'They are babies!' Bystanders plead with Georgia officers as they hold 5 black children at gunpoint

[soothsayer]

Link to tweet

?s=21

Snip

“Witnesses in Clayton County, Georgia say that law enforcement officers held at least five black children at gunpoint while they were walking through a neighborhood.

Video of the incident, which was said to have occurred on Monday, was shared on Twitter early Tuesday morning.”



They’re going to make me want to defund the police if they keep this up.

[Calculating]

1. It's like the police are doubling down on stupidity and racism

Maybe they're doing it as a "we don't care what you think" show of power.

[2naSalit]

22. That's what I think.

They are challenging us to make them stop. And when they lose their jobs, they'll form/join militias and start trouble.

[SergeStorms]

27. Well, they do have...

the "Law and Order" presidunce in the White House. For the time being, anyway. January 20th, 2021 can't get here soon enough.

[madaboutharry]

2. I would like to hear why someone called the police on a group of teenagers.

This is what is called "systemic racism." The cops were called because they were black. They were held at gunpoint because they are black.

That's it.

[Mariana]

5. You can't be sure someone called the cops on a group of teenagers

unless the city/county produces the 911 recording. Of course it could have happened, it happens all the time to black young people. However, the cops have proven that we can't believe anything they say, unless they produce evidence to support their statements.

[Alacritous Crier]

6. Says there is...

According to the article there is:

The department said that it would release body camera video as well as audio of the 911 call that prompted the dispatch of officers.

It looks to me like Karen probably called 911 again.

[ms liberty]

10. Short cut Sally or cut through Karen?

[Alacritous Crier]

7. Exactly!!!

[OriginalGeek]

13. When I was a late teen

my friend and I (both white) went to a neighborhood to meet a girl he liked. This was before cell phones but she had told him the day before about when she would be home so we drover over to her subdivision in his sister's beat-up old station wagon and parked on the street near her house and waited. It was a wealthier place than where we lived but not gated or anything.

This was in the early 80s in northeast Texas and we were a couple of metal-head kids wearing band t-shirts and and long hair and smoking cigarettes (thankfully that's all at this time but only because we were out of weed) and waiting for his girl to show up.

Apparently a neighbor didn't like the looks of us because within about 15 minutes of us parking there a police cruiser pulled up behind us and the officers got out and came up to our window (one on each side). They politely asked us to get out of the car, patted us down and found nothing but searched the car and found a kitchen knife under a seat. While they were questioning us about the knife the girl came home, told her mother what she saw and her mother came out and informed the cops that we were with them (super cool mom all things considered) and they thanked us for our time and gave back the knife with a warning that it was a little long for carrying around and we should get it back to the kitchen asap. (It was his sister's boyfriend's knife and it was in the car because he had been doing something earlier that day with it and threw it under the seat instead of taking it back inside).

My friend talked to his girl while listened to Rush on the tape deck and later we went home.

Moral of the story: If you want a pleasant encounter with police (no drawn guns, no shouting, no neck kneeling), be white.

Another time, the same police department stopped us while we did have some weed. In fact, it was in a frisbee that I had been cleaning and about to roll joints in and shoved under the front seat when we got stopped for ignoring a stop sign. (Probably enough for 2 or 3 pinners or one decent fat doob.) Exact words of the officer as he found the frisbee: "Well this is probably gonna mess up your night..." and he took the frisbee and turned it sideways so we could watch all my freshly cleaned weed float off into the night. He was right, it did mess up our night but not as much as a getting shot or arrested would have.

pretty much the same moral of the story.

[jaxexpat]

15. Like your story and right about the skin tone thing. Just thought it interesting that .....

"listened to Rush on the tape deck" has such a different potential inference than today. Small thing but profound.

Bit older but CSN&Y was my pull over and chill sound.

Ah, youth in all it's promise, eh?

[OriginalGeek]

18. oh yeah lol

didn't even think of _that_ Rush. That reminds me once of showing up at my grandpa's house for a cookout and I was wearing a Rush tour shirt and he looks at me and says "Rush? I hate that guy!" but he was just teasing me - I had lived with them for several years while in school before I got married and he knew who Rush are and that we both hate that guy.


And we had plenty of CSNY tapes too. And Joe Walsh and Tom Petty and many others but the metal stuff was more fun to dress up in while meeting young ladies we fancied.

[jaxexpat]

20. Vera good

[AllyCat]

17. Wow.

[Mariana]

3. They're doing it just to be spiteful, now. nt.

[IcyPeas]

4. watch the clip here

Link to tweet

[Thomas Hurt]

8. Keep recording, keep publishing, keep the pressure up on the bigotry.

[tblue37]

9. They also frisked them. Those poor kids were probably traumatized, especially after the George

Floyd and Rayshard Brookes murders and other such stories in recent weeks.

They might well have feared they would be beaten or killed.

[onetexan]

11. Atrocity!! Take the badge away from this racist fool! He has no business in law enforcement.

[uponit7771]

12. There should be jail time for police who escalate needlessly

[kytngirl]

14. All is not as it seems...

I read an article where the kids were playing with a "gun" - tossing it back and forth. They were also shadow boxing. Someone called cops and the kids tossed the "gun" in some bushes. They complied with the officer's command. The officer had to make sure the kids did not have a weapon before he holstered his. They did not. However, they admitted they were playing with a BB gun. Backup officers found it in the bushes. The officer explained to them how dangerous it was to play with a weapon that looked real. Their parents were called to pick them up. I'm sure their parents gave them a lecture too.

The officers said it was the by-standers who agitated the situation. As much as I support the current movement, I have to stand with the police on this one. Just think if they had rolled up on those kids while they were playing with that gun. The officer was right to talk to them about the dangers of playing with a BB gun that looks exactly like a real gun. I think, I hope, I pray, he saved a life down the road by talking to those kids today about the danger of this kind of thing.

[Voltaire2]

16. white people walk around with their damn guns everywhere.

And the cops dont do shit.

[jaxexpat]

19. Yes but NO.

Kids, playing with ANYTHING does not merit potential lethal interaction with police. When that is an acceptable threshold for events which lead to arrest or, hell-no, manslaughter, there exists the possibility that marching will never be enough.

We gotta hear the echoes of our own lies.

Nice cop, he didn't shoot you this time. Is it just that simple?

[The Wielding Truth]

30. Back stories are so important. Thanks for the research.

The crowd was in hysterics. With recent unwarranted police actions caught on video it is important to be on the look out for misconduct by the police. Violent actions on either side should be curtailed. We all have to be respectful of one another and treat each other responsibly. If I saw this I would probably yelling too. I"m glad they videoed it.

[pansypoo53219]

21. presumed guilty. blacks not allowed in nice green neighborhoods.

[lpbk2713]

23. This shit is getting out of control.

It's no wonder why some people don't call the police when they have a problem.

[Warpy]

24. This is not consistent with police behavior.

It is, however, entirely consistent with the behavior of armies of occupation around the planet.

Are we getting this yet?

[Cyrano]

25. Oh my fucking god.

It seems as though all the evil in the world has descended upon America.

Police holding children at gunpoint??? When did America become Nazi Germany?

Maybe the answer is 401 years ago with the arrival of the first enslaved black people.

Four hundred and one fucking years. How much longer? Jeezus fucking Christ. How much longer?

[saidsimplesimon]

26. This is not who we(US) are.

I'm sick and tired of these minority bigots dominating the public space.

edit: to be clear, I mean bigoted people of all colors, mostly white in the south.

[warmfeet]

28. It is exactly who we are.

I hope we can change it, but I am doubtful at this point.

[saidsimplesimon]

29. I'm a "come lately" member of the opposition

to tyranny. We have friends who have skills and can use the written word.