“We just want some answers,” said Draper Larkins. “The federal investigation might get answers. But we want the correct answers.”I'm not sure who Draper Larkins is. The Star Tribune article, written by Erin Golden, really doesn't tell us. The topic at hand is the shooting of Jamar Clark in North Minneapolis over the weekend. A member of the police shot Clark. Clark was, depending on whose version of events you believe, either a bad dude who was interfering with first responders who were attending to his girlfriend, or a guy who was executed in cold blood. At last report, Clark was on life support, but some reports indicate the family is taking him off life support. We don't really know.
A lot hangs on the notion of what the "correct answers" are. Are established facts the correct answers? Or is there an overarching narrative at play here? Who knows? Increasingly, I feel lost in the funhouse on these questions. I sent an email to Ms. Golden asking about the identity of Larkins. I'll let you know what I find out.
11 comments:
BLM is giving the game away as they note they want (a) the officers involved to be fired, and then (b) the video to be released. First the hanging, then evidence, then maybe a show trial. Reminds me of what's going on at a lot of colleges, not to mention the things I've read about the KKK back in the Jim Crow era.
My guess... If the video favored the cop, it would be released already.
Maybe. Remember that the Ferguson police spent a long time providing the evidence that exonerated one of their own. Entirely possible that a lot of stench adheres to both sides in this case, but I hesitate to assume it a priori.
It's not certain there is video. It would be helpful if there were.
If there is video, it is helpful only to the cops.
There will be plenty of evidence--multiple witnesses, ballistics, wounds, etc.. Video would be nice, but what would be even nicer would be if BLM would remember that a chief gain of the civil rights movement is that all people have a right to due process.
I'd be very surprised if anything happens but an exoneration--it was a domestic involving a felon and the woman he'd presumably wounded. If BLM wants to hire an investigator and a lawyer, I'm fine with that, but I cringe at demanding a hanging before a trial.
To the extent the video shows the truth of the matter, yes, it helps the cops. BLM is not interested in the facts. Regardless of the validity (paper thin, IMHO) of their historical narrative (white cops indiscriminately "executing" random black folks), there is no excuse for rioting in the streets before the facts are known, or AFTER the facts are known but ignored.
See bubba, you are already convicting the dead man. His record as a felon in the past should have no bearing on his being shot dead this time.
Nah. BLM is calling on the police to be punished before the facts are out: I am merely saying that given past performance, as well as the early description of the situation that produced the tragedy, I've got a hunch about where the facts will lead. Expressing the likely result moreover frames how one would figure out if our "expected" result is not in fact true.
My guess... If the video favored the cop, it would be released already.
Not necessarily. If one of the local residents who expressed dismay towards police in TV interviews was the one who took video footage, I wouldn't be surprised if said footage were buried if it implicated the shooting victim.
On this one, I'm just going to follow the story as we learn more. This case has got Rashomon written all over it.
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