October 5, 2024 • 22 mins
The first part of today’s show covers a few recent stories that call into question whether or not Black people’s rights are respected by law enforcement in this country. We have a dialogue about where respect ends and abuse of power begins insofar as Black people are concerned.
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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'm your host,
Ramsey's job.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He is this job.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
I am exhausted, but not like sleepy exhausted. I'll explain
more later in the show, but you guys can call
me Q.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Indeed, I know what he's referring to because we had
to put together today's episode and we know what is
coming your way. So buckle up because we want you
to ride with us while we discuss a question. I
think we should frame it sort of like, maybe when
do black people's rights kick in? You know, in this country,
(00:43):
we're big on our rights. You know, we're Americans, you.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Know, So when do they kick in? Or do they
kick in? Either one?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Either one, because I'm not sure they do kick in
according to some of our fellow citizens.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, and so we're gonna go through a couple recent examples,
a few recent examples that really shows how different of
an experience that we have when it comes to our
rights and what we're entitled to as citizens in this country.
And the second half of the show, we're going to
be discussing some high profile executions where there have been
(01:20):
some doubts that have had to be considered and ordered
right based on our position, they absolutely should have been considered,
and they were not. And as a result, there are
people who are no longer alive because they were executed.
(01:40):
And we're taking a look at the systematic exterminating of
human beings. Whether or not that's immoral is irrelevant. The
thing is we're asking the questions, does this happen if
you know a couple of things are different, and our
position is that it's not likely.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
That it does.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
But before we get there, we like to start off
on a high with some ebony.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Excellent, shall we?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I think we shall want me take this on?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (02:09):
All right? Today's Abney Excellence a sponsored by Actively black.
There was greatness in our DNA visit actively black dot com.
I'm gonna share with you from afrotech, what if your
garment pieces could communicate how you feel? Kenyan inventor Roy
Alila answered that question and provided an accessibility solution with
his smart gloves. Alila is the brain behind Sinio smart
(02:30):
gloves that give the hearing impaired and death the ability
to communicate with people who don't know sign language. According
to Africa dot Com, Aleela was inspired to create the
technology after needing a method to communicate with his then
six year old niece who was born deaf. Signio uses
Bluetooth to connect the products app with his technology. Flex
sensors placed inside the gloves on each finger can quantify
(02:54):
the bend of a finger and process the letters being signed.
The gloves creator believes the power behind them really rests
in the speed at which the signs are vocalized.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
People speak at different speeds, and it's the same with
people who sign. Some are really fast, others are slow.
So we integrated that into the mobile application so that
it's comfortable for anyone to use it unquote, Allella continued
to the outlet. The gloves can also be customized to
fit different colors and themes, such as Princess or Spider Man.
(03:26):
The glove has a ninety three percent accuracy in language, gender,
and audio. Pitch goes on to say it fights the
stigma associated with being deaf and having a speech impediment.
If the gloves look cool, every kid will want to
know why you have them. On With the brand success,
Aleella plans to get his product in schools across Kenya
to assist with learning and accessibility equity for hearing impaired children.
(03:51):
I kind of love that. Obviously it's Ebony excellence, but
it's also doing some good in the world and making
the world more accessible, which is something that we can
get behind pretty easily here. All right, So, yeah, when
do black people's rights kick in? Or do they kick in?
I think that's probably an even better way to ask
(04:12):
the question. But we're going to share some stories with you.
These all come from the Black Information Network, which you know,
full disclosure, Q and I are a part of the
Black Information Network, but you know, we cover these stories
and share these stories with our podcast, the Black Information
Network Daily Podcast, And we noticed a theme in recent stories,
(04:35):
and the theme again had specifically to do with whether
or not a black person's rights were violated. So these
aren't necessarily instances of police brutality, police shootings, police killings,
but rights like the dignity that comes with or the
dignity that should come with being an American citizen that
(04:55):
often does not accompany stories when you know the person
at the center of the story black. I'll start so
that I can give you an idea of what we're
talking about with this first story, again from the Black
Information Network. A Canton, Ohio police officer has been fired
after he was caught on video kicking a black man
in the chest while he was kneeling on the ground
(05:15):
with his hands raised. According to News five Cleveland, Brandon
Mamarrov was fired earlier this month following an investigation into
the arrest of twenty one year old Jamir McElroy. A
video taken by a bystanders showd Morimov sorry Mamarrov, running
toward mceilroy and kicking him in the chest as he
(05:37):
appeared to comply with police orders. Police previously said they
were responding to reports of an argument last month when
officers encountered McElroy. According to the police, multiple people, including
one individual alleged to be armed, fled the scene when
they arrived. However, suspects quote appeared to be complying when
officer Brandon Mamarov kicked Jamir mickilroy in the nuote. The
(06:01):
department previously said in a statement. McElroy and two other
men were arrested on suspicion of obstructing official business and
resisting arrest. According to a report at the time, police
Chief John Gabert defended the officer's actions. Quote, Our officers
frequently faced stressful, dangerous situations and confrontations with armed suspects.
(06:24):
Police Chief John Gabbert previously said, quote, their dedication to
the community has resulted in exceptional reductions in violence, especially
gun violence, over the past two years unquote. So I
think the reason that this one stood out to me
(06:44):
was because there was such an emphasis on the fact
that he was complying with the officer's request. And in theory,
if you're doing what a police officer asks you to do,
the police officer then does their job. If they assault you,
if they kick you in the chest while you're on
your knees with your hands raised, that is a violation.
(07:09):
And what else stood out to me is, of course
the police chiefs initial position again to defend the officer
kicking him in a chest with his hands raised, and ultimately,
as we know, the officer was fired. And I know
that we talked about this a bit, but kind of
(07:30):
let our listeners know a bit about when you first
read this one, what was going through your head.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Well, my initial thoughts are not unique to this story
and again why I had us rephrase the question. You
do black people's rights ever come into account in stories
like this, With the ever present cloud of qualified immunity,
(07:56):
police officers kind of get to break the law all
the time as long as someone can say, well, that's
what they had to do to do their job. They
were stressed, they were afraid, and the list goes on
of reasons that they come up with to justify these behaviors.
(08:19):
In cases like this one, the absence of video would
almost always mean that they can do whatever they want.
And you and I spoke before in another story sadly
another similar story that whenever there is absence of video,
(08:39):
the punishment for that should be severe because in most
of those cases, it's not because something malfunctioned, it's because
the cameras were turned off because officers. Because officers know
they're going to do something wrong, they plan to do
something wrong, they want to do something wrong. And in
cases like that, I don't have the data in front
(09:02):
of me, so don't quote me. More times than not,
the person who is on the receiving side of these
violations looks like you and I And the reason why
I'm so confident in saying so is because we would
see it all the time if it were the opposite.
Those who want to pretend racism doesn't exist and throw
(09:22):
it in our faces, those who want to minimize the
idea that black people are treated any differently, especially in
the negative skew, and even those who think, quite frankly,
we deserve it, would love to have examples to the
contrary to show us to prove their point. And the
fact that those almost never come up, you know, is
(09:43):
all the evidence.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
That I need to feel how I feel.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I'm not making a scientific argument, this is just an observation.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, that's what we want. The thing is, over the
next couple of stories, it's less about feeling and more
about it pattern. So let's add another story please. This
also comes from the Black Information Network. A lawsuit has
been filed on behalf of the family of a Georgia
(10:09):
man who was shot by police officers who entered his
home without a warrant. Okay, so this again back to
violating a person's rights, you know, right to privacy, a
right to you know, police do need warrants in this country,
and you have a right you have you're protected from
search and seizure, a lawful search and seizure, etc. If
(10:32):
I'm not mistaken, all right? So he was shot by
police officers who entered his home without a warrant. The
family of Mirando Salmon filed a federal lawsuit last week
alleging that Salmon's constitutional rights were violated during the deadly,
warrantless search of his home on November eleven, Alive reports
(10:53):
officers entered Salmon's home without a warrant amid an investigation
over a car that was stolen from a dealer. Ship
Police spotted the alleged stolen car in Salmon's driveway, which
was believed to have been taken on a test drive
from a dealership a week before, and did not return
or pay for it. That according to the lawsuit, officers
(11:13):
knocked on the front door and entered the home. After
no one answered, the police officer, Russell Mathis, encountered Salmon
sitting on his bed in the dark. Matthis shot and
killed Salmon in a matter of seconds. District Attorney Sherry
Boston said Salmon threw a phone at Mathis, which the
officer believed was a knife. Phones and knives they looked
(11:37):
similar to.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
You Okay, so obviously no, but I'm gonna take a
few steps back to try to be fair break it down.
Of course they don't. But in the dark, who knows.
In the dark, he could have the phone could have
been a gun. In the dark, the phone could have
been any weapon. And you justifiably have that position. Were
(12:01):
you supposed to be in this person's house. But because
you were not, you're an intruder and it's dark, and
this person is afraid. And if this person had taken
the extreme position that you know, the back to blue
people want to pretend that they honor and that's the
right to bear arms, then he'd be justified in having
(12:22):
shot that officer who he believed to be an intruder
in his home in the dark. So it does not
even matter if it was a knife. Why are you
in my house? Why are you in my bedroom?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Who are you like?
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Oh, you have a right to bear arms?
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Well, I mean we're talking about black people's rights because
black people apparently don't, and that's the presence of a
weekend tends to justify us being shot.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
You're making the point I was trying to make.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
That's you know, so you know whether or not the
phone looked like a knife, or looked like a gun
or a baseball batter or a crowbar.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
That none of that matters.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Someone's in my home in the dark, who I did
invite here, and who legally has no right to be there.
I should be able to defend myself. So the argument
that you thought I had a weapon completely irrelevant. You
know what, I'm sitting on my bed in the dark,
and you're in my house and I don't know who
you are.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Sometimes you amaze me because I like pitch it and
then you swing for the fences and you get a
home run. It's amazing. I love it. I do want
to go back just a bit, though, because sometimes people
have I believe, have trouble empathizing when they hear, well,
(13:38):
what did you do? You know?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Oh, the car was.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Stolen from a dealership, blah blah blah, this that and
the thod and I want to make sure that we
again are examining rights in this country, and we are
breaking down the rights of all the citizens, or at
least what rights all citizens should enjoy. We don't know
(14:06):
that the car was stolen. We don't know if the
dealership had wronged him. We don't know if he had
wronged the dealership. We don't know this because he never
had his day in court. He's dead now. So for
people to say, well, you know, he shouldn't have the
car and then the police wouldn't you know, not that
we don't know these people, but there are people out
there who will defend the police officers, as you mentioned,
(14:27):
no matter what.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
In this case, I don't even want to extend him
that benefit of the doubt.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Right, say the dealership, say the car is stolen, and
it was, and it was hard way and it was
parked in his driveway and he stole it. You still
don't get to enter this man's house unannounced without warrant
and kill him. So I'm again the same with the phone.
And then he thought it was a knife, Okay, say
it was a knife, Say it was worse than a knife,
Say he had a katana sword. You are still a
(14:55):
warrantless person in his home. You're not an officer there
to carry out some duty that you have function he
stole the car, Okay, get a warrant, present yourself as
an officer, and give this person a chance to not
make himself a victim of the crime. You already know
you want to commit. That's what we have to take
(15:16):
it back to. You enter without a warrant on purpose
and in the dark. You can justify the crime you
want to commit by pretending you're the one that's afraid.
How about that you enter my home unannounced and you're
scared of me. You entered my home without the legal
steps that you were supposed to go to, But you're
(15:40):
the one that's afraid of me in the dark, in
my home, in my bed. So you know, I don't
even want to extend the benefit of doubt that he
didn't do anything, because you don't have to be innocent
of a crime to not deserve to be killed in
your home, in your bed.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Or to be afforded due process. Correct, right now, that's
number two. Allow me to continue with number three.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
And we have so many more of these.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, these are just you know, rule of threes.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
I just don't have enough time.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
So this also comes from the Black Information Network. And
this one I know he was gonna love it because
when we were talking about it before, I kept telling him,
don't say anything, don't say anything, wait till we turn
the MIC's on. So now the mics are on, I'll
paint the picture, and then cues off to the races.
The black pastor arrested while watering his neighbor's flowers is
suing three Alabama officers who he alleges violated his Fourth
(16:34):
and First Amendment rights. CNN reports Pastor Jennings was detained
and booked into Talladega County Jail in May after a
neighbor who deemed the pastor quote suspicious unquote called the
police as he was watering flowers at another neighbor's house
who was out of town. Viral video of the incident
(16:56):
shows police handcuffing the Alabama pastor and his neighbor's yard
with a water hose in hand, despite Jennings explaining the
situation to officers and a third neighbor vouching for him.
Jennings said he verbally identified himself to police during the incident,
but officers didn't believe him. The pastor didn't have physical
identification with him at the time of the encounter and
(17:18):
refuse to retrieve it. He said, Okay, now before you go,
I know you're ready, let me paint the rest of
this picture. Because the Bayanna had a follow up to
this story, what happened was As I mentioned, this pastor
was asked by a neighbor to take care of his garden.
Can you water my garden while I'm out of town?
(17:39):
Pastor says yes, a black pastor. The pastor then goes
to the house waters the garden while the neighbors are
out of town. Another neighbor in the neighborhood calls the
police saying, hey, there's a black man in his yard.
He doesn't live there, blah blah blah. Police show up,
(18:00):
still out there taking care of the friend's garden, a
neighbor's garden. The police ask him who he is. He
identifies himself, you know, I'm a pastor. I you know,
I lived right there. This is my friend. You know,
he has to take care they want. The police are like, okay,
well now you need to go physically get your ID
(18:22):
or produce somehow produce your ID. And the and the
pastor says, I don't have my ID. You know this
this is not I'm not out in public. This is
where I live. And I suspect that it got contentious
at that point, that that's not the part of the video. Later,
the officers arrest him for not showing his physical ID. Okay,
(18:46):
that turned into a nothing burger. But the fact of
the matter is that this pastor was embarrassed and humiliated
and you know, inconvenience and all these things. Right, we're
talking about rights. You know, this isn't a murder case,
which I know we covered a lot of those. Now. Originally,
he files a lawsuit, the pastor against the police, and
(19:12):
the courts throw out the lawsuit because of, as you
mentioned earlier, qualified immunity. UH. These police were executing there
they were, they were functioning in their in the capacity
of their job description, investigating a potential crime whatever, so
qualified immunity UH protected them from being liable and being
(19:35):
held accountable. The thing is, this pastor appealed that decision,
and ultimately the appeals court ruled that in Alabama, officers
can stop you, they can ask you to identify yourself
and what you're doing, but there is no law that
says that officers can demand that you show them physical
(19:59):
identify cation. And because that was the point upon which
this entire case rested, the appeals court allowed this pastor
to continue with his lawsuit because indeed his rights were violated.
Now that's the story as far as we've gotten with it,
(20:21):
we're still following, of course, but now the floor is
yours to talk to me.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
I hope that if you can hear my voice, you
can understand the frustration. From the very beginning of the story,
a neighbor called the police on their neighbor for watering
their neighbor's plants. Like we told that part of the
(20:49):
story fast, I have to rewind. You say, a third
neighbor came out to vouch for this person, which means
the person that called the cops could have been the
voucher as well. They could have They see the person
that's doing it, and they see what they're doing. So
I'd go on to guess that the suspicious part.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Is the black part was this party the skin.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
For those who can't see me, I am rubbing the
skin on my hand. The brown or black part was
the suspicious part. There's nothing about holding a water hose,
seeing the water come out of it onto the plants
that's suspicious in any way, even if you don't recognize
the person. Oh, my neighbor hired a landscaper. That's why
(21:32):
he has a water hose in his hand and is
watering the plants. So we start there, and I am
frustrated telling myself the story in my head so that
I can talk about it. Then the police arrive, and
as an officer, part of your job should be to
show up and notice a crime isn't being committed, right
(21:57):
because me hiring a landscaper while I'm not present does
not mean my landscape or is trespassing. If you get
there and this neighbor is looking in the windows and
looking and or actually acting suspicious besides being black, I
get it. But when you officer arrive and see that
there's a water hose and he's watering the plants, even
(22:19):
if you're curious, you should have now okay turned off
you or I have to arrest somebody today. Circuit in
your head the presence of another neighbor vouching that this
person lives here and is doing this favor for me,
Like there's so many things that happened before he got
placed in handcuffs and arrested and had to file a
lawsuit that only happened because he's black and accusing us
(22:42):
of race baiting or playing victim or whatever you people do.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Sometimes just be a human being.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
You hear this stuff and realize that if it was
you or somebody you cared about, that you would think
it's ridiculous. But because it's me and I look like me,
you don't
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'm your host,
Ramsey's job.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
He is this job.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
I am exhausted, but not like sleepy exhausted. I'll explain
more later in the show, but you guys can call
me Q.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Indeed, I know what he's referring to because we had
to put together today's episode and we know what is
coming your way. So buckle up because we want you
to ride with us while we discuss a question. I
think we should frame it sort of like, maybe when
do black people's rights kick in? You know, in this country,
(00:43):
we're big on our rights. You know, we're Americans, you.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Know, So when do they kick in? Or do they
kick in? Either one?
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Either one, because I'm not sure they do kick in
according to some of our fellow citizens.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah, and so we're gonna go through a couple recent examples,
a few recent examples that really shows how different of
an experience that we have when it comes to our
rights and what we're entitled to as citizens in this country.
And the second half of the show, we're going to
be discussing some high profile executions where there have been
(01:20):
some doubts that have had to be considered and ordered
right based on our position, they absolutely should have been considered,
and they were not. And as a result, there are
people who are no longer alive because they were executed.
(01:40):
And we're taking a look at the systematic exterminating of
human beings. Whether or not that's immoral is irrelevant. The
thing is we're asking the questions, does this happen if
you know a couple of things are different, and our
position is that it's not likely.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
That it does.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
But before we get there, we like to start off
on a high with some ebony.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Excellent, shall we?
Speaker 1 (02:06):
I think we shall want me take this on?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (02:09):
All right? Today's Abney Excellence a sponsored by Actively black.
There was greatness in our DNA visit actively black dot com.
I'm gonna share with you from afrotech, what if your
garment pieces could communicate how you feel? Kenyan inventor Roy
Alila answered that question and provided an accessibility solution with
his smart gloves. Alila is the brain behind Sinio smart
(02:30):
gloves that give the hearing impaired and death the ability
to communicate with people who don't know sign language. According
to Africa dot Com, Aleela was inspired to create the
technology after needing a method to communicate with his then
six year old niece who was born deaf. Signio uses
Bluetooth to connect the products app with his technology. Flex
sensors placed inside the gloves on each finger can quantify
(02:54):
the bend of a finger and process the letters being signed.
The gloves creator believes the power behind them really rests
in the speed at which the signs are vocalized.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
People speak at different speeds, and it's the same with
people who sign. Some are really fast, others are slow.
So we integrated that into the mobile application so that
it's comfortable for anyone to use it unquote, Allella continued
to the outlet. The gloves can also be customized to
fit different colors and themes, such as Princess or Spider Man.
(03:26):
The glove has a ninety three percent accuracy in language, gender,
and audio. Pitch goes on to say it fights the
stigma associated with being deaf and having a speech impediment.
If the gloves look cool, every kid will want to
know why you have them. On With the brand success,
Aleella plans to get his product in schools across Kenya
to assist with learning and accessibility equity for hearing impaired children.
(03:51):
I kind of love that. Obviously it's Ebony excellence, but
it's also doing some good in the world and making
the world more accessible, which is something that we can
get behind pretty easily here. All right, So, yeah, when
do black people's rights kick in? Or do they kick in?
I think that's probably an even better way to ask
(04:12):
the question. But we're going to share some stories with you.
These all come from the Black Information Network, which you know,
full disclosure, Q and I are a part of the
Black Information Network, but you know, we cover these stories
and share these stories with our podcast, the Black Information
Network Daily Podcast, And we noticed a theme in recent stories,
(04:35):
and the theme again had specifically to do with whether
or not a black person's rights were violated. So these
aren't necessarily instances of police brutality, police shootings, police killings,
but rights like the dignity that comes with or the
dignity that should come with being an American citizen that
(04:55):
often does not accompany stories when you know the person
at the center of the story black. I'll start so
that I can give you an idea of what we're
talking about with this first story, again from the Black
Information Network. A Canton, Ohio police officer has been fired
after he was caught on video kicking a black man
in the chest while he was kneeling on the ground
(05:15):
with his hands raised. According to News five Cleveland, Brandon
Mamarrov was fired earlier this month following an investigation into
the arrest of twenty one year old Jamir McElroy. A
video taken by a bystanders showd Morimov sorry Mamarrov, running
toward mceilroy and kicking him in the chest as he
(05:37):
appeared to comply with police orders. Police previously said they
were responding to reports of an argument last month when
officers encountered McElroy. According to the police, multiple people, including
one individual alleged to be armed, fled the scene when
they arrived. However, suspects quote appeared to be complying when
officer Brandon Mamarov kicked Jamir mickilroy in the nuote. The
(06:01):
department previously said in a statement. McElroy and two other
men were arrested on suspicion of obstructing official business and
resisting arrest. According to a report at the time, police
Chief John Gabert defended the officer's actions. Quote, Our officers
frequently faced stressful, dangerous situations and confrontations with armed suspects.
(06:24):
Police Chief John Gabbert previously said, quote, their dedication to
the community has resulted in exceptional reductions in violence, especially
gun violence, over the past two years unquote. So I
think the reason that this one stood out to me
(06:44):
was because there was such an emphasis on the fact
that he was complying with the officer's request. And in theory,
if you're doing what a police officer asks you to do,
the police officer then does their job. If they assault you,
if they kick you in the chest while you're on
your knees with your hands raised, that is a violation.
(07:09):
And what else stood out to me is, of course
the police chiefs initial position again to defend the officer
kicking him in a chest with his hands raised, and ultimately,
as we know, the officer was fired. And I know
that we talked about this a bit, but kind of
(07:30):
let our listeners know a bit about when you first
read this one, what was going through your head.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Well, my initial thoughts are not unique to this story
and again why I had us rephrase the question. You
do black people's rights ever come into account in stories
like this, With the ever present cloud of qualified immunity,
(07:56):
police officers kind of get to break the law all
the time as long as someone can say, well, that's
what they had to do to do their job. They
were stressed, they were afraid, and the list goes on
of reasons that they come up with to justify these behaviors.
(08:19):
In cases like this one, the absence of video would
almost always mean that they can do whatever they want.
And you and I spoke before in another story sadly
another similar story that whenever there is absence of video,
(08:39):
the punishment for that should be severe because in most
of those cases, it's not because something malfunctioned, it's because
the cameras were turned off because officers. Because officers know
they're going to do something wrong, they plan to do
something wrong, they want to do something wrong. And in
cases like that, I don't have the data in front
(09:02):
of me, so don't quote me. More times than not,
the person who is on the receiving side of these
violations looks like you and I And the reason why
I'm so confident in saying so is because we would
see it all the time if it were the opposite.
Those who want to pretend racism doesn't exist and throw
(09:22):
it in our faces, those who want to minimize the
idea that black people are treated any differently, especially in
the negative skew, and even those who think, quite frankly,
we deserve it, would love to have examples to the
contrary to show us to prove their point. And the
fact that those almost never come up, you know, is
(09:43):
all the evidence.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
That I need to feel how I feel.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I'm not making a scientific argument, this is just an observation.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Yeah, that's what we want. The thing is, over the
next couple of stories, it's less about feeling and more
about it pattern. So let's add another story please. This
also comes from the Black Information Network. A lawsuit has
been filed on behalf of the family of a Georgia
(10:09):
man who was shot by police officers who entered his
home without a warrant. Okay, so this again back to
violating a person's rights, you know, right to privacy, a
right to you know, police do need warrants in this country,
and you have a right you have you're protected from
search and seizure, a lawful search and seizure, etc. If
(10:32):
I'm not mistaken, all right? So he was shot by
police officers who entered his home without a warrant. The
family of Mirando Salmon filed a federal lawsuit last week
alleging that Salmon's constitutional rights were violated during the deadly,
warrantless search of his home on November eleven, Alive reports
(10:53):
officers entered Salmon's home without a warrant amid an investigation
over a car that was stolen from a dealer. Ship
Police spotted the alleged stolen car in Salmon's driveway, which
was believed to have been taken on a test drive
from a dealership a week before, and did not return
or pay for it. That according to the lawsuit, officers
(11:13):
knocked on the front door and entered the home. After
no one answered, the police officer, Russell Mathis, encountered Salmon
sitting on his bed in the dark. Matthis shot and
killed Salmon in a matter of seconds. District Attorney Sherry
Boston said Salmon threw a phone at Mathis, which the
officer believed was a knife. Phones and knives they looked
(11:37):
similar to.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
You Okay, so obviously no, but I'm gonna take a
few steps back to try to be fair break it down.
Of course they don't. But in the dark, who knows.
In the dark, he could have the phone could have
been a gun. In the dark, the phone could have
been any weapon. And you justifiably have that position. Were
(12:01):
you supposed to be in this person's house. But because
you were not, you're an intruder and it's dark, and
this person is afraid. And if this person had taken
the extreme position that you know, the back to blue
people want to pretend that they honor and that's the
right to bear arms, then he'd be justified in having
(12:22):
shot that officer who he believed to be an intruder
in his home in the dark. So it does not
even matter if it was a knife. Why are you
in my house? Why are you in my bedroom?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Who are you like?
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Oh, you have a right to bear arms?
Speaker 3 (12:37):
Well, I mean we're talking about black people's rights because
black people apparently don't, and that's the presence of a
weekend tends to justify us being shot.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
You're making the point I was trying to make.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
That's you know, so you know whether or not the
phone looked like a knife, or looked like a gun
or a baseball batter or a crowbar.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
That none of that matters.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Someone's in my home in the dark, who I did
invite here, and who legally has no right to be there.
I should be able to defend myself. So the argument
that you thought I had a weapon completely irrelevant. You
know what, I'm sitting on my bed in the dark,
and you're in my house and I don't know who
you are.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Sometimes you amaze me because I like pitch it and
then you swing for the fences and you get a
home run. It's amazing. I love it. I do want
to go back just a bit, though, because sometimes people
have I believe, have trouble empathizing when they hear, well,
(13:38):
what did you do? You know?
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Oh, the car was.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Stolen from a dealership, blah blah blah, this that and
the thod and I want to make sure that we
again are examining rights in this country, and we are
breaking down the rights of all the citizens, or at
least what rights all citizens should enjoy. We don't know
(14:06):
that the car was stolen. We don't know if the
dealership had wronged him. We don't know if he had
wronged the dealership. We don't know this because he never
had his day in court. He's dead now. So for
people to say, well, you know, he shouldn't have the
car and then the police wouldn't you know, not that
we don't know these people, but there are people out
there who will defend the police officers, as you mentioned,
(14:27):
no matter what.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
In this case, I don't even want to extend him
that benefit of the doubt.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Right, say the dealership, say the car is stolen, and
it was, and it was hard way and it was
parked in his driveway and he stole it. You still
don't get to enter this man's house unannounced without warrant
and kill him. So I'm again the same with the phone.
And then he thought it was a knife, Okay, say
it was a knife, Say it was worse than a knife,
Say he had a katana sword. You are still a
(14:55):
warrantless person in his home. You're not an officer there
to carry out some duty that you have function he
stole the car, Okay, get a warrant, present yourself as
an officer, and give this person a chance to not
make himself a victim of the crime. You already know
you want to commit. That's what we have to take
(15:16):
it back to. You enter without a warrant on purpose
and in the dark. You can justify the crime you
want to commit by pretending you're the one that's afraid.
How about that you enter my home unannounced and you're
scared of me. You entered my home without the legal
steps that you were supposed to go to, But you're
(15:40):
the one that's afraid of me in the dark, in
my home, in my bed. So you know, I don't
even want to extend the benefit of doubt that he
didn't do anything, because you don't have to be innocent
of a crime to not deserve to be killed in
your home, in your bed.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
Or to be afforded due process. Correct, right now, that's
number two. Allow me to continue with number three.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
And we have so many more of these.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, these are just you know, rule of threes.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
I just don't have enough time.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
So this also comes from the Black Information Network. And
this one I know he was gonna love it because
when we were talking about it before, I kept telling him,
don't say anything, don't say anything, wait till we turn
the MIC's on. So now the mics are on, I'll
paint the picture, and then cues off to the races.
The black pastor arrested while watering his neighbor's flowers is
suing three Alabama officers who he alleges violated his Fourth
(16:34):
and First Amendment rights. CNN reports Pastor Jennings was detained
and booked into Talladega County Jail in May after a
neighbor who deemed the pastor quote suspicious unquote called the
police as he was watering flowers at another neighbor's house
who was out of town. Viral video of the incident
(16:56):
shows police handcuffing the Alabama pastor and his neighbor's yard
with a water hose in hand, despite Jennings explaining the
situation to officers and a third neighbor vouching for him.
Jennings said he verbally identified himself to police during the incident,
but officers didn't believe him. The pastor didn't have physical
identification with him at the time of the encounter and
(17:18):
refuse to retrieve it. He said, Okay, now before you go,
I know you're ready, let me paint the rest of
this picture. Because the Bayanna had a follow up to
this story, what happened was As I mentioned, this pastor
was asked by a neighbor to take care of his garden.
Can you water my garden while I'm out of town?
(17:39):
Pastor says yes, a black pastor. The pastor then goes
to the house waters the garden while the neighbors are
out of town. Another neighbor in the neighborhood calls the
police saying, hey, there's a black man in his yard.
He doesn't live there, blah blah blah. Police show up,
(18:00):
still out there taking care of the friend's garden, a
neighbor's garden. The police ask him who he is. He
identifies himself, you know, I'm a pastor. I you know,
I lived right there. This is my friend. You know,
he has to take care they want. The police are like, okay,
well now you need to go physically get your ID
(18:22):
or produce somehow produce your ID. And the and the
pastor says, I don't have my ID. You know this
this is not I'm not out in public. This is
where I live. And I suspect that it got contentious
at that point, that that's not the part of the video. Later,
the officers arrest him for not showing his physical ID. Okay,
(18:46):
that turned into a nothing burger. But the fact of
the matter is that this pastor was embarrassed and humiliated
and you know, inconvenience and all these things. Right, we're
talking about rights. You know, this isn't a murder case,
which I know we covered a lot of those. Now. Originally,
he files a lawsuit, the pastor against the police, and
(19:12):
the courts throw out the lawsuit because of, as you
mentioned earlier, qualified immunity. UH. These police were executing there
they were, they were functioning in their in the capacity
of their job description, investigating a potential crime whatever, so
qualified immunity UH protected them from being liable and being
(19:35):
held accountable. The thing is, this pastor appealed that decision,
and ultimately the appeals court ruled that in Alabama, officers
can stop you, they can ask you to identify yourself
and what you're doing, but there is no law that
says that officers can demand that you show them physical
(19:59):
identify cation. And because that was the point upon which
this entire case rested, the appeals court allowed this pastor
to continue with his lawsuit because indeed his rights were violated.
Now that's the story as far as we've gotten with it,
(20:21):
we're still following, of course, but now the floor is
yours to talk to me.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
I hope that if you can hear my voice, you
can understand the frustration. From the very beginning of the story,
a neighbor called the police on their neighbor for watering
their neighbor's plants. Like we told that part of the
(20:49):
story fast, I have to rewind. You say, a third
neighbor came out to vouch for this person, which means
the person that called the cops could have been the
voucher as well. They could have They see the person
that's doing it, and they see what they're doing. So
I'd go on to guess that the suspicious part.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Is the black part was this party the skin.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
For those who can't see me, I am rubbing the
skin on my hand. The brown or black part was
the suspicious part. There's nothing about holding a water hose,
seeing the water come out of it onto the plants
that's suspicious in any way, even if you don't recognize
the person. Oh, my neighbor hired a landscaper. That's why
(21:32):
he has a water hose in his hand and is
watering the plants. So we start there, and I am
frustrated telling myself the story in my head so that
I can talk about it. Then the police arrive, and
as an officer, part of your job should be to
show up and notice a crime isn't being committed, right
(21:57):
because me hiring a landscaper while I'm not present does
not mean my landscape or is trespassing. If you get
there and this neighbor is looking in the windows and
looking and or actually acting suspicious besides being black, I
get it. But when you officer arrive and see that
there's a water hose and he's watering the plants, even
(22:19):
if you're curious, you should have now okay turned off
you or I have to arrest somebody today. Circuit in
your head the presence of another neighbor vouching that this
person lives here and is doing this favor for me,
Like there's so many things that happened before he got
placed in handcuffs and arrested and had to file a
lawsuit that only happened because he's black and accusing us
(22:42):
of race baiting or playing victim or whatever you people do.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Sometimes just be a human being.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
You hear this stuff and realize that if it was
you or somebody you cared about, that you would think
it's ridiculous. But because it's me and I look like me,
you don't
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