer who killed Mr. Brooks and called it “murder” before the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has even completed their investigation. The police chief also resigned, the circumstances and reasoning around that are unclear.
This event and the nationwide calls by Leftists to “defund/disband the police” has sent a clear message to every police officer in every department across our nation: Leave or stop doing your job.
Baltimore has already had a taste of that. After the riots over the death of Freddie Gray and the Mayor sided with the rioters over the police, well, this USA Today story explains it:
Just before a wave of violence turned Baltimore into the nation’s deadliest big city, a curious thing happened to its police force: officers suddenly seemed to stop noticing crime.
Police officers reported seeing fewer drug dealers on street corners. They encountered fewer people who had open arrest warrants.
Police questioned fewer people on the street. They stopped fewer cars.
In the space of just a few days in spring 2015 – as Baltimore faced a wave of rioting after Freddie Gray, a black man, died from injuries he suffered in the back of a police van – officers in nearly every part of the city appeared to turn a blind eye to everyday violations. They still answered calls for help. But the number of potential violations they reported seeing themselves dropped by nearly half. It has largely stayed that way ever since.
“What officers are doing is they’re just driving looking forward. They’ve got horse blinders on,” says Kevin Forrester, a retired Baltimore detective.
I will make clear they still responded to 911 calls, but the officer-initiated contacts dropped, as it says below, by 70 percent.
Millions of police records show officers in Baltimore respond to calls as quickly as ever. But they now begin far fewer encounters themselves. From 2014 to 2017, dispatch records show the number of suspected narcotics offenses police reported themselves dropped 30 percent; the number of people they reported seeing with outstanding warrants dropped by half. The number of field interviews – instances in which the police approach someone for questioning – dropped 70 percent.
And because of that, murders, felony crimes and drug-dealing skyrocketed. We are now seeing similar results of Baltimore. Crimes are skyrocketing in Seattle, Minneapolis, D.C. and New York, everywhere there are strong calls to “defund the police.”
Now that this mindset has spread nationwide, police officers are either resigning from the job or not doing their job. They know which side of their bread is buttered. Their jobs just went from hazardous to dangerous, from both the people they contact on the streets and their management structure. A clear message has been sent out that police are not wanted, their city will not have their back and there is literally no reason to have a job like that anymore. We’re talking about a job that has a high risk of death or major disability, for not a lot of pay, and now they’re about as welcome as a turd in the swimming pool.
So my advice to you my dear readers, is if you can, to acquire a Concealed Carry Weapon permit and start carrying a weapon to protect yourself and your family. Very soon there could be no more “Thin Blue Line” as we currently know it that separates people from the two-legged animals.
I’m not going to advocate to you for a specific weapon, a type of weapon or a caliber. All I ask is you get a weapon you are comfortable with. One that you can quickly bring to bear and accurately use. I suggest you rent several from your local range or shoot with your friends until you find the weapon that works best for you. Practice regularly with it. Practice on a static range and a practical range. The static range for accuracy, the practical range to practice accuracy, speed, target recognition and on-the-fly problem solving under stress.
A self-defense firearm is not like a fire extinguisher where you can put it in your cabinet and forget about it, then have the time to read the instructions on how to use it before fighting the fire.
You might want to get a shirt like this to remind you of the responsibility carrying a weapon entails; Teespring.
Raw video of entire encounter: