A New Kind of Television
Lying in bed at Audubon watching Better
Call Saul the night of the operation before the sedatives wore off.
In bed with my laptop two days later,
under the spell of narcotics, watching Star Trek: Picard.
A new kind of television, my cell or
my tablet, lying in bed or sitting out on the porch.
Apparently the stories run by the new
kind of television are horror stories.
Breonna Taylor was gunned down by policemen’s
bullets as they served a no-knock warrant. Breonna’s boyfriend, Kenneth
Walker, awoke to find persons unidentified, heavily armed, breaking into
his apartment. Walker picked up a rifle and fired – as is his right according
to Kentucky’s “stand your ground” laws – and the police responded with a hail
of gunfire. More than twenty rounds were fired into Taylor’s apartment as well
as adjacent apartments. 8 of them struck Taylor, killing her. Walker was arrested
for firing on the police officers, but later released, when the story hit the
national news. The warrant that the police were serving turned out later to be
problematic on several counts: the suspect named in the warrant, though known
to Taylor, did not live at the location. The suspect was actually in police
custody at the time of the warrant service. It also came out later that the
warrant was obtained with information falsely attributed to the Postmaster
General, who said he had no knowledge whatsoever of the “suspicious packages”
alleged in the warrant. Breonna Taylor and Kenneth Walker are both Black.
A nameless Black man was beaten by a
cop in L. A. while he had both hands handcuffed behind his back. The cop’s
partner, a woman, seemed to make a couple meek attempts to dissuade him from
what was very clearly a tantrum. The man’s injuries did not appear serious, as
the cop’s blows were largely ineffective. The beating apparently stopped when
another squad car showed up.
Several videos of Black folk being
beaten by police in New York City (Brooklyn) and New Jersey surfaced in April, ostensibly
for not “social distancing”. The same weekend, a video surfaced of New York cops
chatting and handing out facemasks to white folk enjoying a beautiful spring
day in the park (in Manhattan), but also not social distancing.
Appliance delivery driver Travis
Miller was blocked in an Oklahoma City gated community by two residents for
almost two hours after making a delivery. The residents demanded to know what
his business was there, in spite of the fact that the name of the company he
delivers for is on the side of his truck, and he is wearing a uniform shirt
with the company’s logo on it. He refused to give them his customer’s
information. Miller filmed the entire encounter on his cell phone in case the
nature of his interaction with the men was called into question. The men
decided to call the police, at which point Miller called the police himself to
report being detained, just to make sure the police were aware of his side of
the story when they arrived on the scene. Eventually, the customer to whom
Miller made the delivery arrived on the scene and asked his neighbors to stand
down. He apologized to Miller, but missed the obvious subtext of the situation
when he described his neighbors as “over protective” of the community. Travis
Miller is a Black man.
Ahmaud Arbery was stalked and gunned down while
out jogging on February 23rd, 2020 in Glynn County, Georgia. While
he was on his run, he stopped by a house under construction, wandered around
for a short bit, and left. He was spotted coming out of the house by Travis
McMichael, who with his father Gregory McMichael and friend Roddie Bryan,
pursued Arbery in their pickup trucks, boxing him into the Satilla Shores
neighborhood. Travis McMichael then got out of the truck with a shotgun to
confront Arbery. Arbery tried to grab the shotgun away from the younger
McMichael, and two shots were fired. After regaining control of the gun,
McMichael then fired a third shot, hitting Arbery in the torso. Arbery then
took a few steps and fell to the ground, mortally wounded. All three shotgun
blasts had hit his body. Police on the scene were reportedly ready to arrest the
McMichaels, but were stopped by DA Jackie Johnson, who later recused herself
from the case due to a previous work relationship with Gregory McMichael.
Waycross Judicial District Attorney George Barnhill then took over the case,
and also advised no arrests. The case was on Barnhill’s desk from February 27th
to April 2nd, at which point he also recused himself due to a
connection between himself and the elder McMichael. The Cobb County District
Attorney’s office took over the case at that point. On May 5th, a
video of the confrontation shot on Roddie Bryan’s cell phone appeared on radio
station WGIG’s website. The video had been provided to the station by an
attorney acting upon the wishes of Gregory McMichael, apparently believing the
video would exonerate him and his son. After the public outrage generated by
the video, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested the McMichaels for
felony murder and aggravated assault. On May 21st, Bryan was also
arrested. Later evidence suggested that Travis McMichael shouted “fucking
nigger” while standing over the body of Ahmaud Arbery, who was a Black man.
Sean Reed was gunned down by officers May 6 in
Indianapolis, in a shooting that was captured by Reed on a Facebook livestream
purportedly watched by thousands. Reed was observed by officers “driving
erratically” on an interstate and began to follow him, at which point Reed went
on Facebook Live and asked the viewers to “come get him”. A high-speed chase
followed. After Reed stopped his car, he attempted to flee on foot, at which
point the video on the livestream became indistinct. Reed was first tased, then
the officers opened up and hit him with 13 shots. Reed was reportedly armed at
the time; officers on the scene were heard laughing and remarking that Reed
would have to have a closed casket funeral. Sean Reed was a Black man.
Austin, TX police responded to a 911 call
reporting an armed man sitting in his car doing drugs. When confronted by
officers, Mike Ramos exited his car with his hands above his head but
refused to walk toward the officers, as instructed. At that point an officer
fired a non-lethal beanbag round at him. Ramos got back into his car and
proceeded to drive away, at which point an officer fired into the car, striking
Ramos. Ramos was then transported to the hospital, where he died. Seventeen
days after the shooting, the Austin PD held a news conference to announce that
an investigation launched after the shooting found no weapon in or around
Ramos’s car. Mike Ramos was a Black man.
San Leandro, CA police responded to a
call about a man brandishing a baseball bat and trying to rob a Walmart. They
arrived to find Steve Taylor in an agitated state, waving a bat around.
The first officer made a token attempt to grab the bat, to no avail. He then
attempted to tase Taylor, to no significant effect. The first officer then shot
Taylor “in the upper torso”, while the second officer tased him again, at which
point Taylor fell. Then officers then hooked him up and, noticing the extent of
his injuries, called a Paramedic. Taylor died at the scene. Steve Taylor was a Black
man.
George Floyd was murdered by police officers on
Memorial Day, May 25th, 2020. Employees at the Cup Foods grocery
store called police, stating that Floyd had passed a counterfeit $20 bill, and
that he seemed intoxicated. Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng and
Thomas Lane, both of whom were on their first week with Minneapolis PD (both
being certified in August 2019), responded to the call, and managed to get
Floyd cuffed without resistance. After briefly talking to him as he sat on the
sidewalk, they told him he was under arrest and walked him over to the car.
Floyd fell to the ground by the car, claiming that he was not attempting to
resist, but that he felt claustrophobic. Kueng and Lane picked him up and
placed him against the car door. At that point, officers Derek Chauvin and Tou
Thao arrived on the scene. Kueng was struggling with Floyd in the back seat of
the car when Chauvin reached in and pulled him out the other side, throwing the
handcuffed Floyd face down in the street next to the car. At that point Chauvin
kneeled on Floyd’s neck while Kueng applied pressure to Floyd’s torso and Lane
pinned Floyd’s legs. Thao watched and kept the crowd at bay, several of whom
were filming the arrest. Chauvin continued to grind his knee into Floyd’s neck
for eight minutes and forty-six seconds. Floyd repeatedly asked for mercy,
telling them he couldn’t breathe and asking for his mother. He was unresponsive
and apparently unconscious for three of those almost nine minutes. Floyd was
pronounced dead when the ambulance got him to the hospital. George Floyd was a
Black man.
The programming looks the same on all
the stations, but they are not reruns
it keeps happening again and again
and again and again
Eric Garner
John Crawford III
Michael Brown
Ezell Ford
Michelle Cusseaux
Laquan McDonald
George Mann
Tanitia Anderson
Akai Gurley
Tamir Rice
Rumain Brisbon
Jerame Reid
Matthew Ajibade
Frank Smart
Natasha McKenna
Tony Robinson
Anthony Hill
Mya Hall
Philip White
Eric Harris
Walter Scott
William Chapman II
Alexia Christian
Brendon Glenn
Victor Manuel Larosa
Jonathan Sanders
Freddie Gray
Joseph Mann
Salvado Ellswood
Sandra Bland
Albert Joseph Davis
Darrius Stewart
Billie Ray Davis
Samuel Dubose
Michael Sabbie
Brian Keith Day
Christian Taylor
Troy Robinson
Asshams Pharoah Manley
Felix Kumi
Keith Harrison McLeod
Junior Prosper
Lamontez Jones
Paterson Brown
Dominic Hutchinson
Anthony Ashford
Alonzo Smith
Tyree Crawford
India Kager
La’Vante Biggs
Michael Lee Marshall
Jamar Clark
Richard Perkins
Nathaniel Harris Pickett
Benni Lee Tignor
Miguel Espinal
Michael Noel
Kevin Matthews
Bettie Jones
Quintonio Legrier
Keith Childress Jr.
Janet Wilson
Randy Nelson
Antronie Scott
Wendell Celestine
David Joseph
Calin Roquemore
Dyzhawn Perkins
Christopher Davis
Marco Loud
Peter Gaines
Torrey Robinson
Darius Robinson
Kevin Hicks
Mary Truxillo
Demarcus Semer
Willie Tillman
Terrill Thomas
Sylville Smith
Alton Sterling
Philando Castile
Terence Crutcher
Paul O’Neal
Alteria Woods
Jordan Edwards
Aaron Bailey
Ronell Foster
Stephon Clark
Antwon Rose II
Botham Jean
Pamela Turner
Dominique Clayton
Atatiana Jefferson
Christopher Whitfield
Christopher McCorvey
Eric Reason
Michael Lorenzo Dean
on and on and on
