RedDave2 wrote:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/26/pantera-shows-cancelled-after-frontmans-nazi-salute-prompts-fan-backlash

Always enjoyed panteras second album (the third as well) as just nice, fast thrash metal with some serious guitar work. This is just... disappointing. Scratch another artist from the Spotify playlist I guess.

dynamiteReady wrote:

What do some of you make of the current police brutality scandal in Tennessee, US?

dynamiteReady wrote:

LivDiv wrote:

Not seen anything about it but my instant reaction is not one of surprise that there is a scandal.

What Vela said, but the shocking twist is that the police officers are also black.
Will make for some very interesting (and very nasty) Tweets.

davyK wrote:

Re OJ Simpson. A visit was arranged to the Simpson home for the jury as part of the trial. The defence lawyers noticed there wasn't a single picture of a black person about the entire house. They soon put that "right" before the visit.

dynamiteReady wrote:

Apparently, there was a white officer involved in the traffic stop who was quoted as saying 'stomp him out', or something to that effect.

I was looking up 'dereliction of duty', but apparently, that's a martial law, not a civil one.

But I'm pretty sure that's incitement of violence, which is a fucking crime. I'm quite sure of this, because (and I think I've written this before) the youngest guy convicted in the notorious UK riots, received the longest sentence for a Facebook post, encouraging people to go out and riot, though he did not go out there himself.

So in my tiny little mind of misguided reckons, at least one other officer, for sure, should be added to the now infamous five.

Also, in a possibly unusual betrayal of unconscious bias, I'm looking at the faces of the officers, and cannot find the kind of anger, that matches a depth of sadness that shook me to sob for a full 5 minutes.

I've been reading avidly.

I'm not going to watch the fucking video, but never say never.

Vela wrote:

Did I read correctly that they posted bond? Or at least have the option?

DrewMerson wrote:

I have watched some parts of one or two of the videos. It’s difficult to know how much of the incident I have seen because I haven’t seen a continuous video. I understand there are 67 minutes of footage in total, as obviously a number of them have their body cams running. Before I go any further, let me be clear that, from what I have seen, everyone involved should be going to prison. I only say that because I’m about to try and explain why I think this might have happened, and it’s hard to do that without sounding like you’re defending somebody. I don’t want anyone to read this thinking that I have any sense of allegiance with these officers. The sections I have seen strike me as a strange situation where all of the officers there, for some reason that is not clear to me yet, have completely lost control. Unless they have had some sort of epiphany since, I would imagine they are confident of acquittal, because I think they think they were dealing with someone violently resisting arrest. It’s hard to tell because obviously, so far, what I have seen has been dictated by the editors of the news outlets posting the videos, but much of the footage appears to be someone who is generally compliant, but not always doing what he’s being told immediately because a) he’s initially baffled and scared about the way he’s being treated, b) at various points, three or four different people are shouting at him at the same time, c) what’s being asked is unclear (eg ‘get on the ground’ when you already are) or physically impossible (eg ‘put your hands behind your back’ when one wrist is being held and you are lying on the other arm) and d) later on he’s clearly dazed and confused from a beating, while also terrified about how much worse it’s going to get. There is a point where he manages to get up and run. If that comes at the point in the events that the order of clips suggests, then it’s a purely instinctive act of someone fighting for their lives. If it is the case of collective red-mist that it appears to be, then the officers will have seen that as justification for their actions so far, and what they are about to do, because they think they are dealing with someone who will do anything to evade justice. I have been in situations where a number of officers are trying to bring someone under control, when that person is violently resisting, and trying to do harm to others. I have also been in situations where someone is just trying to escape. It can be difficult to tell the difference between the two, especially if tunnel vision sets in. I have encountered situations where somebody has, for example, three large door stewards on them, who think that the person is actively/violently resisting, and all it has taken to gain control is to get on the ground, eye to eye, and calmly ask the person if they will speak to you if they are allowed to stand up. Everyone involved, though, has lost the bigger picture, and was now fixated on the micro-situation (sorry, I can’t think of a better way to describe that) of ‘must hold this person completely still’ on one side and ‘must get away from this pain’ on the other. Now, this incident goes beyond that, but I suspect it might explain the route to the very worst of the madness. There is a point in the security camera footage from across the street where he is lying on the ground, defenceless, restrained by handcuffs, barely moving, and one of the officers delivers a heavy kick to the head or torso, it’s hard to tell because of the distance, and other people slightly obscuring the view. It is cowardly and sickening. However, again, it is hard to tell how long it has taken to get to that point, and how long after the main struggle it takes place, so it is difficult to tell if he is still full of adrenaline, or if it is cold and calculated.