"Don't even think about moving. I am too comfortable."
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Daily Dose of Cute
"Don't even think about moving. I am too comfortable."
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Insurers Illegally Denying Contraceptive Coverage
[Content Note: War on agency; classism. NB: Not only women need access to birth control.]
Despite the Hobby Lobby decision that created an exemption for religious private employers, most employers and insurers are still required to cover contraceptives. But Kaiser Health News has found there are still all sorts of attempts to deny coverage of certain types of contraception or deny coverage of contraception altogether:
In one of those messages recently, a woman said her insurer denied free coverage for the NuvaRing. This small plastic device, which is inserted into the vagina, works for three weeks at a time by releasing hormones similar to those used by birth control pills. She said her insurer told her she would be responsible for her contraceptive expenses unless she chooses an oral generic birth control pill. The NuvaRing costs between $15 and $80 a month, according to Planned Parenthood.And throughout the duration of that process, you get to pay for your own birth control out of pocket, if you can afford to. And if you can't, too bad. And if you get pregnant, well, hope you live within distance of an accessible abortion clinic, and can afford an abortion.
Under the health law, health plans have to cover the full range of FDA-approved birth control methods without any cost sharing by women, unless the plan falls into a limited number of categories that are excluded...
As an official from the federal Department of Health and Human Services said in an email, "The pill, the ring and the patch are different types of hormonal methods … It is not permissible to cover only the pill, but not the ring or the patch."
Guidance from the federal government clearly states that the full range of FDA-approved methods of birth control must be covered as a preventive benefit without cost sharing. That includes birth control pills, the ring or patch, intrauterine devices and sterilization, among others.
But despite federal guidance, "we've seen this happen, plenty," says Adam Sonfield, a senior public policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and education organization. "Clearly insurance companies think things are ambiguous enough that they can get away with it."
If you are denied coverage, your defense is to appeal the decision, and get your state insurance department involved.
This is not a functional healthcare system.
An insurance company, trying to save money to pass onto its wealthy shareholders, denies the $15-$80 a month coverage of a NuvaRing to a woman who is insured by them. The woman then has to pay that cost herself, at least until the insurance company is forced to reverse their illegal denial of coverage. She is subsidizing the profits of a corporation and earnings of wealthy shareholders.
And that's the best case scenario after this sort of denial of coverage. In the worst case scenario, a woman who can't afford $15-$80 a month gets pregnant, and can't afford an abortion, either, and then has a child she didn't want and can't afford. Escalating costs passed on to her because an insurance company made an illegal decision about her coverage.
This is not a functional healthcare system.
A for-profit healthcare system will never be a functional healthcare system. Not for people who truly depend on it to access healthcare.
[H/T to Shaker Kathy_A.]
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: War; terrorism] Goddamn: "Internal administration deliberations over a response to Isis continue, and US officials predicted that there would be little departure from the strategy of limited airstrikes launched since 8 August. One said the military plan 'may ultimately evolve'. ...Army general Martin Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told reporters in a Pentagon briefing that while Isis would eventually have to be defeated, the US should concentrate on building allies in the region to oppose the group that murdered an American journalist, James Foley. 'It is possible to contain them,' Dempsey said, in a Pentagon press conference alongside the defence secretary, Chuck Hagel. 'They can be contained, but not in perpetuity. This is an organisation that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic vision which will eventually have to be defeated.'" I know it's the height of gauche to say this, but fuck George W. Bush and his entire administration and the architects of the Iraq War, which created the chaos in which this is happening.
[CN: Racism] Republican Iowa Representative Steve King continues to be a reprehensible shitlord, calling Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton "race hustlers," accusing the Congressional Black Caucus of " always looking to play the race card," and saying, without a trace of irony, "our culture and civilization was built on a number of things but it was certainly built on reason and our ability to reason," in order to call what's happening in Ferguson "irrational."
[CN: Natural disaster] Major landslides caused by the collapse of mountainsides on the outskirts of Hiroshima, Japan, have necessitated the evacuation of more than 4,000 people from their homes. "The confirmed death toll on Friday stood at 39 but the number of missing was raised to 52, having risen steadily over the last two days from initial single figures." Fuck.
[CN: Misogyny] Of course: Men who request flexible work schedules for childcare are more likely to get it than women. "Whereas men are rewarded at work for trying to help out at home, women continue to be penalized. The reason? Entrenched gender stereotypes. People continue to believe that men will meet their obligations at work—because they are men. In other words, according to Dr. Munsch, 'We think, What a great guy.'"
[CN: Transphobia] Despite promises to support Pfc. Chelsea Manning in her transition, the military is failing to deliver. "For example, in my daily life, I am reminded of this when I look at the name on my badge, the first initial sewed into my clothing, the hair and grooming standards that I adhere to, and the titles and courtesies used by the staff. Ultimately, I just want to be able to live my life as the person that I am, and to be able to feel comfortable in my own skin."
[CN: Misogyny] Fark says it's going to stop tolerating misogyny in its forums. Well, I hope they're serious about it, and I am already annoyed by the cookies they're getting for doing what should be considered a basic bit of decency.
An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Arizona State University have discovered "the genetic 'recipe' for lizard tail regeneration," which may aid in the development of "ways to stimulate the regeneration of limbs in humans" as well as "new therapeutic approaches to spinal cord injuries, repairing birth defects, and treating diseases such as arthritis." Neat!
A team of scientists from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan have detected traces of one the universe's first stars. Wow.
And finally! Hank Aaron meets Hank the Dog: "Hank the Dog was a stray when the Brewers found him at their training camp in Arizona this past February. The team then adopted him as their new mascot—complete with a jersey bearing his own special number, 'K9'—and gave him a new home with the team's general counsel Marti Wronski. The Brewers also donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Hank-related merchandise to the Wisconsin Humane Society, and they have held other events with him to promote rescue-pet adoption. And of course, right from the moment he first arrived at the Brewers camp, the staff and players there named him in honor of Milwaukee's greatest sports legend."
Quote of the Day
"Go do what you think you want to do and do your best because you know there's some mound waiting for you to make your best pitch on."—Donna Orender, a former president of the WNBA "who has created a nonprofit called Generation W focusing on inspiring women and girls," in a story about Mo'Ne Davis.
I'm not typically a fan of sports metaphors, but that's pretty fucking great.
Today in Rape Culture
[Content Note: Sexual assault; racism; police brutality. Video may begin to play automatically at link.]
An Oklahoma City police officer has been arrested after allegations he sexually assaulted multiple women while on duty:
Daniel Ken Holtzclaw, 27, a three-year veteran of the Oklahoma City Police Department, was arrested [Thursday] on complaints of rape, forcible oral sodomy, sexual battery and indecent exposure. He was being held in the Oklahoma County jail in lieu of $5 million bail.Police suspect that there are more victims, whom they have yet to identify.
The arrest was announced at a short-notice 4 p.m. news conference featuring Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty and Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater.
Holtzclaw is accused of stopping women — some as they walked through neighborhoods — and threatening them with arrest, Citty said. Police said Holtzclaw forced women to expose themselves, fondled the women, and in at least one instance, [raped] a woman, Citty said.
...Investigators have received statements from six women, and one woman is scheduled to provide a statement, Citty said. The chief said all the victims are black women between the ages of 34 and 58.
I am thinking about what's happening in Ferguson, right now, and how protesters are being arrested for walking, and how the killing of Michael Brown began with Officer Darren Wilson harassing him for walking in the street, and how residents of Ferguson are speaking out about the harassment they get all the time just walking down the street, and AG Eric Holder talking about being stopped because he was running down the sidewalk to catch a movie, and all the stories I've ever heard about black people being stopped by cops and threatened with arrest for literally doing nothing, and I have to think it's not a coincidence that Holtzclaw's victims were all black women.
Because most white women aren't entrained to understand from the day we're born that the police can arrest you for nothing. The threat of arrest for nothing has to be believed.
And the history of letting cops harass black people, and threaten them with arrest for nothing, and arrest them for nothing, and disbelieving them when they say they weren't doing anything illegal, all conspired to make Holtzclaw's threat meaningful to black women in a way it might not have been for most white women.
Which is not to suggest non-black women haven't been exploited this way. They have. My point is that Holtzclaw chose victims he perceived as most likely to be intimidated by a threat of arrest for nothing and least likely to want to interact with the police to report him.
(Whooooooops. Someone, some very brave woman, reported him.)
If anyone's in the position to understand people's relationships with the cops, to exploit it, it's a police officer. And no one is more intimately familiar with the rape culture, and how to exploit it to his advantage, than a rapist.
Racism is part of the rape culture. Which victims can be intimidated in what ways. Which victims are most likely to be believed.
That is something the police need to address. That is, if they can tear themselves away from reminding us Not All Police Officers:
Citty said the case angered and disturbed him, and he praised his detectives for their work in identifying additional victims.See, here's the thing, Chief Citty: If any woman, of any color, can be coerced into a sexual assault by the threat of arrest, because she reasonably calculates that it's safer to "let" herself be assaulted than roll the dice with the police force as a framed suspect, 99.9% of your officers aren't trustworthy. I can absolutely promise you that.
"Trust is something that we are constantly having to work on," Citty said. "When something like this happens, I have to hope that most of the community realizes that our officers, 99.9 percent of them, are trustworthy, and when something like this happens, our officers take this very personally."
Ferguson
[Content Note: Police harassment; racism; threats.]
Last night, things were quieter in Ferguson again. Imagine that: Attorney General Eric Holder comes to Ferguson and promises a real investigation and suddenly things get quieter. That snark, in case it isn't clear, is not directed at protesters, but at the police, whose tactics demonstrably escalated the site of protesting every night things were less quiet. They didn't seem to care when "we" were watching, but they certainly seem to care that the US Department of Justice is.
And "quieter" merely means that police weren't firing teargas or rubber bullets, but they were still arresting people for walking and using intimidation tactics. As @thewayoftheid notes here, that might be a "success" for the police, but it's not a success for the people of Ferguson, whose reports of police harassment far predate the killing of Michael Brown.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign in support of Officer Darren Wilson has already raised $200,000. Even though, as @ScottMadin pointed out, Wilson has "been put on indefinite paid vacation and not charged with any crime." And here is what happens to someone who vociferously objects.
This hasn't just radicalized people who advocate for racial equality; it has radicalized people who advocate against it, too.
And finally: There is this heap of shitty racism apologia in the Minneapolis StarTribune in which a white man talks about the black women who were domestic workers for his white family in the South, and how they were "family." Amazingly, the title of this "counterpoint" piece is not "Not All White People."
There is a long history of white folks invoking black domestic workers as evidence of racial equality, and it is always bullshit. Elle deconstructs it in spectacular fashion here: "Same Script, Different Cast." If there's one thing you read today, read that.
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker particolored: "What is your earworm du jour?"
"Then He Kissed Me" has been stuck in my head for awhile, which is why it is today's TMNS. :)
Another Bad Day for Bigots
[Content Note: Homophobia.]
Woot! A federal judge has declared Florida's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional:
U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle in Tallahassee ruled that the ban added to Florida's constitution by voters in 2008 violates the 14th Amendment's guarantees of equal protection and due process. Hinkle issued a stay delaying the effect of his order, meaning no marriage licenses will be immediately issued for gay couples.Like many other similar state cases, Hinkle's ruling "allows time for appeals in the federal case."
Hinkle, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, compared bans on gay marriage to the long-abandoned prohibitions on interracial marriage and predicted both would be viewed by history the same way.
"When observers look back 50 years from now, the arguments supporting Florida's ban on same-sex marriage, though just as sincerely held, will again seem an obvious pretext for discrimination," Hinkle wrote in a 33-page ruling. "To paraphrase a civil rights leader from the age when interracial marriage was struck down, the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice."
Basically, there is just a ton of momentum ruling these state bans unconstitutional going into whatever case the Supreme Court takes, which should be decided soon.
[H/T to Shaker Kathy_A.]
Daily Dose of Cute
"What? I'm trying to sleep here!"
As always, please feel welcome and encouraged to share pix of the fuzzy, feathered, or scaled members of your family in comments.
Ferguson Update
[Content Note: Police militarization.]
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has ordered the national guard to withdraw from Ferguson.
"As we continue to see improvement, I have ordered the Missouri National Guard to begin a systematic process of withdrawing from the City of Ferguson," Nixon said in a statement on Thursday.Without a trace of irony, he notes that he "sees improvement" while leaving militarized police in charge, as if it's not the militarized police who have consistently escalated the situation in Ferguson.
...Police with riot gear and armoured vehicles continued to take the lead, however, and the national guard units stayed largely out of public view, guarding a unified command centre at a shopping mall just outside the protest area. "I greatly appreciate the men and women of the Missouri national guard for successfully carrying out the specific, limited mission," said Nixon.
ETA. In related news, Senator Claire McCaskill has announced she will lead a Senate probe on the militarization of police.
Good Grief
[Content Note: Misogyny.]
This is a screen shot of the headline and accompanying image of a Peter Beinart article at the Atlantic today:
1. Clintonphobia. A terrific name for a pathological fear of a female candidate. How neat.
2. Her "reputation for retaliating for betrayals." What a bitch, amirite? As opposed to all those male politicians who famously buy Fruit of the Month Club memberships for the people who betray them.
3. HILLARY HAS NOT ANNOUNCED THAT SHE IS RUNNING. No Democrat could even know for certain if they would be running against Hillary Clinton, because SHE ISN'T YET RUNNING HERSELF. Beinart writes:
On Tuesday, The Washington Post's Aaron Blake ran through the reasons various potential challengers seemed disinclined to run: Warren has praised Clinton too much; Joe Biden's approval ratings are low; O'Malley would have trouble raising money. But these individual factors don't entirely explain why no one has emerged.Hey, here's a reason: Maybe because it's 2014, we haven't even passed the midterm election yet, and Hillary hasn't even announced whether she's running. JUST A THOUGHT.
4. That picture. OMG that picture. That picture comes from the Benghazi hearings during which Hillary Clinton was a total badass as she pushed back against Republicans who were being unfathomably rude, mendacious, vindictive dirtbags.
That picture was, in fact, the very image used on the front page of the New York Post following the hearing, accompanied by the headline: "No Wonder Bill's Afraid: Hillary Explodes with Rage at Benghazi Hearing."
Yes, let's talk about how ruthless Hillary Clinton is, then use a picture of her being hammered in a vicious partisan attack to intimate that she's a sinister hysteric.
And then let's all pretend that this isn't classic misogyny. Let's all pretend that this doesn't happen to women with even the smallest public presence all the time—provoked to anger then evidence of that anger used to discredit us as monsters.
An entire article musing about how people aren't running because Hillary Clinton (and her husband) are uniquely brutal politicians. When Hillary Clinton isn't even yet running herself. A fact which is treated as incidental.
Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime
The Crystals: "Then He Kissed Me"
(Am I the only one who can't hear this song without thinking of Adventures in Babysitting?)
In the News
Here is some stuff in the news today...
[Content Note: Violence; murder; terrorism] ISIS reportedly demanded a multimillion dollar ransom from the US before killing James Foley: "The group pressed the United States to provide a multimillion-dollar ransom for his release, according to a representative of his family and a former hostage held alongside him. The United States—unlike several European countries that have funneled millions to the terror group to spare the lives of their citizens—refused to pay. The issue of how to deal with ISIS, which like many terror groups now routinely trades captives for large cash payments, is acute for the Obama administration because Mr. Foley was not the lone American in its custody. ISIS is threatening to kill at least three others it holds if its demands remain unmet, The New York Times has confirmed through interviews with recently released prisoners, family members of the victims, and mediators attempting to win their freedom. Sensitive to growing criticism that it had not done enough, the White House on Wednesday revealed that a United States Special Operations team tried and failed to rescue Mr. Foley—a New Hampshire native who disappeared in Syria on Nov. 22, 2012—as well as the other American hostages during a secret mission this summer." So awful. A totally untenable situation for the Obama administration, which can either fund terrorism or risk the lives of US citizens. Fuck.
[CN: Police brutality; racism] One of the police officers who was involved in killing John Crawford is already back on the job. Because of course zie is.
Welp: "Bank of America has agreed to pay a record $16.65bn to settle charges it sold flawed mortgage securities in the run up to the financial crisis, the largest fine ever levied by US authorities on a single company. ...The bank will pay $9.65bn in cash to the Justice Department, six US states, and other government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A further $7bn in aid will go to consumers struggling with home loan payments and towards demolishing derelict properties." This was a major financial crime they committed. And, so far, no one is going to jail. And no one has been shot by the cops.
[CN: Rape culture; victim-blaming] Some male college students are finding that all this talk about campus sexual assault is really harshing their groove. And, by the way, it's totally unfair to expect men not to rape their female classmates: "Some men feel that too much responsibility for preventing sexual assault has been put on their shoulders, said Chris Herries, a senior at Stanford University. While everyone condemns sexual assault, there seems to be an assumption among female students that they shouldn't have to protect themselves by avoiding drunkenness and other risky behaviors, he said. 'Do I deserve to have my bike stolen if I leave it unlocked on the quad?' Herries, 22, said. 'We have to encourage people not to take on undue risk.'" I mean. Leaving aside that here is yet another dude comparing the abuse of women's bodies to property theft, he's basically admitting that a woman being drunk around men (him?) is an "undue risk." Um.
[CN: Illness; death; misogynoir] One of the most under-reported issues in the coverage of the Ebola outbreak is that women are disproportionately succumbing to the disease, and here is a good example of why that is: "The current outbreak of Ebola has killed more than 1200 people in West Africa, with Liberia having the largest increase in deaths according to the latest reportable data. Although the death toll from the virus itself is astounding, many people—including pregnant mothers—are also dying as hospitals and clinics shut their doors."
[CN: Transphobia] In good news, trans teen Rachel Pepe will be allowed to return to school as Rachel, and the staff at her school will "undergo lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender sensitivity training," in order to try to ensure she has a safe learning environment.
[CN: Homophobia] Corporations continue to want to have it both ways: Props for diversity, and no one complain when they donate to politicians who oppose same-sex marriage.
[CN: Heart attack] And finally! This hero cat totally saved her guardian's life, by alerting that he was having a heart attack. And then she "refused to leave his side throughout and upon his return from hospital stayed with him around the clock until he was back on his feet." Oh cats. ♥
No Thank You
[Content Note: Christian Supremacy.]
I am an atheist.
And here is something that happens to me sometimes: When I do something that a Christian sees as "good," zie will tell me I'm not really an atheist.
(I'm sure people of other religions do this, too, but in my personal experience, it has only been done to me by Christians.)
Sometimes this is said plainly, or sometimes it's communicated via a jokey question: "Are you sure you're really an atheist?" Wink. Sometimes it's just a comment about how that's something Jesus would do, or some comment about how God doesn't care that I'm an atheist; he'll take me to heaven anyway.
No matter how it's said, what I'm being told is that "goodness" is the exclusive province of Christianity and that I am a fool.
Of course, no one intends to tell me I'm a fool. But it sure feels a hell of a lot like being called a fool when I'm told, in one of a dozen different ways, that I don't know the "goodness" within me is not my own.
It's demeaning. And it hurts to be told things I do don't belong to me, but to some deity in which I don't even believe.
Nonetheless, I'm meant to receive that shit as a compliment.
And, if I don't, I'm the bitch.
If I push back at all on the idea that I did not do something "good" because of divine intervention I can't see, but because of carefully considered choices I made, then suddenly I'm the atheist asshole who is intolerant of religion.
No, thank you.
Don't put me in that position. Don't say this sort of thing to this atheist. It is not a compliment.
[From a conversation with @SpokesGay.]
An Observation
[Content Note: Police brutality; descriptions of violence; racism.]
In the last two weeks, there has been a lot (but hardly enough) public discussion of police militarization and extrajudicial killing. One of the things I want to note as part of the ongoing discussion in this space is that not only are black people killed by police at disproportionately high rates, but it also seems as though black people are shot a much higher number of times in these confrontations with police.
Yesterday, Zerlina Maxwell linked to this story about a white man who was shot by police and survived. Note the difference in details between this incident and the killing of Kajieme Powell:
A possibly suicidal man waving what appeared to be a gun was wounded Wednesday in an officer-involved shooting near De Anza Cove, authorities reported.One shot. After an hour of negotiating. Versus twelve shots from two officers after seventeen seconds.
...Officers tried in vain to persuade the man to drop the weapon and surrender.
...[Local photographer Ed Baier] was one of the first on the scene and one of the only ones to capture every minute of what would turn out to be a standoff that would last for more than an hour. ...The standoff ended when an officer opened fire as the man raised the gun, according to police.
"Like lightning … you see the lightning first, then the thunder. So I saw him go down immediately and then I heard the click the crack of the shot and then that was it," said Baier.
Medics took the suspect to a trauma center. Police say he is serious but stable condition.
Michael Brown was shot six times. Jonathan Ferrell was shot ten times. Tyisha Miller was shot at 23 times, hit with at least 12 bullets, including four in her head.
A few examples of many.
It's not just that black people are shot more often. It certainly seems to be that there's a disparity in the number of shots taken by police against white and black people, too.
And more shots clearly reduces the chances of survival.
Not only do we need to talk about why police are increasingly militarized and increasingly less likely to practice good deescalation techniques; not only do we need to talk about why police kill black people at higher rates; we also need to talk about why it is that when police shoot at black people, they seem to shoot more, to ensure no chance of survival.
Ferguson + Kajieme Powell
[Content Note: Police brutality; descriptions of violence; racism.]
Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder arrived in Ferguson and made promises to its residents that the Justice Department will do a thorough investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown. Between Holder's arrival, and the start of the grand jury investigation, and a big storm, Ferguson was quieter last night. Safer. Despite threats of arrest and pepper spray, people were allowed to protest without harassment.
The officer who was pointing an assault rifle at protesters while shouting, "I will fucking kill you. Get back!" the night before, has been relieved of duty and suspended indefinitely. I suppose "indefinitely" means "until the media presence in the area significantly diminishes." At least he's off the streets for now.
I linked this yesterday afternoon, but in case anyone missed it, I'm linking it again, because it's important reading [CN: descriptions of racist violence]: Jamelle Bouie's "Why the Fires in Ferguson Won't End Soon."
And here is some more recommended reading: @ImKindOfAJeaux's "The Revolution Will Be Live Tweeted."
ETA. "Ferguson Good Samaritan Says Getting Maced Felt Like Being 'In Hell on Fire'." My god. A woman who was handing out water and cookies and juice gets maced by police. Fuck.
* * *
On Tuesday, I wrote about the St. Louis police shooting and killing 25-year-old Kajieme Powell, who had stolen two energy drinks and set them on the pavement and was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk. This happened three miles from the shooting of Michael Brown.
At the time I asked these questions:
Why didn't they tase him? Or pepper spray him? Or at least try any other means of relieving the man of his weapon before shooting to kill?Well, yesterday, video of the shooting was made public (it is viewable here), and we now have answers to some of those questions.
(Not that people can't and haven't died from tasers and pepper spray. But they are generally less lethal than guns.)
Was there any attempt to establish if this man was incapacitated in some way? Did he actually need medical care? Would it have even mattered if he did?
How long did they talk to him? How long did they spend trying to negotiate with him, while he was still a yard away from them, begging them to shoot him? How long before BOTH OFFICERS just opened fire in the middle of a neighborhood, where other people could have been hurt?
I don't know why they didn't tase him. There was no attempt to establish if Powell was incapacitated in some way.
And as for how long they spent trying to deescalate via negotiation, how long they spent interacting with Powell before killing him: The police arrive on the scene at the 1:23 mark. They start shooting at the 1:40 mark.
Seventeen seconds.
They spent all of seventeen seconds at the scene before they both started shooting at Powell, in the middle of a residential neighborhood.
Seventeen seconds before they shot him twelve times, and then rolled over his dead body and handcuffed his corpse.
The video also calls into question the police account of what happened.
The chief said that the officers repeatedly ordered the man to drop the knife and drew their weapons after he did not drop it. The chief said the man told the police: "Shoot me now. Kill me now."Nope. The police drew their weapons as soon as they got out of the vehicle. The man did not come within 3 to 4 feet of officers, and had in fact moved away from them when they began firing. If he is brandishing a knife, it's not even visible in the video, and the police are not ordering him to drop a knife but to take his hand out of his pocket.
He said the two officers fired after the man moved toward one of them and came within 3 to 4 feet.
Original reports described Powell as coming at police officers brandishing a knife in an overhead grip. That is manifestly not the case.
After Powell has been killed, witnesses begin asking why they didn't tase him. Over and over, people ask why he wasn't tased, why he was killed. The police aggressively push people out of the area, creating an absurdly large crime scene, and speak angrily to the witnesses. No one is asked to stay to give their account of what happened. No names are taken. The police tell them to leave.
Maybe some of that happened afterward. But, suffice it to say, the primary goal is clearly to protect the police, not to immediately begin a transparent process of accountability for shooting a man to death in the street.
Question of the Day
If you could snap your fingers and get rid of one bad habit of yours that's just seemingly impossible for you to get rid of, what would it be?
