Those words have been haunting me that last two days, so it's time to put this ALL into perspective. The looting, the whole picture. If I can. At least I can try.
The statement is grossly incorrect. The law is not supreme in the USA in a way that every American can pass judgment on one another. The USA's strength is in due process and a fair trial. People have to get to that trial to receive justice, not receive it at the end of a barrel of a gun or the knee of a police officer.
"When the looting starts, the shooting starts," is supposed to be an act of law enforcement. "That is the law and the way it is." That is incorrect. That is not the law. Police are not allowed to enforce the law at the end of the barrel of a gun. All too often it happens though.
In recent months and years, we are seeing asphyxiation as a method of police resulting in the death of the suspect. None of these techniques should be allowed to continue to be used by law enforcement. But, as to the idea that looting should be resolved by more violence and by gunfire needs to be addressed. The dialogue is so far out of line with the civilization of our country it has to be addressed to bring everyone together to understand why something like looting occurs.
March 7, 1991, I was working the evening shift and television was on. It was the first time I had ever witnessed police officers beating anyone and this was a black man. It scared me. I never put a police officer in that content before and my worry was about the man being beaten. In my understanding of law enforcement, this sort of treatment of another human being was absolutely wrong and I believed it to be illegal.
One of the police officers involved stated that "people like King" were unpredictable to allow taking them without first subduing them. The officer went on to say that "people like Rodney King" do drugs and when they are on drugs like PCP they become super-strong and it takes measures such as this to subdue them.
I am sure the defense of many officers has been that they were just trying to subdue the subject to bring them into jail for processing. But, that isn't the point here. The point is that for the first time for many people officers were beating a man that was an African-American. It was scary to me and I can only begin to understand how scary it was to others that knew Rodney King and the communities of Los Angeles.
Nearly immediately the black communities of Los Angeles broke into violence. There was looting and there were fires set. The violence that consumed the city over this beating was the only way people had to make the law enforcement system take notice of the crimes of beating an unarmed human being. I was scared for Mr. King, the city of Los Angeles, and the people rioting in the streets. I feared for their lives and worried about retaliation. The beating of Rodney King was wrong and the violence was a way of stopping it from occurring again.
The violence in LA at that time was RATIONAL to me. I did not feel bad for anyone who was having their life changed because of that violence in looting and fire setting, that broke out over the beating by police officers of an unarmed black man. Like I said, if he runs, then chase him and if he gets away then file a summons for arrest with the prosecutor, but, DON'T EVER TAKE THE LAW INTO THEIR OWN HANDS AND BEAT A HUMAN BEING OR PUT A KNEE ON THE NECK OF A HUMAN BEING. The law in the USA does not demand that level of absolute resolve.
I was on the other side of the country in New Hampshire at that time. It is where I lived. It wasn't as though I lived in LA and sympathized with the communities so upset over this beating. I was completely removed from this reality except for a video that scared me. When the violence broke out I completely understood it. I think the mayor of LA at the time understood it as well and was appalled by the violence against Mr. King. He is a citizen. He has rights.
The day after the violence stopped, including pulling a white man by the name of Reginald Denny out of his semi-truck as an exhibit as to how black men can also beat white men, the city called the crimes of looting and fire setting as mayhem. There were cameras that helped authorities identify people participating in the riots. They were not charged with arson. They were not charged with stealing. They were not charged with assault. They were charged with mayhem. Some may have received fines, but, in all that I remember is that the people in the riots now had a criminal record without serving any time in jail or prison.
So, for all the people that cannot relate to the violence following the UNLAWFUL and WRONGFUL death of a black man, that doesn't give anyone the right to pass judgment on those that are scared, upset and worried about their own lives and the fact they might be next. Those that seem to think they are allowed to judge the actions of others are arrogant and quite frankly lack the ability to empathize with minority people that do experience injustice in their lives. That is the real shame in those statements that "When the looting starts, the shooting starts," "That is the law and just the way it is." Those are wrongful statements. They are ignorant statements and do not take into context the reason the violence erupted in the first place. The people that stood up to law enforcement, set fires and looted saved everyone's life. They made a statement of the fear and injustice they feel.
The reason the uprising ended is because of people like Reverend Al Sharpton that brings an understanding of that pain to the form of organized marches. It is people like the Reverend Jessie Jackson that leads the minority communities to pursue justice. It is all those people involved in speaking against the injustice that stops the mayhem. They bring meaning to that pain and no American should take that reality for granted. The leaders of the minority community have a very important and valuable place in this country and it is up to us to accept and respect every word they say.
I don't ever want to hear criticism of the expression of fear shown when there is a wrongful death of anyone. We all have rights in this country and we will all understand when those rights are violated and pose a threat to every life in the USA. There better not be any more inflammatory statements about the expression of fear that results in violence. It is the wrongful deaths, the beatings and the injustice that is on trial in those moments and not the people fearful for their own lives.
