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[Loud Whispers]

This is like the jury selection for the zimmerman case. They flooded it with white mothers. You know what scares white mothers the most? Black youth. They filled the jury with the people mostly likely to perceive martin as a threat and the results were predictable.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Diana Tennis, a defense lawyer based in Orlando, said the chances of having a six-person jury without any black jurors were high given the demographics of Seminole County, where 11 percent of the population is black.
Experts had various opinions on whether an all-female pool of jurors would be more of a benefit to the prosecution or to the defense. “Women as a group might be less receptive to Zimmerman’s behavior than men,” Jules Epstein, an associate professor at Widener University School of Law, wrote in an e-mail. Also, Ms. Tennis said, women might be more sympathetic to the loss of a child.

Luis Calderon, a criminal lawyer in Orlando, said that because many of the women were older, they might identify with Mr. Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense more. “One of the things you have to show is reasonable fear,” he said, “Of being overpowered, of being helpless, of being in a situation where you can’t defend yourself physically.” Older women, he said, “would be more inclined to understand that.”
Link to article

Yeah, whether the jury was in favour of one side or the other was and still is up to debate.

I spent a fair time in progressive and right-wing forums during the Zimmerman trials and both sides were:

• A, already predetermining defeat based upon the juries (with the argument that they were mostly all mothers, so Zim would be guilty, or that they were mostly all white so Zim would be acquitted).
• B, already confident in whether Zimmerman was guilty or innocent based upon party lines. I don't recall any of the people I talked to on any of the forums who actually watched the trial directly, they got their news of the trial from MSNBC, CNN or Fox. Or each other. People weren't reviewing the evidence, so much as using the trial as a political vehicle to defend or further their agendas. A great deal of misinformation was also put into the public with many of the news sites actually doctoring evidence and editing it and even the prosecution were doing really dodgy things; giving 'notes' to people about to give testimonies without having the notes checked by the defence, withholding evidence illegally (and the judge not allowing any extra time to review such evidence) and even deleting evidence. There was also allegations of the prosecution coaching their witnesses to give a narrative, but if they did so it was so incompetently done that it hurt their own case and not enough proof exists in regards to coaching than to raise questions, but not give answers. In general, the public also kept repeating falsehoods so much that much misinformation seemed to be accepted as fact. Things I heard ranged from Zimmerman continued chasing after Trayvon after the phone call, Zimmerman had no injuries, the Police officers sympathized with Zimmerman, Zimmerman had called Trayvon a coon e.t.c.
  Given how the national image for Zimmerman was either a racist murderer at worst and a killer with a bloodlust at best (with even the head of state declaring Zimmerman's guilt) it is surprising that he was acquitted.
  
  

  body cameras do help, if the people on top are diligent and if the tape doesn't go missing.
  
  There have been police forces that have instituted body cameras and the complaints against police and the use of excessive force dropped dramatically.
  
  But if the people in charge will always have your back and they are willing to delete that tape, and if there is no punishment for even turning the tape off... it does no good. You are hoping the officer will act responsibly when they have proven they will not do that if at all possible.
  

  If they don't care about seizing people's phones and cameras then a body camera is probably not going to deter police abuse of power. The LEO getting fired for not having his bodycam on when he shot the teenager is in all likelihood not the sign of some greater moral sense being imbued in the American police force; in these times, it was necessary. When no one cares about the riots anymore? It's easy to reckon things will go back to their normal, brutal ways.
  How would you end any unsavoury relationships between the state and the police? How  do you moderate judges to ensure that they aren't letting off police officers who should be in prison for abusing their power? I would suspect that changing the American police could take an entire generation's worth of effort.
  
  Personally I think America's police should just do an exchange with Sweden's. You've got one nation full of paramilitary police too happy to go to violence and another nation full of friendly police too reluctant to ever use force. They'd do well to learn from each other.

[Andrew425]

I can understand the Zimmerman and Brown case going the way they did, as their was reasonable belief in self defence.

The Garner thing I can not. He choked a man to death on camera. He should at least be charged with neglect leading to death.

[Icefire2314]

The two biggest things that need to change:

1) Get rid of the Department of internal affairs. If unfamiliar, it basically means that the police police themselves. So if they get accused, they (the police) are the ones who investigate their wrongdoing.

2)Protests target the individual departments and regions where it happens. This is bad. Protests need to hit the media which isn't reporting any of the details which would "stain" the department's "innocence". All of the organizations attacking the departments and rioting and whatever are doing it wrong. They're underestimating the power of mass media, even to a decadent audience. A media truly reporting true brutality will watch an uproar, not a whisper.

[Lagslayer]

Really? Bay12 is jumping on the Eric Garner bandwagon? Have any of you even seen the video? Y'all are talking like they beat him senseless with a baseball bat and strung him up with garrote wire. In the video, this was a relatively gentle takedown. He was restrained and held to the ground, then cuffed. He was not beaten, he was not slammed into the pavement, he was not shot. The only reason the chokehold was dangerous was because he had a completely unrelated medical condition.

As for the chokehold itself, it is against department policy, but is not against the law. The two officers deemed responsible have had their guns taken away and put behind a desk. But since chokeholds are not illegal in and of themselves, and they were acting in the capacity of a police officer subduing a belligerent criminal, there is no grounds for criminal prosecution.

As for the "I can't breathe!" statements, criminals do that all the time, regardless of weather or not there was actual injury, because they hate the cops and just want to stir up more shit. It might have made some sort of case if this was a violent takedown, but it very clearly wasn't.

Come on, now. At least the MB case had conflicting testimony, lack of footage, and the cop got off scott-free. Don't let blind rage cloud your judgement. Bay12, I am truly disappointed. I thought the bay12 community was a little more rational than blind bloodlust.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

.... Okay. You're completely wrong. It's called negligent homicide because they didn't follow procedure and were aggressively detaining a man for a ticket-able offence, and the murderer in this case crushed his windpipe [with a move the NYPD itself banned for causing undue harm to people during detention] enough to asphyxiate the victim and cause his death, according to the medical examiner assigned to the case. Thanks for trying though.

[Lagslayer]

.... Okay. You're completely wrong. It's called negligent homicide because they didn't follow procedure and were aggressively detaining a man for a ticket-able offence, and the murderer in this case crushed his windpipe [with a move the NYPD itself banned for causing undue harm to people during detention] enough to asphyxiate the victim and cause his death, according to the medical examiner assigned to the case. Thanks for trying though.

He was on probation, and, therefor, would have probably been put in prison again because he can't stay out of trouble.

Also, I've seen just as many sources saying he didn't have throat damage, and that the autopsy showed that he died of cardiac arrest.

[Vilanat]

Provide said sources, please.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Also, I've seen just as many sources saying he didn't have throat damage, and that the autopsy showed that he died of cardiac arrest.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/eric-garner-death-ruled-homicide-medical-examiner-article-1.1888808

Here you go, it's only from August so I can understand you not seeing it until just now.

[Phmcw]

The video of Garner's death

Violent arrest by belgian police is tense situation for scale : in a rater bad part of Bruxelles
militant of a cause I don't know about arrested for attacking a woman. White police black militants.

[penguinofhonor]

.

[Levi]

How is his probation relevant besides "he's a thug who deserved what he got"?

Exactly.  The police aren't supposed to give the final judgement, that is for the courts to decide.  Justice isn't served when they murder people.

[TamerVirus]

The system worked. Society will move on. Police will continue to police.


And that's the problem

[Mictlantecuhtli]

The system worked? That's nice to know. Mind explaining how?

[scriver]

He doesn't appear to be saying it's a good system, Mict.

[Loud Whispers]

The only reason the chokehold was dangerous was because he had a completely unrelated medical condition.

My niggle with this one bit in particular is that unnecessary force should not be judged on whether it kills the person or not; if someone is unnecessarily tazered but don't die because they have no extraneous medical conditions it would still be an unnecessary use of force. Not having seen the video however, I can't judge in this particular case.