Pacifier
A note from the CFJ: On June 22, 2022, a judge has rescheduled the state trial for two former Minneapolis police officers in George Floyd’s killing to Oct. 24, 2022, to resolve dueling requests for a new trial date. The state had sought to start as soon as this summer while a defense lawyer asked to delay it to next spring. Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng are charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter in the 2020 killing. Judge Peter Cahill earlier this month postponed their trial until January, saying it would improve prospects for a fair trial. He settled on October during a hearing Tuesday (June 21, 2022).
Stacey Farmer's reflection on the George Floyd murder was written on 7/16/2022 but it still a reminder that we must not be complacent or "pacified".
America, America,
Please hear my cry. Please do not, I repeat, do not allow them to treat you like newborn babies. What I mean is this. When a newborn baby cries, we will do four things to try to comfort that baby: You will give it a bottle; you will give the baby a pacifier; you will change the diaper or; you will just pick the baby up.
Understand this, do not let them treat you like this. Do not allow them to pacify you just because the police officers have been charged in Mr. Floyd’s death. Just because these officers have been, it means nothing because all the paperwork at this point and a lot of words to quiet George Floyd and the whole police brutality tragedies. This movement will never be silent.
In a pathetic attempt to paint themselves as the caring community protectors they are not, you see them kneeling down with one fist raised in the air, you see some shake hands and you even see some give hugs. This here is all one large attempt to get the focus off the real issues of brutality and how black men are being killed at the hands of white police officers.
The “police brotherhood” is the type of brotherhood that will stand up for each other even if it means his/her job or career. Just because these policemen have big brothers who look out for them like no other. These big brothers are the Attorney General’s office; the state and local prosecutor’s office; and the court system with its biased judges and fixed up juries.
Please understand the police and maybe the ex-police in this case may have a special protection that the law gives them. They have enjoyed this type of protection for many years just like judges. This is why it's been hard to get convictions on the police with these types of charges even if the evidence to the average person’s eye tells us they should be convicted.
To prove a point, while the protest and Mr. Floyd’s case is going on and even some have ruled that the knee to the neck has been banned, the police are still being used on black men. When police break the laws they are enforcing, it’s all right but when black people stand up for what is justice, we are still in the wrong.