July 26, 2025 • 27 mins
In the first half of today’s program, we bring you several news stories of police accountability (or lack thereof) from high-profile incidents around the country.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our
mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding. I am
your host, ramses job.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He is Ramsey's job. I am q Ward. You are
tuned into Civic Cipher.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Yes you are.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
We need you to stick around because we are going
to be having a couple of interesting conversations. Don't know
if you've seen it. I'm sure you've had, because it
is a deeply disturbing video that is being shared online.
But we're going to be talking about the video where
the cops smash the window of a black driver in
(00:39):
Florida and then punch him in the face over a
headlight dispute and pull him out of the car and
continue to punch him and pummel him.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Classic police brutality.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
But this video was particularly disturbing, certainly for me and
a lot of other people, and it's as a result
of that it's being shared widely. So we're going to
talk about that video and all the things surrounding the video,
all the conversations taking place surrounding the video. We're also
going to be talking about police accountability, or lack thereof.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
There's a number of.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Articles and you know, court rulings and videos and so
forth that have been coming out lately about police abuse
of power, police corruption, police lack of accountability. As I mentioned,
And while the current administration and indeed the President is
(01:39):
perhaps the biggest police apologist that we have seen in
recent years, the reality of the situation certainly reflects that,
you know, police are definitely in the wrong and overstepping.
So we got a lot of weeds to get into
and so much more. But as always on this show,
(02:00):
like to start off with some ebony excellence. In today's
ebony excellence, we're gonna share from the Quintessential Gentleman. You
can check check out more at the qgentlemen dot com.
Ryan Kugler Centers becomes the tenth highest grossing R rated
film and the third highest grossing horror film. After a
ninety one day in theaters, Ryan Kugler Centers has officially
exited the North American box office, but not without making
(02:23):
history on its way out. The psychological horror film starring
Michael B. Jordan is chilling and a transformative lead role,
has grossed two hundred and seventy eight point five seven
million dollars domestically, making it the tenth highest grossing R
rated film of all time. In North America. It also
surpassed the box office total of The Hangover of two
(02:43):
hundred and seventy seven million, a feat that solidifies Sinners
as one of the season's biggest and perhaps most unexpected
box office success stories.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
While Sinners debuted to solid expectations, few could have predicted
the staying.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Power it would display throughout the spring.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
In summer, it's gripping narrative, slow burned tension, and raw
performances fueled consistent interest and word of mouth momentum, helping
it hold strong against blockbuster competition. At the global level,
Centers amassed a three hundred and sixty five point eight
seven million dollars worldwide income, with eighty seven point three
million coming from international markets. That performance places Centers not
(03:23):
only among the top ten R rated films domestically, but
also makes it the third highest grossing horror film of
all time, trailing only behind It in twenty seventeen and
the sixth Sense in nineteen ninety nine. While the film's
theatrical run has ended, Centers is expected to find new
life through digital and physical release platforms later this year,
potentially reaching an even wider audience intrigued by its blend
(03:44):
of horror, psychological drama, and social commentary. So obviously we
wanted to follow up with that, and that felt good.
Just an example of excellence, Ryan Coogler and Michael B.
Jordan doing their thing. So yeah, not hires at all.
All right, Q, it's been a while since we've had
(04:06):
a conversation about police. Lately, we've been doing a lot
of interviews. There's a lot of a lot of things
that need to be broken down for the country, immigration,
the new presidency, economics, socialism, just a few recent topics
(04:29):
we've discussed, and of course we've had some big name
guests on recently. But this is really, this is really
what this show was born to address. So let's do
how we used to do, if you don't mind, Q,
Let's take it one at a time, right first time
(04:50):
A share from beet dot com. The officer from the
twenty twenty Rayshardbrooks shooting is placed on leave after a
midtown bar altercation. Atlanta PD placed officer Garrett Rolfe, who
shot and killed Rayshard Brooks in twenty twenty on administrative
leave after he allegedly assaulted a black bartender during an
(05:10):
off duty fight. The Atlanta police officer who fatally shot
an unarmed black man who was unconscious in the drive
through line at Wendy's Restaurant in twenty twenty is once
again facing accusations of assaulting a bar worker in the
Midtown neighborhood of the city. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports
officer Garrett Rolfe was involved in a bar altercation on
Sunday morning, and the department has since placed him on
(05:32):
paid administrative leave. Local news station WSBTV was informed by
witnesses that rolf initiated the altercation with the bartender, Raphael Penrice,
sorry over the cost of beverages. However, upon the arrival
of the police, Penrice was the only individual apprehended. Ralph's
council claimed that the off duty police officer was the victim. However,
(05:55):
witnesses who desired to remain anonymous, disagreed. They informed WSB
that Ralph's companion accused the bartender of overcharging for drinks.
Penrice escorted the two men outside after an argument ensued.
At that point, the bystanders assert that Rolf assaulted Penrice.
Cody Alkhorn, and Atlanta journalists interviewed witnesses at ex Midtown
(06:17):
and reported that some individuals were perplexed as to why
Rolf was not apprehended in conjunction with Penrice. CNN reports
that Rolf was initially charged with fel any homicide, five
counts of aggravated assault for accounts of violation of oath
of office, and one count of criminal damage to property. Okay,
before you jump in here, Q, because I know we're
(06:38):
going to move pretty quick through all these stories here,
I want to say that we picked three stories we
had probably like ten. Also, I want to point out
that this Rayshard Brooks, the murder of Rayshard Brooks, we'll
call it what it is in twenty twenty was one
that was particularly upsetting to me for folks that have
(07:03):
trouble remembering ray Shard Brooks in the video and all
that sort of stuff. I'm not going to ask you
to revisit it because it's just more black trauma, and
I'm not going to put that on you, Nor do
I want more black trauma to be consumed by, you know,
people in this country. But you know, maybe there's a
(07:24):
clip or two out there, not a clip, but a
still or something that might.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Jog your memory.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
But yeah, that man.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Lost his life because the police no good reason, it
just took his life.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
And the officer that took his life is still an officer, clearly,
still assaulting black people, clearly, and it's still being paid.
And that is deeply unsettling. And again, we had a
lot of these stories we could have shared. We try
to make the case on the show that these are
(07:59):
systemic issues, not individual outliers. The data supports that definitely,
and we might have to do another episode where we
actually kind of get into the data, but this one
we have to kind of give you the examples that
it bubbled up to the surface because it is our
job to cover them, all, right, Q. Your thoughts on
this one.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
It's just another example of why the phrase black lives
matter was ever uttered in the first place. Police and
non police get to murder black people with impunity, and
law enforcement officers get to kill, keep their job, keep
their pay, keep their pension, and do it all over again,
(08:41):
and apparently nobody bat deny and even in cases where
they are putting, placed on paid leave or even fired.
The next agency, knowing their reputation, knowing their record, knowing
that they've even been indicted, charged or found guilty of charges,
still hire them and give them another opportunity to do
the same thing. So it's it's frustrating because I'm past
(09:05):
the point where there's any chance of reform. I used
to say, reallocate funds intended for police. Now I feel
the way people thought we felt when we first said
defund the police, tear the whole thing down.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
It cannot be reformed.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
That the current status, the current infrastructure, the very foundation
of policing in this country is based on white supremacist
It's based on rounding up slaves, is based on protecting
the ruling class. So to think that anything will ever
be different when they have qualified immunity, very strong unions,
and are impugned into any form of accountability is foolhearted.
(09:48):
At this At this point, nothing's ever going to change.
There's been no progress, you know, And since the camera
phone and you know, people recording incidents became a thing,
they didn't start doing this less. It seems to be
happening more often and with more intensity. So you know,
that's that's how I feel about it. Man, incredibly discouraged, frustrated,
(10:11):
and like there is no change at or light at
the end of any tunnel.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
If I may add, indeed, it seems like, yeah, there
hasn't been a change despite there being all these cameras
out on the streets filming these occurrences. But you know
the other part of that too is that they seem
to be adapting. You know, I put a post up
earlier this week out of San Diego folks that want
(10:40):
to go and check it out. We are at Civic
Cipher on all platforms, but I posted this.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
To Instagram, and.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
What it is is a group of officers taking a
man to the ground, and we can see the man
on the ground, hands behind his back and a non
He's face down, but he doesn't he's not a threat
to anybody right anymore. There's three or four police officers
on top of him.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
He's not moving his arms.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
You can see his hands, so he's not gripping anybody's
body parts like they try to, you know, they try
to suggest if you can't see the hands in the video.
You know, they try to say, oh, he assaulted me
because he gripped my hands. That's why I had to
keep punching him or something like that. Right, so you
can see his hands. He's not doing anything of that.
And of course you see one officer start kneeing him.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
In his ribs.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
He's laid on the ground. They already got him. The
next step you would imagine would be handcuffs. Nope, they
start kneeing him. And if that wasn't enough, as I mentioned,
they're adapting the homies. The other police officers pull up
on their little police bikes and little cannondale joints, and
what do they do. They do what the police do
with their trucks. They do what the police do with
(11:57):
their bodies. They start standing in the way of people
filming it. So the police officers pull up, get off
the bikes, turn the bikes sideways to kind of obscure
the view, and then they stand like almost shoulder to
shoulder to try to obscure the view from the camera phones. Right.
So indeed police are adapting. Now of course police will say, well,
(12:20):
this is for our own protection. The officers are doing
their job. You know the mob.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
We don't want the mob to rush the police.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Blah blah blah, which is something that never happens, something
that never happens. It's it's a defense against an imaginary issue. Right,
and we can see planets day when police they open
the door, they park their cars, you know, in such
a way the word you can't film it. It's simply
so that you cannot film what's happening. And it's just
so disgusting. You would imagine that these public servants would
(12:47):
want transparency. Like listen, man, that's them, that's not me.
That's the I want. I'm distancing myself from that, y'all
as long as y'all stay over here, it's all a
good film what you want.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Nope, they are locked in step. Nope, you're not going
to film them commit crimes. You're not going to film
them commit police brutality on that individual who's faced down
on the sidewalk. And it just blows my mind. And
this is why people have such a tough time with police.
I don't think anybody is born thinking, like you know what,
I would love to grow up and have a real
(13:18):
issue with the police. Nobody does that. It's the way
the police behave. This is an abuse of power and
nobody's going to be cool with that.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Let's move on, all right.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Next story is from WLWT, Cincinnati. A Covington police officer
was placed on administrative duty after a clash with protesters
on the Robling Bridge Thursday night. Okay, I remember this one.
A rally for a former Cincinnati Children's Hospital chaplain who
was detained by Immigrations and Customs enforcement turned to chaos
(13:52):
after supporters walked on the Robling Bridge Thursday night. I'man
Solomon was detained during its check in with ICE last
week at the Homeland Security Office in Blue Ash. Since then,
he's been held at the Butler County Jail. Protesters with
Ignite Peace Sincy started to gather Thursday night at the
(14:13):
Sing of Sing the Queen City Sign Sorry in Cincinnati
to call for his release. The protest started as a
peaceful gathering, but took a turn when protesters crossed the bridge,
with some of them in the road. Fifteen people are
facing charges in the incident, ranging from unlawful assembly, failure
to disperse, obstructing a highway, and criminal mischief. Two journalists
(14:33):
were among the people arrested and charged. At one point
during the protest, video appears to show a black suv
drive through the Robling Bridge with people in yellow safety
vests and face masks grabbing onto the car to get
the driver to stop. Covington Police said officers spoke with
the driver of the SUVs, saying he did not have
an obligation to stop.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Initially, protesters were seen walking in the middle of the bridge,
but some people said they stuck to the sidewalks and
were approached by officers during the tense confrontation. Attempts to
detain protesters ended with physical confrontations. One video shows a
woman being pulled to the ground by officers. Covington police
said Friday that one officer who was seen punching a
protester was placed on administrative duty as the department investigates
(15:20):
the response.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
We have opened an investigation into that, Covington Police Chief
Brian Valantee said, goes on to say, I don't want
to speculate as to how that's going to turn out.
The Covington officer will continue to be paid while the
investigation plays out and will perform administrative tasks within the department. Okay,
So this was another video, another viral video again people
(15:42):
crossing the bridge and I know we just went through it,
but I just want to make it a little bit
more concise so that you can follow this line of thinking. Okay,
so there is a I believe it was a Muslim
chaplain worked at a hospital, the children's hospital, Right, I'm
not mistaken. And you know he was going through the
(16:05):
right process. Isn't making sure all his paperwork is taken
care of and so forth? And then Ice apprehends him
while he's in the middle of taking care of everything.
The community responds, they say, hey, this guy is a
good guy. He's not a criminal. You know what I mean.
You know, this isn't the criminal that Donald Trump is
going after. He's not illegal, none of that starts thing.
He's doing everything the right way how he's supposed to
(16:26):
do it. He has a job, gamefully employed, pays taxes,
all that sort of stuff. This is not the guy
you want. And they protest, and then the police show
up at the protest, right, and there is a video
of one officer beating one individual on the he's on
(16:46):
the sidewalk too, he's not in the middle of the road,
but he's but an officer just yanks this guy, yanks
him to the ground and just starts pounding him. Right,
And this guy is white, by the way, this isn't
like a because I know some people they actually care
a little bit more if a police officer is beating
a white person. So I'll go ahead and say that
this guy's white, and then the crowd erupts like.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yo, what are you hitting him for? Oh my god,
blah blah blah.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Right, and you can just see the violence coming from
the police, not from the protesters.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
And I also want to add that, you know, protests,
it's hard to corral a lot of people, especially when
they're all moving, trying to keep that many people on
a sidewalk.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
That's tough.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Right for the police to say that the car doesn't
have an obligation to stop shows just how calloused and
desensitized that the police are. Indeed, the police are behaving
like enemies of the people, not protectors and servers of
the people. Enemies of the people. Who would say something
(17:50):
like that in any other circumstance, in any other country
in the world, that car would be a weapon, right,
And when it's convenient for police, a car is a weapon.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
But in this instance, they're saying the car doesn't have
a duty to stop. Okay. Now I want to add
to that that protests, in theory, are more effective when
they are disruptive. The idea is that you're bringing attention
to a matter. Now, I know the police have their job.
Hey let's keep everything civil, blah blah blah. But there's
(18:26):
tear gas. There's a whole number of things that police
can do. You know. They have barricades, they have riot gear,
all that sort of stuff. They have shields, all that
they can corral people, all this. They learn all this
stuff to yank somebody down and start punching them in
the face. To have this type of response to a
car driving through not wanting to slow down for human beings,
(18:47):
human life. And again, this wasn't like the black any
black protest of blackness.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
This is all white folks.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Right now. I believe that black life is human life.
I think you should believe that too.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
But the.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
I think the morality of this country and the sensibilities
of this country are such that white life is maybe
more special to people. I don't know, you know, But
so me saying that these are white folks, it just
goes to show you that these police are not enemies
to black people. These people are These police are enemies
to the people. Nobody is safe if you're trying to
(19:26):
stand up for what's right and the police are on
the opposite side of that. They are not positioning them
themselves in such a way that they are standing with
the people, And I think this is very dangerous. Okay,
I've talked enough about this, Q your thoughts.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Too, what else? What else is there to say? It's exhausting, sir, Sure,
trying to reform the same opinion for a different story
every other show. Yeah, it is important to point out
(20:03):
that this was a white man, and I think that
has a lot to do with why this officer has
already been suspended, but with pay and still working, just
not on the street. It's a redundancy at this point. Sure,
(20:24):
all lovers of government, law enforcement, and military and corporate America,
all preemptively pre compliant, all seemingly on the same page
right now. Well, white white supremacy and the hyper aggressive
(20:52):
marginalization of everyone that's not on the side of white supremacy. Yeah,
and those who are not white who are on that
side are only safe when they're standing next to someone
prominent in that space. Because we've seen even supporters get arrested, detained, deported,
(21:15):
and they somehow still don't break rank. It's that I've
never seen anything like it. You hesitate to use the
word cult.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Who are we trying to be polite for? You know,
it's this progress that we keep hoping for. I've often
felt like it was never coming. I've never been more
sure than now. It's not just that no one's coming
to save us. This that no one can. Who's going
(21:49):
to stand up to the government, the military, and all
of law enforcement of the United States of America.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
I think there's a factoid that if the police in
the United States were an army, it would be the
third largest military on earth.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
So and that's going to get stronger as they put
hundreds of millions of dollars in more right into police.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
And yeah, so your point is well made. But you know,
it's a flawed system. I think is illustrated by these
next this next story, and if we got time, the
story that follows. But this is from the Associated Press
from Louisville, Kentucky. A federal judge on Monday sentenced a
former Kentucky police officer to nearly three years in prison
for using excessive force during the deadly twenty twenty Breonna
(22:32):
Taylor raid, rebuffing a US Department of Justice recommendation of
no prison time for the defendant, Brett hark Brett Hankinson Sorry.
Brett Hankerson, who fired ten shots during the raid but
didn't hit anyone, was the only officer on the scene
charged in the black woman's death. He is the first
person sentenced to prison in the case that rocked the
(22:54):
city of Louisville and spawned weeks of protest over police
brutality that year. US District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, in
sentencing Hankerson, said no prison time is not appropriate and
would minimize the jury's verdict from November. Jennings said she
was startled there weren't more people injured in the raid
from Hankerson's blind shots. She sentenced Hankinson forty nine to
(23:17):
thirty three months in prison for the conviction of use
of excessive force, with three years of supervised probation to
follow the prison term. He will not report directly to prison.
The US Bureau of Prisons will determine where and when
he starts his sentence, Jennings said. The judge who presided
over two of Hankerson's trials express disappointment with the sentencing
(23:39):
recommendation by federal prosecutors last week, saying the Justice Department
was treating Hankerson's actions as quote, an inconsequential crime unquote,
and said some of its arguments were incongruous and inappropriate soil,
writes attorney Ben Crump, who helped Taylor's family secure twelve
million dollars wrongful death settlement against the city of Louisville,
(23:59):
had called the Department's recommendation and insult to the life
of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury's decision.
And that was a direct quote. And so you know
this obviously there's something three years. It's almost three years,
and then you know probation, that's not nothing. He's not
the officer that ended up shooting Breonna Taylor, but he
(24:21):
kind of just set it off. But the recommendation of
the Justice Department, of the United States Justice Department that
he get one day in jail, that was the part
that was deeply insulting. And I know that this is
Trump's Justice Department and that's on brand for them, but
we have to call it out.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
And so we will.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
And you know that's that We're going to continue to
follow Breonna Taylor as long as we can. But before
we wrap this segment, I want to share one last
thing and this is one that you sent over Q.
This from no Musika dot com. A border patrol agent
from Wilcox, Arizona, bart Conrad Jeger has been indicted on
two twenty four felony charges, including multiple counts of child
sex trafficking, pandering, and fraud. The charges follow an extensive
(25:07):
investigation by US Customs and Border Protections Office of Professional
Responsibility that began in September twenty twenty three. The probe
initially focused on allegations that Yaeger misrepresented his work assignments
and fraudulently claimed travel reimbursements while assigned to a migrant
processing facility in Tucson. Further investigation revealed he fossely reported
being on duty at various locations while often remaining elsewhere,
(25:30):
including at his home. During this process, Disturbing evidence emerged
that Yaeger paid a minor between fifteen and seventeen years
old for sex acts totaling over twelve thousand dollars, with
some payments reaching up to eighteen hundred dollars. These indictments. Sorry,
These incidents occurred between July twenty twenty three and March
twenty twenty four in his home and hotels in Tucson.
The miner had previously been a victim of sex trafficking,
(25:52):
and her mother was also arrested on related charges. I
want to make sure that I state this plainly. This
man is not a Democrat. This man is not an immigrant.
This man is not hosting drag shows and children's campuses.
This man is a sex offender. And this man is
a border patrol agent. Okay, And if this was the
only one, that would be too much. But there was
(26:15):
so many that we don't have time to get to Q.
The last thirty seconds are yours if you have anything.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
There's nothing I can do with the disgusting thirty seconds
that I'm left with.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Yeah, talk about something like this.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
As you said, one is too many, except we know
that there's way more than way more we left them.
There's way more than a hundred, and there's going to
be way more. As you interject, thousands of untrained, angry
men who are signing up for this job for the money,
not for the service, and as a vehicle for their
(26:47):
own hate, racism, and misogyny. This gets worse, This gets
way worse. More impunity, more muscle, more weapons, more anger.
It's a pretty disgusting thing. We have to look ahead
to
Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our
mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding. I am
your host, ramses job.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He is Ramsey's job. I am q Ward. You are
tuned into Civic Cipher.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Yes you are.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
We need you to stick around because we are going
to be having a couple of interesting conversations. Don't know
if you've seen it. I'm sure you've had, because it
is a deeply disturbing video that is being shared online.
But we're going to be talking about the video where
the cops smash the window of a black driver in
(00:39):
Florida and then punch him in the face over a
headlight dispute and pull him out of the car and
continue to punch him and pummel him.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Classic police brutality.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
But this video was particularly disturbing, certainly for me and
a lot of other people, and it's as a result
of that it's being shared widely. So we're going to
talk about that video and all the things surrounding the video,
all the conversations taking place surrounding the video. We're also
going to be talking about police accountability, or lack thereof.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
There's a number of.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Articles and you know, court rulings and videos and so
forth that have been coming out lately about police abuse
of power, police corruption, police lack of accountability. As I mentioned,
And while the current administration and indeed the President is
(01:39):
perhaps the biggest police apologist that we have seen in
recent years, the reality of the situation certainly reflects that,
you know, police are definitely in the wrong and overstepping.
So we got a lot of weeds to get into
and so much more. But as always on this show,
(02:00):
like to start off with some ebony excellence. In today's
ebony excellence, we're gonna share from the Quintessential Gentleman. You
can check check out more at the qgentlemen dot com.
Ryan Kugler Centers becomes the tenth highest grossing R rated
film and the third highest grossing horror film. After a
ninety one day in theaters, Ryan Kugler Centers has officially
exited the North American box office, but not without making
(02:23):
history on its way out. The psychological horror film starring
Michael B. Jordan is chilling and a transformative lead role,
has grossed two hundred and seventy eight point five seven
million dollars domestically, making it the tenth highest grossing R
rated film of all time. In North America. It also
surpassed the box office total of The Hangover of two
(02:43):
hundred and seventy seven million, a feat that solidifies Sinners
as one of the season's biggest and perhaps most unexpected
box office success stories.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
While Sinners debuted to solid expectations, few could have predicted
the staying.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Power it would display throughout the spring.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
In summer, it's gripping narrative, slow burned tension, and raw
performances fueled consistent interest and word of mouth momentum, helping
it hold strong against blockbuster competition. At the global level,
Centers amassed a three hundred and sixty five point eight
seven million dollars worldwide income, with eighty seven point three
million coming from international markets. That performance places Centers not
(03:23):
only among the top ten R rated films domestically, but
also makes it the third highest grossing horror film of
all time, trailing only behind It in twenty seventeen and
the sixth Sense in nineteen ninety nine. While the film's
theatrical run has ended, Centers is expected to find new
life through digital and physical release platforms later this year,
potentially reaching an even wider audience intrigued by its blend
(03:44):
of horror, psychological drama, and social commentary. So obviously we
wanted to follow up with that, and that felt good.
Just an example of excellence, Ryan Coogler and Michael B.
Jordan doing their thing. So yeah, not hires at all.
All right, Q, it's been a while since we've had
(04:06):
a conversation about police. Lately, we've been doing a lot
of interviews. There's a lot of a lot of things
that need to be broken down for the country, immigration,
the new presidency, economics, socialism, just a few recent topics
(04:29):
we've discussed, and of course we've had some big name
guests on recently. But this is really, this is really
what this show was born to address. So let's do
how we used to do, if you don't mind, Q,
Let's take it one at a time, right first time
(04:50):
A share from beet dot com. The officer from the
twenty twenty Rayshardbrooks shooting is placed on leave after a
midtown bar altercation. Atlanta PD placed officer Garrett Rolfe, who
shot and killed Rayshard Brooks in twenty twenty on administrative
leave after he allegedly assaulted a black bartender during an
(05:10):
off duty fight. The Atlanta police officer who fatally shot
an unarmed black man who was unconscious in the drive
through line at Wendy's Restaurant in twenty twenty is once
again facing accusations of assaulting a bar worker in the
Midtown neighborhood of the city. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports
officer Garrett Rolfe was involved in a bar altercation on
Sunday morning, and the department has since placed him on
(05:32):
paid administrative leave. Local news station WSBTV was informed by
witnesses that rolf initiated the altercation with the bartender, Raphael Penrice,
sorry over the cost of beverages. However, upon the arrival
of the police, Penrice was the only individual apprehended. Ralph's
council claimed that the off duty police officer was the victim. However,
(05:55):
witnesses who desired to remain anonymous, disagreed. They informed WSB
that Ralph's companion accused the bartender of overcharging for drinks.
Penrice escorted the two men outside after an argument ensued.
At that point, the bystanders assert that Rolf assaulted Penrice.
Cody Alkhorn, and Atlanta journalists interviewed witnesses at ex Midtown
(06:17):
and reported that some individuals were perplexed as to why
Rolf was not apprehended in conjunction with Penrice. CNN reports
that Rolf was initially charged with fel any homicide, five
counts of aggravated assault for accounts of violation of oath
of office, and one count of criminal damage to property. Okay,
before you jump in here, Q, because I know we're
(06:38):
going to move pretty quick through all these stories here,
I want to say that we picked three stories we
had probably like ten. Also, I want to point out
that this Rayshard Brooks, the murder of Rayshard Brooks, we'll
call it what it is in twenty twenty was one
that was particularly upsetting to me for folks that have
(07:03):
trouble remembering ray Shard Brooks in the video and all
that sort of stuff. I'm not going to ask you
to revisit it because it's just more black trauma, and
I'm not going to put that on you, Nor do
I want more black trauma to be consumed by, you know,
people in this country. But you know, maybe there's a
(07:24):
clip or two out there, not a clip, but a
still or something that might.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
Jog your memory.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
But yeah, that man.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Lost his life because the police no good reason, it
just took his life.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
And the officer that took his life is still an officer, clearly,
still assaulting black people, clearly, and it's still being paid.
And that is deeply unsettling. And again, we had a
lot of these stories we could have shared. We try
to make the case on the show that these are
(07:59):
systemic issues, not individual outliers. The data supports that definitely,
and we might have to do another episode where we
actually kind of get into the data, but this one
we have to kind of give you the examples that
it bubbled up to the surface because it is our
job to cover them, all, right, Q. Your thoughts on
this one.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
It's just another example of why the phrase black lives
matter was ever uttered in the first place. Police and
non police get to murder black people with impunity, and
law enforcement officers get to kill, keep their job, keep
their pay, keep their pension, and do it all over again,
(08:41):
and apparently nobody bat deny and even in cases where
they are putting, placed on paid leave or even fired.
The next agency, knowing their reputation, knowing their record, knowing
that they've even been indicted, charged or found guilty of charges,
still hire them and give them another opportunity to do
the same thing. So it's it's frustrating because I'm past
(09:05):
the point where there's any chance of reform. I used
to say, reallocate funds intended for police. Now I feel
the way people thought we felt when we first said
defund the police, tear the whole thing down.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
It cannot be reformed.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
That the current status, the current infrastructure, the very foundation
of policing in this country is based on white supremacist
It's based on rounding up slaves, is based on protecting
the ruling class. So to think that anything will ever
be different when they have qualified immunity, very strong unions,
and are impugned into any form of accountability is foolhearted.
(09:48):
At this At this point, nothing's ever going to change.
There's been no progress, you know, And since the camera
phone and you know, people recording incidents became a thing,
they didn't start doing this less. It seems to be
happening more often and with more intensity. So you know,
that's that's how I feel about it. Man, incredibly discouraged, frustrated,
(10:11):
and like there is no change at or light at
the end of any tunnel.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
If I may add, indeed, it seems like, yeah, there
hasn't been a change despite there being all these cameras
out on the streets filming these occurrences. But you know
the other part of that too is that they seem
to be adapting. You know, I put a post up
earlier this week out of San Diego folks that want
(10:40):
to go and check it out. We are at Civic
Cipher on all platforms, but I posted this.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
To Instagram, and.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
What it is is a group of officers taking a
man to the ground, and we can see the man
on the ground, hands behind his back and a non
He's face down, but he doesn't he's not a threat
to anybody right anymore. There's three or four police officers
on top of him.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
He's not moving his arms.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
You can see his hands, so he's not gripping anybody's
body parts like they try to, you know, they try
to suggest if you can't see the hands in the video.
You know, they try to say, oh, he assaulted me
because he gripped my hands. That's why I had to
keep punching him or something like that. Right, so you
can see his hands. He's not doing anything of that.
And of course you see one officer start kneeing him.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
In his ribs.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
He's laid on the ground. They already got him. The
next step you would imagine would be handcuffs. Nope, they
start kneeing him. And if that wasn't enough, as I mentioned,
they're adapting the homies. The other police officers pull up
on their little police bikes and little cannondale joints, and
what do they do. They do what the police do
with their trucks. They do what the police do with
(11:57):
their bodies. They start standing in the way of people
filming it. So the police officers pull up, get off
the bikes, turn the bikes sideways to kind of obscure
the view, and then they stand like almost shoulder to
shoulder to try to obscure the view from the camera phones. Right.
So indeed police are adapting. Now of course police will say, well,
(12:20):
this is for our own protection. The officers are doing
their job. You know the mob.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
We don't want the mob to rush the police.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Blah blah blah, which is something that never happens, something
that never happens. It's it's a defense against an imaginary issue. Right,
and we can see planets day when police they open
the door, they park their cars, you know, in such
a way the word you can't film it. It's simply
so that you cannot film what's happening. And it's just
so disgusting. You would imagine that these public servants would
(12:47):
want transparency. Like listen, man, that's them, that's not me.
That's the I want. I'm distancing myself from that, y'all
as long as y'all stay over here, it's all a
good film what you want.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Nope, they are locked in step. Nope, you're not going
to film them commit crimes. You're not going to film
them commit police brutality on that individual who's faced down
on the sidewalk. And it just blows my mind. And
this is why people have such a tough time with police.
I don't think anybody is born thinking, like you know what,
I would love to grow up and have a real
(13:18):
issue with the police. Nobody does that. It's the way
the police behave. This is an abuse of power and
nobody's going to be cool with that.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Let's move on, all right.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Next story is from WLWT, Cincinnati. A Covington police officer
was placed on administrative duty after a clash with protesters
on the Robling Bridge Thursday night. Okay, I remember this one.
A rally for a former Cincinnati Children's Hospital chaplain who
was detained by Immigrations and Customs enforcement turned to chaos
(13:52):
after supporters walked on the Robling Bridge Thursday night. I'man
Solomon was detained during its check in with ICE last
week at the Homeland Security Office in Blue Ash. Since then,
he's been held at the Butler County Jail. Protesters with
Ignite Peace Sincy started to gather Thursday night at the
(14:13):
Sing of Sing the Queen City Sign Sorry in Cincinnati
to call for his release. The protest started as a
peaceful gathering, but took a turn when protesters crossed the bridge,
with some of them in the road. Fifteen people are
facing charges in the incident, ranging from unlawful assembly, failure
to disperse, obstructing a highway, and criminal mischief. Two journalists
(14:33):
were among the people arrested and charged. At one point
during the protest, video appears to show a black suv
drive through the Robling Bridge with people in yellow safety
vests and face masks grabbing onto the car to get
the driver to stop. Covington Police said officers spoke with
the driver of the SUVs, saying he did not have
an obligation to stop.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Initially, protesters were seen walking in the middle of the bridge,
but some people said they stuck to the sidewalks and
were approached by officers during the tense confrontation. Attempts to
detain protesters ended with physical confrontations. One video shows a
woman being pulled to the ground by officers. Covington police
said Friday that one officer who was seen punching a
protester was placed on administrative duty as the department investigates
(15:20):
the response.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
We have opened an investigation into that, Covington Police Chief
Brian Valantee said, goes on to say, I don't want
to speculate as to how that's going to turn out.
The Covington officer will continue to be paid while the
investigation plays out and will perform administrative tasks within the department. Okay,
So this was another video, another viral video again people
(15:42):
crossing the bridge and I know we just went through it,
but I just want to make it a little bit
more concise so that you can follow this line of thinking. Okay,
so there is a I believe it was a Muslim
chaplain worked at a hospital, the children's hospital, Right, I'm
not mistaken. And you know he was going through the
(16:05):
right process. Isn't making sure all his paperwork is taken
care of and so forth? And then Ice apprehends him
while he's in the middle of taking care of everything.
The community responds, they say, hey, this guy is a
good guy. He's not a criminal. You know what I mean.
You know, this isn't the criminal that Donald Trump is
going after. He's not illegal, none of that starts thing.
He's doing everything the right way how he's supposed to
(16:26):
do it. He has a job, gamefully employed, pays taxes,
all that sort of stuff. This is not the guy
you want. And they protest, and then the police show
up at the protest, right, and there is a video
of one officer beating one individual on the he's on
(16:46):
the sidewalk too, he's not in the middle of the road,
but he's but an officer just yanks this guy, yanks
him to the ground and just starts pounding him. Right,
And this guy is white, by the way, this isn't
like a because I know some people they actually care
a little bit more if a police officer is beating
a white person. So I'll go ahead and say that
this guy's white, and then the crowd erupts like.
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Yo, what are you hitting him for? Oh my god,
blah blah blah.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Right, and you can just see the violence coming from
the police, not from the protesters.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
And I also want to add that, you know, protests,
it's hard to corral a lot of people, especially when
they're all moving, trying to keep that many people on
a sidewalk.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
That's tough.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Right for the police to say that the car doesn't
have an obligation to stop shows just how calloused and
desensitized that the police are. Indeed, the police are behaving
like enemies of the people, not protectors and servers of
the people. Enemies of the people. Who would say something
(17:50):
like that in any other circumstance, in any other country
in the world, that car would be a weapon, right,
And when it's convenient for police, a car is a weapon.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Right.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
But in this instance, they're saying the car doesn't have
a duty to stop. Okay. Now I want to add
to that that protests, in theory, are more effective when
they are disruptive. The idea is that you're bringing attention
to a matter. Now, I know the police have their job.
Hey let's keep everything civil, blah blah blah. But there's
(18:26):
tear gas. There's a whole number of things that police
can do. You know. They have barricades, they have riot gear,
all that sort of stuff. They have shields, all that
they can corral people, all this. They learn all this
stuff to yank somebody down and start punching them in
the face. To have this type of response to a
car driving through not wanting to slow down for human beings,
(18:47):
human life. And again, this wasn't like the black any
black protest of blackness.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
This is all white folks.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Right now. I believe that black life is human life.
I think you should believe that too.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
But the.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
I think the morality of this country and the sensibilities
of this country are such that white life is maybe
more special to people. I don't know, you know, But
so me saying that these are white folks, it just
goes to show you that these police are not enemies
to black people. These people are These police are enemies
to the people. Nobody is safe if you're trying to
(19:26):
stand up for what's right and the police are on
the opposite side of that. They are not positioning them
themselves in such a way that they are standing with
the people, And I think this is very dangerous. Okay,
I've talked enough about this, Q your thoughts.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Too, what else? What else is there to say? It's exhausting, sir, Sure,
trying to reform the same opinion for a different story
every other show. Yeah, it is important to point out
(20:03):
that this was a white man, and I think that
has a lot to do with why this officer has
already been suspended, but with pay and still working, just
not on the street. It's a redundancy at this point. Sure,
(20:24):
all lovers of government, law enforcement, and military and corporate America,
all preemptively pre compliant, all seemingly on the same page
right now. Well, white white supremacy and the hyper aggressive
(20:52):
marginalization of everyone that's not on the side of white supremacy. Yeah,
and those who are not white who are on that
side are only safe when they're standing next to someone
prominent in that space. Because we've seen even supporters get arrested, detained, deported,
(21:15):
and they somehow still don't break rank. It's that I've
never seen anything like it. You hesitate to use the
word cult.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Who are we trying to be polite for? You know,
it's this progress that we keep hoping for. I've often
felt like it was never coming. I've never been more
sure than now. It's not just that no one's coming
to save us. This that no one can. Who's going
(21:49):
to stand up to the government, the military, and all
of law enforcement of the United States of America.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
I think there's a factoid that if the police in
the United States were an army, it would be the
third largest military on earth.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
So and that's going to get stronger as they put
hundreds of millions of dollars in more right into police.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
And yeah, so your point is well made. But you know,
it's a flawed system. I think is illustrated by these
next this next story, and if we got time, the
story that follows. But this is from the Associated Press
from Louisville, Kentucky. A federal judge on Monday sentenced a
former Kentucky police officer to nearly three years in prison
for using excessive force during the deadly twenty twenty Breonna
(22:32):
Taylor raid, rebuffing a US Department of Justice recommendation of
no prison time for the defendant, Brett hark Brett Hankinson Sorry.
Brett Hankerson, who fired ten shots during the raid but
didn't hit anyone, was the only officer on the scene
charged in the black woman's death. He is the first
person sentenced to prison in the case that rocked the
(22:54):
city of Louisville and spawned weeks of protest over police
brutality that year. US District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, in
sentencing Hankerson, said no prison time is not appropriate and
would minimize the jury's verdict from November. Jennings said she
was startled there weren't more people injured in the raid
from Hankerson's blind shots. She sentenced Hankinson forty nine to
(23:17):
thirty three months in prison for the conviction of use
of excessive force, with three years of supervised probation to
follow the prison term. He will not report directly to prison.
The US Bureau of Prisons will determine where and when
he starts his sentence, Jennings said. The judge who presided
over two of Hankerson's trials express disappointment with the sentencing
(23:39):
recommendation by federal prosecutors last week, saying the Justice Department
was treating Hankerson's actions as quote, an inconsequential crime unquote,
and said some of its arguments were incongruous and inappropriate soil,
writes attorney Ben Crump, who helped Taylor's family secure twelve
million dollars wrongful death settlement against the city of Louisville,
(23:59):
had called the Department's recommendation and insult to the life
of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury's decision.
And that was a direct quote. And so you know
this obviously there's something three years. It's almost three years,
and then you know probation, that's not nothing. He's not
the officer that ended up shooting Breonna Taylor, but he
(24:21):
kind of just set it off. But the recommendation of
the Justice Department, of the United States Justice Department that
he get one day in jail, that was the part
that was deeply insulting. And I know that this is
Trump's Justice Department and that's on brand for them, but
we have to call it out.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
And so we will.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
And you know that's that We're going to continue to
follow Breonna Taylor as long as we can. But before
we wrap this segment, I want to share one last
thing and this is one that you sent over Q.
This from no Musika dot com. A border patrol agent
from Wilcox, Arizona, bart Conrad Jeger has been indicted on
two twenty four felony charges, including multiple counts of child
sex trafficking, pandering, and fraud. The charges follow an extensive
(25:07):
investigation by US Customs and Border Protections Office of Professional
Responsibility that began in September twenty twenty three. The probe
initially focused on allegations that Yaeger misrepresented his work assignments
and fraudulently claimed travel reimbursements while assigned to a migrant
processing facility in Tucson. Further investigation revealed he fossely reported
being on duty at various locations while often remaining elsewhere,
(25:30):
including at his home. During this process, Disturbing evidence emerged
that Yaeger paid a minor between fifteen and seventeen years
old for sex acts totaling over twelve thousand dollars, with
some payments reaching up to eighteen hundred dollars. These indictments. Sorry,
These incidents occurred between July twenty twenty three and March
twenty twenty four in his home and hotels in Tucson.
The miner had previously been a victim of sex trafficking,
(25:52):
and her mother was also arrested on related charges. I
want to make sure that I state this plainly. This
man is not a Democrat. This man is not an immigrant.
This man is not hosting drag shows and children's campuses.
This man is a sex offender. And this man is
a border patrol agent. Okay, And if this was the
only one, that would be too much. But there was
(26:15):
so many that we don't have time to get to Q.
The last thirty seconds are yours if you have anything.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
There's nothing I can do with the disgusting thirty seconds
that I'm left with.
Speaker 3 (26:24):
Yeah, talk about something like this.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
As you said, one is too many, except we know
that there's way more than way more we left them.
There's way more than a hundred, and there's going to
be way more. As you interject, thousands of untrained, angry
men who are signing up for this job for the money,
not for the service, and as a vehicle for their
(26:47):
own hate, racism, and misogyny. This gets worse, This gets
way worse. More impunity, more muscle, more weapons, more anger.
It's a pretty disgusting thing. We have to look ahead
to
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