These are troubling times for the police with cops under siege. Progressives have been waging a relentless war against the police and it all started in 2009 when President Obama declared the “police acted stupidly” in arresting his friend, Harvard Professor Henry Gates and suggested his friend was a victim of historical racial profiling by the police.
In July 2009, Gates was arrested at his Cambridge, Mass. home by the local police after they received a 9-1-1 call of an attempted burglary in progress. Gates had just returned from a trip to China and was unable to unlock his front door. While he and his driver were trying to force the door open, neighbors reported it to the police. Gates gave the cops a lot of lip and he was hauled off to the pokey for disorderly conduct. The charges were then dropped.
President Obama was a friend of Professor Gates. He issued a statement saying: “I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home, and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there’s a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately.”
Obama was correct in saying any of us would be pretty angry if getting busted for trying to get inside our own home. And the arrest was pretty stupid. But by playing the race card, Obama started a war on the police that has been waged by Progressives ever since.
The war began to peak in 2014 with the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown at the hands of the police.
In July 2014, Eric Garner died in a struggle with NYPD cops who were trying to arrest him for selling ‘loosies’, cigarettes sold individually without city and state taxes. He had a history of arrests for selling loosies and, at the time, was out on bail for that charge. The police responded to a complaint by store owners that Garner was selling the cigarettes in front of their businesses. When four cops tried to arrest him, the 395-pound black man told them he was tired of being “harassed” by them and kept shoving the officers away. In a struggle on the ground, officer Daniel Pantaleo appeared to be putting a choke hold on Garner who told the officers several times he could not breathe. Garner died and his death led to demonstrations all over the country with mobs shouting “I can’t breathe.”
An autopsy indicated that Garner’s death resulted from a choke hold, compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police. Asthma, heart disease, and obesity were cited as contributing factors.
Garner’s death led to the prominence of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, whose police-hating rhetoric incited the assassination of five Dallas police officers and the wounding of nine others in in July 2016.
In August 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown, an unarmed black youth, was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri by a white cop. Brown, who had just committed a strong-arm robbery of a convenience store clerk, when he was spotted by Ferguson PD Officer Darren Wilson. A physical struggle occurred between the white officer and the black thug which led to Wilson shooting Brown dead. A Brown friend told everyone who would listen that Brown had his hands up in surrender or said “don’t shoot” before he was shot. An FBI investigation showed this was not true.
Rioting occurred in Ferguson with members of the mob shouting “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Wilson was forced to resign in order to placate ‘the community’. A grand jury refused to indict Wilson and after a long investigation by the FBI, the Justice Department announced there was no cause to take any action against Wilson. Even though the shooting of Brown was justified, Wilson’s career was irreparably ruined.
President Obama stoked the flames in the war on cops with this remark about the shooting of Michael Brown: “In too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement. Too many young men of color feel targeted by law enforcement — guilty of walking while black or driving while black, judged by stereotypes that fuel fear and resentment and hopelessness.”
In the Garner death, a grand jury refused to indict Pantaleo and the Justice Department announced there were no grounds to charge the officer criminally. That led to at least 50 demonstrations nationwide against police brutality. Two police officers in Brooklyn, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, were ambushed and shot dead just weeks after a grand jury cleared Pantaleo.
Obama also stoked the flames in responding to the Pantaleo grand jury decision and, among other remarks, said: “We are going to take specific steps to improve the training and the work with state and local government when it comes to policing in communities of color. We are going to be scrupulous in investigating cases where we are concerned about the partiality and accountability that’s taking place.”
Apparently, Obama and the Progressives, a euphemism for Liberals, are not concerned about a big thug attacking Officer Wilson or about Garner resisting a lawful arrest. To them it’s white cops killing black men just because they are black. They feed off of the rare shootings by bad white cops of black men that are undeniably unjustified such as the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald in Chicago and the 2015 shooting of Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina.
With liberal DAs filing charges against cops in response to demonstrations or in order to head them off, the war against cops was in full swing.
In 2015, Baltimore DA Marilyn Mosby charged six officers for their role in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died while in police custody after he suffered a fatal spinal injury while being transported in the back of a police van. A judge dismissed charges against three of the officers. Mosby then decided not to pursue the remaining three cases. It was clear she should never have charged the officers in the first place.
In 2016, a wave of liberal prosecutors funded by George Soros were elected nationwide in major jurisdictions including Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville, St. Louis and Houston. Soros donated $500,000 to Kim Ogg’s campaign in Houston. Several of them quickly charged police officers in order to mollify crowds accusing cops of police brutality. New York Post columnist Miranda Devine says “In district attorneys’ offices across the country, plans are underway to dismantle the criminal justice policies that have served us so well for a generation.”
This brings me back to the Eric Garner case. For five years the wolves led by Garner’s family and rabble rouser Al Sharpton, have been howling for the blood of the arresting officers. When they could not get Pantaleo charged with murder, they demanded he be fired. Uber-liberal, Sandinista-loving Mayor Bill de Blasio, who had previously warned his son about trigger-happy cops shooting young black men, made it clear he wanted Pantaleo fired. Thus, fearing for his job, Police Commissioner James O’Neill committed a grave injustice against Pantaleo by firing the officer on August 19.
That wasn’t enough. Garner’s family, Sharpton and the other wolves keep howling for the blood of all officers involved in his arrest. De Blasio was heckled at a town hall meeting even though he had called for and got Pantaleo’s scalp because the other officers were still at work.
The fallout from the Pantaleo firing was swift. Patrick Lynch, the Police Benevolent Association boss, urged cops to “proceed with the utmost caution in this new reality, in which they may be deemed ‘reckless’ just for doing their job.” Joseph Imperatrice, founder of pro-cop group Blue Lives Matter, said “The days of proactive policing are completely done.” Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins said, “The NYPD is falling apart at the seams.”
But one NYPD cop put it more succinctly by saying, “Policing is dead. Morale was already low. This was just the nail in the coffin.” NYPD’s morale began its spiral downward when Red Bill became mayor in 2014.
Indeed, cops in New York are now slow in responding to calls and are making fewer arrests. Arrests dropped 27% between Aug. 19 — the day Pantaleo was fired — and Aug. 25 compared to the same period in 2018, with police making 3,508 busts compared to 4,827.
The firing of Pantaleo has not only affected NYPD officers, but it has also been noted by cops all over the country. They are troubled that police can no longer count on being backed up by the brass and feel that cops have to protect themselves because no one else is going to protect them.
With the Progressive’s war on cops, people have felt free to douse NYPD cops in Manhattan and Brooklyn with water and to throw objects at them. And in Philadelphia crowds cheered on a cop killer.
Whenever you hear a Democratic political candidate say he or she supports the police, you are hearing the words of a hypocrite. You won’t hear them condemning their fellow Progressives who are waging the war started by President Obama against those who protect us.
yep, good commentary all the way around.
More dem destructive logic: Democrats have been yelling since Wednesday morning Nov 9. 2016 that Russia interfered with our election. We have heard every wishcast scenario of how it got Trump elected. Obama was president. DOJ and FBI are executive level agencies. They take orders from their commander who continued to lead them right up to the inauguration in January 2017.
There are breaking headlines on every news outlet except for the alphabets, CNN and MSNBC about pending charges for wide spread corruption in these agencies. Are we to believe all of these McCabes, Brennans, Comeys and all the other quislings acted without Obama’s knowledge and approval?
Obama is still the leader of the democrat party. To hear dem voters tell it he would’ve won a third term if allowed. This is a textbook example the fish rotting from the head down. Go back to Trayvon Martin in February 2012. This is what kicked off Obama’s 2012 campaign for reelection. I put the racial division of this country squarely on the shoulders of our modern day lightbringer.
LBJ swore passing the Civil Rights Act of 1965 would bind those Nebraskans for 200 years. Thankfully Obama has short circuited that clever swindle and exposed the issue. It’s nothing but BS political tactic. It’s as obvious as the hypocrisy of buying a $15million seaside mansion while preaching about the onslaught of manmade gorebull warming bearing down on us.
Always proud to have the 100 Club sticker on my window btw.
This is a well written and accurate piece. One of the factors of my retirement was due to the downward spiral of morale in policing. Criminals became slow to follow commands, especially people of color due to the BLM movement.
One day I was told not to wear a plate carrier (a device worn to stop rifle fire) while I worked. I operated a marked license plate reader looking for stolen/wanted vehicles. The reason given was that it may have a military appearance and so it might offend people. I had been wearing the same protective gear for at least two years.
My job was to locate and arrest felons and recover stolen vehicles for the victims. Period. Political correctness made my assignment too dangerous for me to do my job. I decided to make plans for retirement.
I pray for the officers still protecting all of us each day. You will never know what they go through. Please think about the stress their families live with every day. Most people can’t do it. God bless them.
On his Running Code 3 website, Trey Rusk has a story from a Galveston resident about the black man who was led down the street with a rope by two mounted cops. Wayne Holt wrote: “Using the standard of ‘how things look’ rather than ‘what things are,’ is a dangerous detour that substitutes emotion for the rule of law, policy and procedure, and will not yield the long-term improvement of social cohesion that it claims to offer.”
‘How things look’ is exactly what DA Marilyn Mosby did in Baltimore by charging six cops in the death of Freddie Gray, and that is what many of the other liberal DAs are doing now in criminally charging cops for doing their jobs.
In current use the label “progressive” is just a more socially acceptable term for what we used to call “liberalism” and has nothing to do with the legitimate progressive movement of the late 19th and early 20th century. The goals of the new progressives are simple. Reduce personal freedom as much as possible. Increase the size, expense and control of the central government as much as possible. Stiffle dissent, with force if you can get away with it, i. e. AntiFa and BLM. There is nothing truly progressive about it. It is regression into totalitarianism.
Howie: You and I have agreed on a lot but we split the blanket with the Eric Garner case. He was being busted for a minor misdemeanor. He was a pain in a storeowner’s ass. I’m not familiar with New York law but I don’t think either selling single cigarettes or being an asshole is a capital offense there.
The picture you posted shows an officer using a chock hold — a hold forbidden by NYPD policy — while other officers have Garner on the ground and apparently under control. You seem to take the position that what happened to Garner was his own fault because he was resisting a legal arrest.
It has been the law in this country at least since the Tennessee v. Garner case (strange they had the same last name) in 1985 that it is an unreasonable seizure to use deadly force on a fleeing felon unless it is both necessary to prevent his escape and there is probable cause that the fleeing felon presents a threat of death or serious bodily injury to the police or someone else.
I don’t know why the officer was not indicted. For instance, while the use of a chock hold may be forbidden by NYPD policy, it probably isn’t illegal under New York law. New York law may be as poorly written for civil rights violations as Texas law, which prohibits only impeding a prisoner in the exercise of any right, privilege or immunity (if the defendant knows his action is illegal) or having sexual intercourse with a prisoner.
However, the officer violated a lawful policy adopted by NYPD. The New York Police Department, like any employer, has the right to fire someone who violates the employer’s policies. I do know that if, when I was an Army officer, if a soldier under my command violated the rules of engagement and someone died because of it, I would have had him in front of a court martial so fast you wouldn’t believe it.
Former Officer Pantaleo showed incredibly poor judgment and a failure to follow lawful department policies in Garner’s death. The leadership had the right to fire him.
As for your statement about arrests and summons being down since Pantaleo’s firing, that probably is because the Police Benevolent Society (the police union) president said the police should summon a supervisor before issuing any arrest or summons. Arrests and summons are down due to a conscious choice of the rank and file police officers to have a slow down.
The bottom line is that Pantaleo violated his employer’s policies in making an arrest and someone died because of it. Even if his conduct was not illegal, he still had to follow his employer’s policies or face discipline.
Tom, Civilian police work isn’t even close to being in the military. You are talking apples and oranges. This is the second time you have referred to your military service as an officer in a comment relating to police work. If you bothered to take a close look at the pic you could see that Pantaleo wasn’t using a choke hold. A choke hold requires the neck of the victim to be placed in the crook of the arm at the elbow. It is very effective because it is easy to apply. Once in place then squeeze to cut off blood to the brain. It will usually render a person unconscious in 8 seconds. A choke hold is against departmental policy. The hold pictured is a bar hold that is regularly used in LE. It is harder to apply and maintain. As far as responding to the store owner’s call goes, I doubt if NYPD officers will bother in the future. Officer Pantaleo was sacrificed for political purposes by a man running for president. His political appointed hack of a Police Chief did his bidding. Your stated bottom line is wrong. FYI, It’s also illegal to sell single cigarettes in Texas. By the way, Thank you for your service.
Tom, you make a good argument, but it is the argument of an armchair captain, not a police officer trying to arrest a 395-pound giant who was resisting arrest.
Misdemeanor or felony, it doesn’t matter. The cops responded to complaints by business owners that Garner was selling loosies, an offense for which he had been arrested numerous times before and was out on bail when the officers tried to arrest him. And while you may consider the illegal sales of untaxed cigarettes a “minor misdemeanor,” let me assure you that the City of New York considers the sales of loosies a major misdemeanor.
When you say “while other officers have Garner on the ground and apparently under control,” you are giving us the perfect example of the standard of ‘how things look’ rather than ‘what things are.’ Before Pantaleo jumped in, Garner kept shoving the other officers away. The only reason Garner is on the ground is because of the action Pantaleo took. And it is arguable whether that was actually a choke hold.
And don’t pull that slick lawyer truck on us either. I happen to be quite familiar with Tennessee v. Garner and there is absolutely no relationship whatsoever between the Tennessee case and the Pantaleo case. That case involved an officer shooting a fleeing man, not a man resisting arrest. You make it sound like Pantaleo deliberately killed Eric Garner.
But you are right, I do believe Garner, not Pantaleo, was responsible for his own death! Had he not resisted arrest, we wouldn’t be having this discussion now.
Commissioner O’Neill said Pantaleo used bad judgement. You don’t fire a cop for using bad judgement. And you don’t fire a good cop for violating department policy either when that violation occurred in the heat of battling a giant lawbreaker. You reprimand him for it, or you give him a couple of days off without pay. But Pantaleo was made a sacrificial lamb for New York’s communist mayor, Obama’s buddy Al Sharpton, and all the other wolves, both black and white, that were howling for his blood.
Instead of getting fired, Pantaleo should have been commended for his part in the arrest. But because this was another case of a black man dying at the hands of white cops, it gave Al Sharpton another opportunity to be in the spotlight as one of the wolves howling for the blood of good cops just trying to do their job. It also gave Mayor Red Bill an opportunity to show ‘the community’ that he was on their side rather than on the side of the cops. And then, that gutless Commissioner O’Neill fired Pantaleo and even had the nerve to give Pantaleo faint praise in doing so.
Eric Garner’s death was tragic, but he was the victim of his own unlawful behavior. But Daniel Pantaleo, a good cop doing his job, was the victim of a grave injustice.
I’m sorry Tom, but your attitude is what makes it harder for the police to protect you and the rest of us. Having said that though, I know you mean well, and like Trey Rusk, I too appreciate your military service.
Tom, I can’t agree with you on this. I looked at the photos closely, I did not see a choke hold. Garner acted like a dickhead because he was mad, AND because he thought acting like a dickhead would get him a walk. The cops didn’t just drop in to hassle him. They were called for by a tax-paying business owner whose business he was interfering with. All Garner had to do was sign his desk appearance ticket and move on. He refused. The cops reacted like they are paid to react. Had he refused to sign a jaywalking ticket or a fare evasion ticket the same thing would have happened. Garner brought about his own demise, aided in large part by his self-generated medical problems. My guess is that you personally have never been tasked with dealing with a non-compliant asshole who didn’t mind being non-compliant and didn’t mind being somewhat physical. The theory and the practice are two very different things.
Per my comment two weeks ago regarding Obama and Trayvon Martin.
https://www.thetrayvonhoax.com/
Coming out Monday 9/16