Shooting deaths in the USA – whether by cop or criminal – is apparently the new normal here in the good ole USofA. This morning, as we awoke to the news that the DoJ will clear Ferguson former cop Darren Wilson of violating the civil rights of Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year old he shot to death, we also saw a new video of the Dec. 30 shooting death by cop of a NJ man who clearly had his hands up when he was gunned down.
Warning: the following video is graphic. You can see a man killed, yet every version of the video I could find, for some reason, kept muting the audio every time the cop shouted some form of the word “fuck” as if that’s offensive but the killing of another human isn’t!
As in all aspects of life, there’s more to the story than just this video. The cop addresses the passenger (who he shot moments later) by his name, so we know that they somehow knew each other. It’s complicated…
The shooting of Reid by two Bridgeton, New Jersey police officers has sparked weeks of protests. The new video, which only gives a partial view of the shooting, is unlikely to quell the outrage—especially because it doesn’t address protesters’ complaints over conflicts of interest in the prosecutor’s office charged with leading the investigation.
…
“Get ’em out the car, Rog,”
[police officer Braheme] Days says to his partner. “We got a gun in this glove compartment.” Shortly after that, Days appears to reach into the vehicle and retrieve something from the glove compartment.As Worley radios for backup, Days issues a series of expletive-laced threats and commands to Reid.
“You reach for something you’re going to be fucking dead,” Days warns. Someone in the car replies, “I got no reason to reach for nothing.” A moment later, Days says again, “Hey Jerome, you reach for something you’re going to be fucking dead.”
Then seconds later: “He’s reaching, he’s reaching.”
(It’s not clear if Days recognized Reid and mispronounced his first name calling him “Jerome” instead of Jerame. But Days was one of the officers involved in Reid’s arrest last year for drug possession and obstruction charges. Reid had also been arrested before, as a teenager, for shooting at police officers and spent over 12 years in prison.)
After what sounds like “I’m getting out of the car,” the passenger door opens and Reid stands up with his hands at his chest. Days appears to shoot first, followed by Worley, as Reid collapses to the ground.
This is just one area of life in America that is completely FUBAR.
Congressman Alan Grayson joined me on the show this morning to talk about the State of the Union, about which he agreed was a good progressive speech – except for the part about the TPP! We also spoke about the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, handed down five years ago yesterday, that is at the root of many of our problems today.
Amy Simon paid her weekly visit to tell us a bit about former First Lady Ladybird Johnson. Of course, I couldn’t keep myself from wondering why a woman as smart as she apparently was put up with her husband’s vulgar constant waving around of his big Johnson. As our friend Laffy says, you gotta laugh… I saw we gotta keep it low brow!
I’ll be back tomorrow to stick a fork in the week, radio or not!
