I'm sure, by following my Twitter account the past few days, you're likely aware of the slaying of Tyre Nichols here in Memphis and how swiftly justice was carried out to both fire and charge the five officers from MPD's special task force. 'Hey, this seems like progress,' you might think but I posit that the theory - that the system has those it binds and those it protects - is still in effect. My evidence? Turn back to 2019.
In one calendar year, we have further evidence to bolster the statement that the system "must have those that it protects but does not bind and others that it binds but does not protect" for it to function and one such system is policing - namely the way in which the various powers of law enforcement and justice treats bad actors in blue.
There are three names on this list for this one otherwise unremarkable year: Mohamed Noor, Amber Guyger, and Jason Van Dyke.
In 2017 Mohamed Noor and his partner responded to a few 911 calls reporting a woman being assaulted. Upon arriving and finding no one, Justine Diamond frantically approached their cruiser. While Noor's partner drew but did not fire, Noor ultimately did, striking and killing Diamond. In 2019, he was convicted, initially, of second-degree murder and given a 12+ year sentence - ultimately he got re-sentenced down to manslaughter and 4½ years. It was a tragic mix of accident and bad training but, the people an the system didn't aim to try and protect Noor in any way. In fact, the general consensus in certain circles, was that he was an 'affirmative action hire' who shouldn't have been in that position to begin with and was fully responsible for his actions. That latter part I'm in full agreement with.
In 2018, Amber Guyger heads to her apartment complex after her shift on duty and enters what she claims she believes to be her apartment to see an intruder there. Upon confronting them, she opens fire, killing Botham Jean... in his OWN apartment. Initially, she claimed tiredness and the police spokesperson tried, unsuccessfully, to smear Jean's name by pointing out that they seized a few grams of marijuana from his own apartment. While both tactics failed, she still found herself charged with murder... while bailiffs played and toyed with her hair, judges offered up bibles to her, and the family was somewhat pressured to 'forgive' her in front of the cameras. In the end, she was sentenced to 10 years but the amount of compassion and empathy shown to her stuck in my craw.
Finally, we have Jason Van Dyke. His is the only case we saw on camera. His is the only case where we saw the full might of police unions, superintendent's, and city government fight tooth and nail to prevent, not just a charge or firing, but ANY level of consequence. The incident happened... in 2014. Laquan McDonald was, reportedly, 'behaving erratically' and had a knife in his hand before he was gunned down with 16 shots. They suppressed the video and the only narrative we had for years was 'McDonald had a knife before he was killed'. In the video, though, it was evident Laquan was going through a mental health crisis and, while he did have a knife, he was not threatening anyone with it - himself, others, NOR the officers - before they gunned him down. It was a heinous act but one that had detectives lying on police reports and then mayor Rahm Emmanuel refusing to release the video for years. In the end, though, the truth won out and Van Dyke was sentenced to 81 months. In the end justice won out, though, right? Wrong. Van Dyke was released last year in April, serving only half of his time. There was also little-to-no consequences for those that lied on police reports and during interviews. Rahm even saw no consequence for suppressing the evidence and maintaining the lie for years.
"There are those that the law should protect but not bind and those that it binds but does not protect". It's not just a verbosely snarky retort to how the system operates, but in 2019, we saw it in full effect. A caste system laid bare for the world to see.
