These Three Words Part III

By ileta! A. Sumner 1

Author’s Preamble: You cannot change that about which you know nothing. You cannot address that which you do not see. You cannot ignore what is in your face.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Insure Domestic Tranquility.

Over the past decade, the Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM) has shone a virtual Klieg light on the horrors of the American policing system that have persisted for centuries. Starting as a small, grass roots organization, originally comprised primarily by people of color who were tired of the same deleterious procedures that were followed by denials of wrongdoing or lip service of change, it now includes an international rainbow of advocates, many publicly expressing themselves for the first time. Now, the echoes of distraught calls and protests for accountability and reform are changing the narrative of how neighborhoods serving people of color could be protected, producing one of the largest, most diverse, and most successful civil rights exercises this nation and the world have witnessed. A survey of some of BLM’s activities will begin to show how and why this metamorphosis can ameliorate relations between authorities and our nation’s citizens.

Any Means Necessary.

Once #BlackLivesMatter was established in 2013 after yet another incident in which no one was held accountable for the death of a Black youth, people first took to the streets in passive resistance. But there was an undeniable grumbling of discontent with the growing number of negative interactions between mostly Black men and figures of authority. Activists began demanding data, videos, and records to verify rhetoric that any abusive tactics were few and far between, and the “few” that did occur were handled judiciously.

One thing the protestors wanted explained was how and why the number of unarmed Black people who expired due to a chokehold performed by police was underreported practically everywhere. Supervisors in favor of such a tactic say that it is an exigent means of subduing a perpetrator. The chokehold is often performed improperly, however, leading to an unnecessary death.

There are two methods of restraining a person via putting pressure on the neck: There is the actual chokehold that blocks the airway and restricts breathing; in addition, there is the carotid hold that limits the blood flow to the brain. While police leaders proclaim that officers are trained to keep belligerent suspects safe when these approaches are put to use, even a police surgeon with the Louisville Metro PD, Bill Smock, said that the “holds” are, in a word, “strangulation.” Furthermore, he personally knew of three officers who suffered strokes during training on this technique because it is simply a perilous tactic.

Despite the fact that chokeholds were fraught with danger, their use was continuing to escalate. BLM drew the hypothesis that the use of these dangerous holds was escalating not from standardized evidence from the 18,000 police departments across the country, but rather, from the growing number of smartphone videos taken at the time of the offense by onlookers and immediately disseminated throughout the nation.

The Perfect Storm.

The world was in a quiet panic. A pall of death enveloped the earth. We were each alone, together. Whatever the creepiness was that had imprisoned every citizen on this planet in her own abode barely had a name, did not have a cure, and was indiscriminately killing anyone, everyone… and little did the world know, was only the beginning of the worst pandemic in generations.

It was into this scenario that George Floyd entered into our lives. A 46-year-old Houston native, Floyd had struggled with the police coming and going throughout his life. However, on May 25, 2020, this gentle, kind man—as he was described later by those who knew him—was in decent enough spirits. Until he wasn’t.

Worldwide, there was nowhere to go, except to another room in one’s home. One of the few activities available to most of the citizens of the world was to watch a screen, a television, a desktop computer, a laptop, a tablet or, a phone—and the sight to behold on those screens was incomprehensible. Extraordinarily, what was on every channel, every platform, for every hour of May 25, 2020, and for months to come was what looked like a photo frozen in time, for no one was moving: Not the bystanders, not the person lying prone on the ground, and definitely not the man in the uniform, seeming to be posing defiantly, daring anyone, ANY ONE, to tell him or force him to move.

Yes, Derek Chauvin was posturing like a man positive that his actions were not only necessary, but imperative. If they were not, would not one of the three police officers who accompanied him have done something? Apparently not, for former Officer Chauvin maintained that recalcitrant pose, his knee on George Floyd’s neck, for an entire 9 minutes and 29 seconds, a good two minutes after another officer meekly reached for Floyd’s arm and could not detect a pulse. There he remained while Floyd called for his mother, made utterances of not being able to breathe, and that he was going to die, over and over until medical first responders arrived to do what the actual first responders failed to do: try to resuscitate and give aid to a man past the stage of distress.

By now, most of us know the repercussions of Chauvin’s actions. Instantaneously, hundreds of thousands of people, all over the world, took their anger to the streets. Anger was in them not just from the actions of that day, but from what had been building up for at least the two months since the WHO and the CDC declared the unknown disease that made the world come to a screeching halt a “pandemic,” that made them just want to scream! More importantly, it gave them something to do that could affect more people than could be counted.

Hence, masks were hurriedly slapped on, handmade signs were held aloft, and voices in all languages lifted for miles, crying over the injustice of the American justice system. Ignoring the demands of the rulers of their countries, many international citizens marched to the American Embassy in their country in conspicuous support of BLM. One woman, Victoria Weakerly, a 42-year-old woman in London, announced, “I’m social distancing from my white privilege,” feeling it was “more important to show solidarity with BLM than worry over spread of a virus.”

The 9 minutes and 29 seconds of Floyd’s encounter with the police went viral, shown and replayed on platforms everywhere. There were pictures of marches on Facebook, videos on YouTube; persons shared their views on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, as well as any other application within reach. Fundamentally, within hours of the occurrence, every single person alive could have had a chance to see what had transpired, review it, share it, and if their stomachs could stand it, watch it all over again.

This is quite different from how word spread that Rodney King been beaten just short of his life by four Los Angeles policeman. That, too, was captured on video, but the technology made the videotape grainy. Also, at that time, there were only three main television channels, along with the Public Broadcasting Network, which limited how often the video could be shown.

The different official reactions following these two incidents also highlight the effectiveness of the BLM movement in raising awareness about police brutality on people of color. Before the officers could even be indicted, they were each fired the day after Floyd died. The original jury in the trial of the officers accused of assaulting Rodney King was predominantly white, but the jury in Chauvin’s trial was even more diverse than the county in which the trial was held. The sentences imposed on the two officers who were eventually found guilty in the King beating were laughable at best: each was sentenced to thirty months, approximately eight levels below what the Federal Sentencing Guidelines provided. They could have been given a punishment from seventy to eightyseven months in prison. Instead, the judge considered the following to be controlling as to why they should be treated with leniency:

1. The sentences were cut due to King’s misconduct.

2. The officers would be susceptible to abuse while in prison.

3. Both officers would lose their jobs.

4. Each officer had been prosecuted in both state and federal court; and

5. They were unlikely to be repeat offenders.

By contrast, in Chauvin’s case, Judge Peter Cahill applied a test to see if five aggravating factors were applicable, for if they were, it would be grounds for an even harsher sentence. Remarkably, the judge found that four out of the five factors could be applied:

1. Chauvin abused a position of trust and authority;

2. Chauvin treated Floyd with particular cruelty;

3. Chauvin carried out his heinous actions in the presence of minors; and

4. The killing was committed in a group with active participation of at least three others.

Judge Cahill found the fifth factor (that Floyd was “particularly vulnerable”) inapplicable because Floyd resisted arrest.

Cheers of relief roared when an announcement was made that Chauvin was convicted on all charges and later sentenced to over twenty-two years by the state court, as well as twenty-one years by a federal court. The findings of the aggravating factors guarantee that Chauvin will serve his entire sentence. However, he will be within the federal system which is a bit more lenient than the state system, and he will not have to spend all of his time in solitary confinement for his protection. It seems he is being given more consideration than he ever gave to Floyd. Likewise, the other three officers involved were found guilty in federal court and sentenced to terms ranging from thirty to forty-two months.

Defund/Refund the Police.

BLM originally was serious in its intentions to defund police departments as they exist now. These activists believed that departments needed to be torn down to eradicate the hatred and the lack of accountability that is so deeply entrenched. To this faction of the BLM movement, it seemed inane to select a few changes and expect the entire empire to resurrect humanely. The role models to which they were turning were the countries in Europe, like the UK, where very few of the officers carry a weapon. Still, even BLM had to admit that the European model might not be a good fit here in the United States.

Instead, they are now proposing to “refund” the police—to redistribute funds from police department budgets to ancillary services so that police will not encounter as many situations that escalate to the point that unarmed Black people are killed. One example already in existence is the CAHOOTS program (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On the Streets) in Eugene, Oregon. This system requires that a psychological professional be the first person to arrive when a mental health call comes in. Armed police arrive only as secondary help and only if needed. The CAHOOTS program proves that it is not too difficult to have psychological professionals at the ready on the front lines with first responders.

This is 911/This is 988.

Other mental health concerns surround who determines the type of case for which assistance is needed and to whom the call should be forwarded. A large number of unarmed Black people who have been killed by police are those in the middle of a mental health crisis. In 2020, the Federal Communications Commission designated 988 as a nationwide number for mental health crises and suicide prevention services. Not only would medical professionals be the first responders to the site of the call, but people well versed in various techniques for calming a person who is on the spectrum (many persons with this condition cannot be touched—a person attempting to handcuff such a person could cause more trauma than assistance) could be the intake representative who would know to whom the call should be forwarded. BLM has fought for this for years, and it went live in July 2022.

No Knock Warrants.

After Breonna Taylor was killed when the police botched the execution of a “No Knock” warrant at her home, Louisville, Kentucky, passed “Breonna’s Law,” which bans no-knock warrants. Both Oregon and Florida had such laws in place before 2020. Virginia, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Columbia, Ohio, and Pomona, California, are just a few of the other places where BLM is trying to get Breonna’s Law passed. As a result of BLM spurring on the people in power, there are over eighty-four proposals in thirty-three states.

The Take Away.

Before he died in July 2020, lifelong civil rights leader and the last living speaker from the March on the Mall in Washington on August 28, 1963, the Honorable John Lewis, told believers in the Black Lives Matters movement to Never Give Up. He told us to Speak Up. Speak Out. Get in the Way! That is the only way to make a lasting change. The ultimate meaning of those words is to do what the lifelong civil rights advocate deemed making “Good Trouble.” As one of the icons of the original Civil Rights Movement, Lewis saw BLM as the successor movement and—with continued diligence, patience, and the addition of new people with endurance—it just might do what his generation was not able to do: Secure a change that will last, for Black Lives Matter.

ileta! A. Sumner, esq. is a former President of the Bexar County Women’s Bar (2002) and the original General Counsel and creator of the legal department of the Battered Women’s and Children Shelter, work for which she received the San Antonio Bar Foundation’s 2022 Peacemaker Award. She has been disabled since 2006. She can be reached at (210) 421-2877 (cell), litig8rij@aol.com.