Because I Can

 

Facebook can be more than just cat videos. A friend of mine and I have been having a debate about police abuse in the Black Community. He sent me the following video. Watch it and I’ll have something to say afterwards.

On May 18th, 1992 rioting broke out in Las Vegas in reaction to the beating of Rodney King. At the time I was in a Laundromat and saw that  the news was reporting violence just down the street. Being a Desert Storm Veteran, I instinctively reached for the M-16 I had carried for six months. It wasn’t there. I rectified that problem the next day and purchased an AR-15. For peace of mind and protection. It complemented my .357 magnum quite well.
Fast forward a month and I found myself on a “Gun Date”. At the time you could fire weapons in the desert just North of Hollywood and Lake Mead. Nothing is sexier than a big black gun and I was giving my date a chance to learn how to shoot and have the experience of firing the AR-15. While we were shooting, I noticed that a Metro Police cruiser rolled by us on Lake Mead Blvd. I thought, “Good the Cops are here.” The area was uncontrolled and tended to have “Wild West” moments as one group would shoot one way and another would shoot that way and actual gunfights had broken out.
Then Metro came cruising back the other way. I thought that was odd. We continued to shoot. The police came back a third time and I said  the date was over and pack up. I was driving a Datsun 280Z at the time that made complying with gun laws complicated. To transport a weapon, the weapon and the ammunition had to be physically separated. I broke down the weapon to easily show that it was unloaded and safe on the deck in the back, and then put the ammo can on the passenger floor.
When I pulled out of the dirt and on to Lake Mead Blvd., Metro was right behind me. Okay, fine, I am not doing anything illegal. As I turned off of Lake Mead to Hood to take my date home, Metro followed me and once on a side street he flashed his lights and gave me a squirt of his siren. I told my date, “Here we go, do not anything but exactly what the officer says.”
The officer came out of his car with weapon drawn screaming “KEEP YOUR HANDS ON THE STEERING WHEEL,” I said in a loud voice, “I HAVE WEAPONS IN THE VEHICLE. THEY ARE SAFED.” The Cop screamed back, “I KNOW THAT GOD DAMN IT.” as he advanced on me with weapon drawn. He told us to get out of the car and in short order we were frisked and bent over the hood of the cruiser. He asked for my registration and proof of insurance and I took my hands off the hood and turned saying, “I’ll go get them.” He slammed me onto the hood of the cruiser and cuffed me and my date.

“Where are they, I’ll get them”.

“In the glove compartment.”

 

He went to my car. My date muttered under her breath, “Fucking Cops.” I told her to shut the fuck up. When he found my weapons he took the cuffs off and ran my serial numbers. He was visibly nervous and asked me if I’d ever been arrested.
“No.”
“You look familiar.”
“Yes Officer Rodriguez. Do you remember last week making that kid give back a bike he stole ?”
“Yes, how do you know about that?”
“I was the PR (Person Reporting) that day. You did a good job then and you’re doing a great job today.”
He relaxed.
“Do you have any questions?”
“Yes, why did you stop me?”
“I ran your plates and the registration date and the expiration date was the same day. It’s an obvious computer glitch.”
“If it was a computer glitch, why did you stop me?”
“Honestly, the Rodney King verdict is coming out and we were briefed at stand up to be on the alert for high powered weapons. Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure”.
“Why do you own an AR-15?”
I said, “The Air Force taught me how to shoot it and clean it. It’s cheap to shoot and because the Constitution says I can.”
“Fair enough. Have a Nice Day.”
And he left.

The video shows two ways the police react to seeing weapons. I was subjected to the second method with weapons drawn and a nervous Cop. The folks filming were on a mission to bait the Cops to get a reaction. Read about Open Carry Laws here. Go back and watch the video again. White Guy has his weapon slung over his shoulder.  Black Guy has is weapon slung a “low ready” position.  Much more threatening than White Guy.  The average viewer will not notice this.  Veterans will notice this glaring difference and be sure the police definitely will.   The White Guy is carrying the weapon in a safe manner. Black Guy is not.   This is a bad move. It reminds me of a “X Files” episode called “The Red Museum” . There’s a scene where Scully confronts a mob saying, “You can’t be walking down a public street with a shotgun”. Liberal writers. The Bill of Rights specifically says you can. The police have a difficult job and I think they don’t get paid enough. They make decisions in difficult situations every day and are scrutinized and criticized on everything they do. It’s Damned if they do and Damned if they don’t.

Today we have folks actively hunting the Police and intentionally provoking them. Al Sharpton and the like deplore the death of another Black Baby by a White, racist Cop. A white, racist cop no matter if he’s Black, White, Hispanic or even a Female (Baltimore?).

Stop breaking laws, co-operate with the Police and you won’t be killed. Simple as that.