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Why Are We Killing Citizens Over Misdemeanors?
What do Eric Garner, George Floyd & Rayshard Brooks have in common?
Sure, all of them were black, and killed by police.
But every one of their interactions with police started with the investigation of a misdemeanor crime. Eric Garner was selling cigarettes. Michael Brown had stolen a pack of smokes from a convenience store. George Floyd had passed a $20 bill. Rayshard Brooks had been stopped on suspicion of DUI.
And in every case, the interaction was escalated, until an unarmed black man lay dead in the street.
Is this justice? Is this reasonable?
The obvious defense to this point is that they all resisted arrest. But even that is just a misdemeanor. It certainly doesn’t carry the death penalty.
Let’s consider the alternatives of force in each case.
Eric Garner could have been issued a citation, or let go. What harm was he doing the community? We can agree that his actions were unlawful without insisting that he be charged or cited, that day, without question. What would have been the harm, when he resisted, to just give in? To realize that escalation was not worth the citation?
George Floyd was detained for passing a fake $20. I’m not aware of any evidence that he did so knowingly. A…
