Eric Garner

I'm not sure I can even be angry anymore. I'm just sad and tired. I'm not sure what we do now. The legal system is going to continue to fail the most vulnerable. So what then? What is the game plan because I'm out of ideas. Tonight my friends joked about being murdered by the police because that seems like an inevitable fate. One called himself a "thug" and put up his hood, and then said, better not wear this outside, police might shoot me.

I don't know what it is like to live in that kind of fear of the state. But it scares me. It scares me that this is what we've become. The people who believe it is ok to murder black people, because black women are being killed too, are not…I don't know how to finish this sentence. Maybe because I'm tired and can't sleep but maybe because there is no way for me to finish that sentence. The white men who are murdering black people are part of my race, and I can't distance myself from them. Not only are they part of my race, but they are probably working class, right? I mean the police have been a staple of Irish employment. I see the people running to defend Wilson on my Facebook feed, and some of them are distant cousins, but there it sits. They pull up these joke arguments about how white people have been killed by the police too, as if it is the same. It isn't, black men are disproportionately murdered by the police. But they are going to fight that it isn't just black people instead of seeing the militarization of the police as the problem, classism as the problem…I'm not holding out for miracles, my racist cousin is never going to recognize racial oppression and the connects to the before mentioned problems. But at least realize this isn't for the greater good, these sons didn't have to die, this is to preserve the status quo, to reinforce the inconsequence of blackness, to keep people in their place. This is terrorism. This is how genocide begins. As if we're not already seeing it with the systematic imprisonment of black men.

A good friend of mine told me a few months back, "You're not really white." Or something like that. I immediately corrected her. I am white. I didn't launch into it, but I am white, and I benefit from my whiteness. I have had opportunities because of luck, but without my whiteness I wouldn't be so lucky. I wrestle with class and gender performance everyday. My friend thought I meant it the way she means when someone tells her she's not really black because she is some kind of exception, which is intended to be a compliment, but totally racist.

These were Eric Garner's last words. Recorded by a man being indicted while the murderer is not.

Police murdered an unarmed black boy in Missouri

Oh Jesus Christ, what the fuck is happening in Ferguson, Missouri? Last I heard, the police are threatening to arrest the press because after the police murder someone, and they don’t want the press to film it. My understanding is that the police shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18 year old man on Saturday in Ferguson, Mo. The police claimed Brown pushed an officer in a car and was then shot. Witnesses claim the police yelled at Brown and his friend, grabbed Brown and when Brown ran, he was shot. The FBI has taken over the investigation.

The reaction of the public has included marches, memorials, and looting. The police arrested 23 people on Sunday for theft. An additional five people were arrested at protests on Monday. The protesters want the police who murdered Brown, identified, fired, and prosecuted. The police force is disproportionately white compared to the 65% black population.

I’ve been reading Twitter for the past few hours (Monday night), and I can’t tell what the hell is happening except this appears like a military exercise. There are photos where smoke is billowing up as if a building has come down or a bomb gone off. The police are using an unjustified force against citizens. The police is using tear gas and rubber bullets. It is surreal. My thoughts are with Brown’s family, their supporters, those involved tonight, and anyone else witnessing this. I can’t stop thinking about those who are defending the actions of the police as if this could ever be justified. These people are how horrible injustices happen by looking the other way or justifying these actions.

State sponsored violence

Cecily McMillan was found guilty, remanded without bail, and is awaiting sentencing. Reminder, during Occupy Wall’s occupation in New York City, McMillan was accused of felony assault against Officer Grantley Bovell, but there is substantial evidence that Officer Boyell had assaulted McMillan. Molly Knefel wrote an excellent discussion of the implications of the verdict for The Guardian. To be clear, I believe McMillan, not Boyell, who continuously misidentified the eye she injured, while she had photos of the bruising on her right breast.

Knefel described more than just the consequences of the verdict for McMillan, which is up to seven years in prison because of disproportional punitive sentences. This is terrible, and we can discuss at length sentencing and the arbitrary nature of the criminal justice system. However, I wanted to discuss state sponsored violence, and the cultural embrace of it by the general populace. State sponsored violence is violence or terrorism conducted by the state against its own people. This is seen as an implication of corruption because states with the general support of their people don’t have to beat them into submission. Additionally, those who embrace it are usually not being threatened, while those who have a general acceptance usually fear becoming targets themselves. So, stop and frisk is a racist policy used to inflict violence against and terrorize the black community, but white people think it is ok because they aren’t being stopped. After this policy became actual policy, the black community was forced to either accommodate the policy or expect severe consequences.

So what do we know about state sponsored violence? Well, it is a problem:

1.      It is more common among vulnerable populations, and in the US that means in low-income and neighborhoods of color (both black and Hispanic).

2.      Police act as violent forces within these communities, which causes distrust among the populous.

3.      Sexual assault and the response to sexual assault are frequently seen as violence perpetrated by the state.

4.      Those who are seen to deserve a violent response by the state are dehumanized by the perpetrators of the violence.

5.      There is usually little consequence for the individual perpetrators of this violence because they are actors of the state.

There should also be a consideration of the history of state sponsored violence. For example, slavery is obviously an example, but that includes the systematic rape and sexual exploitation of black women. There are strong parallels between the violence perpetrated by the state against blacks during slavery, and contemporary mass incarceration of black men and the violence subjected upon them. Organized labor has been on the receiving end of state sponsored violence, and so have student protestors (Kent State).

Clearly, I think what happened to McMillan is a miscarriage of justice. There was a substantial response on Twitter about the black experience and police brutality, which is also very true and should be discussed. However, what I hear and see with McMillan is that the state sponsored violence is branching out, and what will the ramifications of that be in the long term? Obviously, I’m not arguing that black communities should be used to this violence, what I’m trying to get at is that if those who traditionally have some privilege (racial privilege in this case) are being targeted then how long until the police state can response with absolute violence against all citizens without repercussions? This is how repression works, they target a vulnerable group, and those with power and privilege shrug their shoulders and continue on with their business. Then the repression spreads to other groups. We are witnessing an evolution how state sponsored violence is used and accepted. And the Department of Justice just said it is ok.

The police and the mentally ill

So I read this piece a while ago, and I didn’t know how to respond to it (still don’t, really), but I thought the author didn’t consider everything. Two things, the piece was written by Mike Riggs, and it is good; secondly, I have/had several severely mentally ill family members. Now, I don’t want to classify mental illness because anyone who has been or knows someone with diagnosed depression or anxiety know that any mental illness is a challenge that can prevent people from basic functioning.

That said, the mental illness I’m talking about is schizophrenia, specifically paranoid schizophrenia. This involves delusions and a breakdown of cognitive skills. It is also a genetic mental illness, so people who have family with it are more likely to develop it. It can be managed by a combination of drugs, but one frequent issue with mental illness is when people are no longer having episodes they believe they can go off medication, which will trigger a relapse. The medications are usually used to suppress dopamine and serotonin receptor activity, which when the medication combination isn’t correct can trigger symptoms like those found in persons diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Schizophrenics are more likely to be victims of violent and non-violent crime. More likely to have co-occurring conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, and substance abuse problems; they are also more likely to commit suicide.

Riggs presents a sad story of Keith Vidal, 18, who was killed in North Carolina after threatening his mother with a screwdriver during a schizophrenic episode. His mother called the police; two officers restrained Vidal, and a third arrived and shot and killed Vidal. Riggs then shares two very disturbing quotes released in the press: “I don’t have time for this. Tase him. Let’s get him out of here,” said by the third and senior officer. When asked by the parents why Vidal was killed, the same officer said, “Well, I’m protecting my officers.” The Vidal family is devastated at the loss. The police have been called in the past to assist with Vidal, and they have always revolved the issue calmly.

Riggs then presents several examples where the police response to the mentally and disabled were inconsistent and damaging. All of these stories involve the situations escalating and resulting in damage and even death of a mentally ill or disabled individual. Riggs acknowledges that some of the calls to the police over the mentally ill do not result in disaster, but there is no data on this and you have no guarantee. He concludes with quotes from a social worker and a former police officer/professor on why the police aren’t really the best option in these situations.

I don’t disagree with anything Riggs says, but something about piece didn’t sit well with me, and then it occurred to me: poverty and mental illness. I know, I know, I’m always talking about poverty. But something about Riggs’ piece frustrated me. However, the homeless are disproportionally mentally ill. Without money and a support system, you can’t imagine the horror show that befalls the mentally ill. I also, know that part of my reaction to Riggs’ piece is my own guilt because I am uncomfortable with the situation, but I have no solution, and things cannot continue the way they have been.

Without getting into too many specifics, an extended family member spent the last month institutionalized. She was picked up by the police standing outside without a coat in frigid Cleveland temperatures clutching a piece of paper with a phone number on it. That is how the police contacted the family. She should not be released because she is a paranoid schizophrenic that hasn’t been 80% recovered since 1997, but she is on Medicaid, so one month then she is out and the family is responsible for finding her a place. She can’t live alone; she has but doesn’t take her meds. She can’t live with her family because she manipulates, lies, make horrifying accusations, and refuses medication. The patriarch of our family has been more or less handling it for years, 42 years to be exact, but the last fifteen without their parents. He can’t, physically, we were all afraid he was going to have a heart attack after an episode in church. There is no money for a private hospital or caregiver; she is too manipulative for a group home. She has to be monitored constantly, but she isn’t a danger to anyone except herself with the not taking her meds and starving herself.

When it comes down to it my frustration with Riggs’ piece is the simplistic nature of it, and I know it was a post online, how long could it possibly be? A family member’s mental illness can take over your life. Without resources there is no way to manage it, and unfortunately for the poor the police is one of the few resources we have left (not so much in Slavic Village, but I’ve ranted about our waning police force in the past). I have no solution, and neither does Riggs. So what do we do with the mentally ill who are threatening you in the street with a weapon if not call the police? I don’t think Riggs would disagree with me when I say law enforcement needs comprehensive training ranging from cultural sensitivity to prevent racial profiling to interventions with traumatized individuals.

In a way, what Riggs writes gave me an image of Russian roulette in my mind, but honestly, I feel like that is just the way things go for the low-income all the time. You sure you want to call the police over that domestic disturbance? Is this a state that has mandatory arrests? Will your partner you rely on for income be incarcerated? What does that mean for your kids? Sure you’re sick, but are you so sick you can’t go to work? Or can you pull through for the money? Sure, the police may show up and shoot your loved one, but otherwise your loved one might kill you, and you’re the only one responsible for him/her. These seem like extreme cases, but they’re not. And they are questions people should never have to ask themselves, but they do. So yeah, I’m glad my relative’s neighbor called the police after a few hours because I have no idea what would have happened if they didn’t. And I’m sorry that kid was murdered.

Oh, Silly Police

A woman, Hope Steffey, called the police to report an assault, but was mistakenly taken into custody. While in custody the woman was stripped searched; the experience can only be described as a sexual assault. I am horribly disgusted by this and ashamed to call this place my home.