Atonement

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Screenshot from: The Katie Phang Show, MSNBC. (10\7\2023)

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“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

-George Santayana

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Some say history repeats. Some say history rhymes. But we mustn’t forget-
History can SING as well. And sometimes… history CRIES.

I’ve recently found myself thinking of the stance Rep. Barbara Lee took on the floor of the House of Representatives, following the attacks on 9/11. Being the ONLY Representative to oppose military action in the aftermath of those terrorist attacks, and the way things have turned out since… memories I haven’t thought of in quite a while. I might have gone the rest of my life without thinking of them, as it was all so long ago. And yet… it seems like only yesterday.

In this moment, it’s difficult for me to say it’s a GOOD THING we’ve recently been remembering her strength and courage. But… I hope Senator Feinstein won’t mind if I do.

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In the aftermath of the attacks on September 11, 2001, there was only ONE thought on every American’s mind…

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Vengeance.

As the search for SURVIVORS had only just started and as the fires at Ground Zero STILL raged. Even as the true scope and magnitude had yet to be realized… one voice SPOKE OUT.

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“Let us not become the evil that we deplore.”

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Where would we be NOW had we followed that advice?
What outcomes could have been avoided… what more could we have done.

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Our desire for vengeance led us down the path to DESTROY our enemies. ‘Dead or alive’ I believe he said. Curiously though, given enough TIME, those feelings seem to fade…

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“I don’t know where he is… I don’t spend that much time on him.”
-George W. Bush (03/13/2002)

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After just a few months, emotions seemed to calm. Securing the Homeland became our top priority, and everyone felt the need to rally around the FLAG…

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Because we all know what happens to those who SPEAK OUT against a
Righteous Vengeance…

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/opinion/guantanamo-detainees.html

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And now all we can say is, ‘Look at all the terrorist attacks we prevented… all the LIVES we might have lost… if we didn’t ACT.’

When you stop and think about it… all the surveillance, the security, the creation of new Government Institutions… eventually, they did become EXPERTS in preventing terrorist attacks…

**Terrorist Attacks, like the ones that were successfully carried out on THEIR WATCH.**

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If only those measures had been in place from the start.

But things happen… fog of war… lack of imagination.
Warning signs missed… messages unsent.

‘We couldn’t have known… I don’t think anyone could have known…’

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https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/leadup-iraq-war-timeline/

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Israeli_judicial_reform_protests

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I won’t stand here and tell anyone not to follow their heart. After all we’ve been through, to do so would be hypocritical. But let our story STAND as an example. Take heed of the lessons WE have learned… and pray you never learn these lessons the hard way.

After TWENTY YEARS of war, did we achieve our mission objectives? In some ways yes… in some ways, no. Osama bin Laden is dead. Those who plotted and helped carry out the attacks have been captured… but at what COST.

Has Justice been served? Are the families of the victims at peace with their loss? Have our actions served to HONOR the memories of those we lost? Would they be PROUD of what we have done… in their name.

It would be presumptuous of me to evoke a story from religious texts, considering the nations and peoples who are involved. The birth of religion ITSELF springs from that Sacred Land! All eyes look to them for our spiritual guidance, to the EAST… toward the land where that Ancient LIGHT has risen.

All other nations are jealous of the treasures with which they’ve been BLESSED. But now, we all stare in HORROR… knowing that once again, peace will be pushed aside.

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IF our primary objective is to prevent another 9/11 from happening, then we must act. NOW… before it’s TOO LATE.

The only answer is PEACE. To BECOME PEACE… to embody it. The weapons of war are used AGAINST PEACE… therefore no one in their right mind would attack a peaceful nation or society.

That story rises above all else. We must become that which we wish to see.

We HONOR those we have lost by ensuring it will never happen again.
That is real courage… that is real strength.

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“Let us not become the evil that we deplore.”

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Amen.

For Want of the PRICE

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https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/10/ginni-thomas-leonard-leo-citizens-united-00108082

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How many aspects of our daily lives are directly impacted by just a handful of billionaires? And I’m not talking about the services or products they provide, it’s their Pet Projects… their Hobbies. Whatever happened to collecting STAMPS?

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https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-hitler-paintings-nazi-memorabilia-1234711860/

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They’re obviously smart, they went to Ivy League schools. They’re obviously successful, if MONEY is your yardstick…

**So, they should already KNOW.**

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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/opinion/harlan-crow-clarence-thomas-gifts-collections.html

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Consolidation spells disaster for their bottom line. Rigging the system to benefit themselves, creates the precedent for them to suffer the SAME at the hands of someone else.

History shows us… the pendulum swings TRUE. Take heed Mr. Crow, it’s only a matter of TIME. And when it does come, it’s not just your interests that will be destroyed.

Manipulating legislatures, corruptly influencing Judicial Institutions, elevating Elected Officials in order to SILENCE competition… the short-term gains realized will not outweigh the long-term consequences of those actions.

Eventually… that system will turn on YOU. Your empire, no matter how much it is WORTH… will become their empire. For the good of their CAUSE. When there are no guardrails, that cause is subject to change… without notice.

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To be generous, as a bow to polite society, it seems to me that these Titans of Industry are simply IGNORANT of our history… an oversight. They are older than I am, maybe they didn’t waste as many HOURS as I did watching History Channel documentaries late into the night. Maybe they just don’t understand what it is they are doing.

Or maybe… they do. Maybe they know exactly what they’re doing… because they believe they know what’s best.

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My daughter keeps reminding me that we live in a capitalist society… and I am grateful that we do. Our Constitutional Democracy has provided fertile ground for the development of every major scientific advancement of the 20th Century.

From the airplane to the Moon Landing… from agricultural dominance to Artificial Intelligence… down to the very device that allows my words to be shared with the rest of the world. But…

**Do we really want Halliburton building our SCHOOLS?**

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/sep/17/russia-trade-halliburton-equipment-export-us-oil

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**Do we really want Amazon running our PRISONS?**

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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/30/alexa-factory-whistleblower-i-was-tortured-and-jailed-now-amazon-should-apologise

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**Do we really want Equifax to be in charge of ensuring EQUALITY?**

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/equifax-breach-exposes-data-for-143-million-consumers/

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I say… NO.

-JC

Reach. Throw. Row. Then GO.

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It’s not as if there weren’t RIOTS in the streets or something… like it was so hard to decipher what the Will of the MAJORITY was in 2020.

**People were in the streets demanding CHANGE.**

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https://www.npr.org/2020/06/01/866472832/violence-escalates-as-protests-over-george-floyd-death-continue

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Philando Castile. Eric Garner. George Floyd. The Minneapolis Police Department. The Louisville Police Department. Atlanta. KC. New York… and what did we get?

Bridges and Roads.

Hot damn! While our Democracy succumbs to the ROT and CORRUPTION… at least the TRAINS will run on-time.

But that’s what he was selling from his basement back in 2020- A Return to Normalcy. Well… we got it. Nothing says ‘Back to Normal’ like politicians catering to the DONORS, instead of working for the VOTERS.

I’d say we’re all in agreement on that.

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How much more PROOF do we need? Seventy-six percent of these United States have now RATIFIED the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, yet President Biden and his Administration fight against its publication. ONE MAN stands opposed to 76%… how is that defending democracy?

Night after night we see more examples of why we must end qualified immunity, and why we must hold Law Enforcement Officers accountable for abuses of power. Yet President Biden couldn’t rally enough support for it in the Senate… and this time it wasn’t because of the filibuster.

He couldn’t even get his own party to fall in line.

And it’s not just about falling in line. It’s about defending one’s CORE VALUES. What makes you who you ARE. The core identity of the Republican Party may have shifted drastically to the RIGHT, but the core identity of the Democratic Party has now shifted to the RIGHT as well.

The Republican Party fights to take rights away from women… from minorities… from LGBTQ individuals… the Democratic Party is supposed to be the party that champions PROTECTING the rights of those individuals. More rights for more people.

Elected Officials who stand opposed to EQUALITY stand opposed to the platform of the Democratic Party… those Elected Officials are not Democrats.

**Yet Joe Manchin still holds a Committee Chair in the United States Senate.**

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So, how does that CHANGE? We VOTE. We rally behind the CAUSE… the Core Principles we hold SACRED. We raise the flag and hoist the sails, celebrating who we are and the causes for which we STAND… knowing that our efforts will be victorious at the end of the day.

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https://nypost.com/2022/09/12/kamala-harris-lies-about-the-secure-border/

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https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/570128-father-of-marine-killed-in-kabul-blast-says-meeting-with-biden/

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https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/15/a-fist-bump-at-the-palace-biden-squares-off-with-mbs-00046106

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https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/26/europe/ukraine-zelensky-evacuation-intl/index.html

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Back in MY day, every member of the Democratic Party would be fired UP to go out and vote AGAINST an incumbent who’s overseen failures like these.

In 2024… these are the accomplishments of the Leader of the Democratic Party.

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I attended the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington last weekend. When I first heard its announcement back in February, I decided I wouldn’t go. I have no desire to go to a Joe Biden rally, and I knew that’s what it would end up being. Dr. Martin Luther King III’s rebranding of it as a “continuation” of his father’s dream changed my mind.

I felt I had to attend. To show my support alongside thousands of others… Strength in numbers. That’s how we bring about CHANGE.

Of all the people I spoke with that day, one woman’s offhand comment stands out most in my mind-

‘I came here today to hear something HISTORIC.’

Of all the reasons I traveled to D.C. that day… that one wasn’t on my list. After hearing her say that I started questioning why I was there. Why didn’t I have those same expectations? Every possibility of that happening did exist…

The White House did send a high-level representative to speak on behalf of the President and Vice President… the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives was there, as was Jim Clyburn and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz…

The opportunity was there… yet, I was not as disappointed as she was.

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When someone is drowning, you must assess the situation carefully BEFORE taking action, in order to avoid causing unnecessary loss of life.

If they are a short distance away, you should first try reaching out your HAND or a long POLE and attempt to pull them to safety. If they are too far out, you should try throwing them a LIFE PRESERVER or a long ROPE. If these options are unsuccessful, you try to find a boat and ROW out to them and bring them to shore.

Only after all these have failed… only as an option of last resort should you ever try swimming out to save someone from drowning. As they are fighting to stay above the surface… fighting for their very survival… they will grab and push themselves UP onto anything that comes within their reach. In order to save their own life…

That includes anyone trying to save them.

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https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/

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Democratic Party… DO YOU NEED ASSISTANCE?

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If you want to make a CHANGE, now is the time to do so… not in the fall of 2024.

I can see it. The VOTERS can see it. We ALL want you to be successful… in this moment we NEED you to be successful. But we can only offer you our assistance… it’s up to YOU, to decide if you will accept our HELP.

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https://www.axios.com/2023/04/17/poll-americans-independent-republican-democrat

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That window of opportunity will soon be closing… and no one wants to get pulled under by a drowning man.

-JC

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https://www.clintonherald.com/region/march-on-washington/image_b0cdcda8-f561-543e-8109-2cc07dedbb58.html

Grays. Sports. Almanac.

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Once upon a TIME… back when I was a young man, I remember living through a period in time just like the one we’re living through NOW. The only difference is… we hadn’t figured it out just yet. We were walking BLIND with no guidance or direction…

The rules of decorum were being used against us as a tool of oppression.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/obama-putin-election-hacking/?tid=usw_passupdatepg

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https://www.rules.senate.gov/rules-of-the-senate

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To SILENCE dissent. To benefit ONE over ANOTHER. In-service of a PARTY… not in-service of THE PEOPLE.

And this is merely ONE PART of a multi-piece puzzle. The FBI, the Election Interference, the Electoral College… and the arrogance. As it is TODAY, the candidate was decided LONG before the Primaries had even started.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/sanders-obama-meet-discuss-future-campaign-n588946

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It’s not about the VOTERS, it’s all about securing the DONORS… you can’t win The Office if you can’t secure the BASE.

Bernie wanted to EXPAND the footprint of Government and help lower the cost of healthcare for ALL Americans… something that stood opposed to the agenda of the DONORS. The pharmaceutical industry, the owners of the hospitals and clinics themselves, as well as the commercial real estate owners that profit off of the leasing of all those properties.

Hillary Clinton had been working with the healthcare sector since her time as First Lady… Bernie was an Independent Senator from the Great State of Vermont.

The DONORS made their choice and the PARTY fell in line. The machinery started turning… and everyone played their part.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-conventions/democratic-national-committee-chief-stepping-aside-after-convention-n615826

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All that was left were the formalities… the casting of the VOTES. After all that, then we could celebrate our new candidate.

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https://observer.com/2017/08/court-admits-dnc-and-debbie-wasserman-schulz-rigged-primaries-against-sanders/

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Like I said, a million pieces… but we’ve SEEN THIS SHOW BEFORE. There’s NO WAY we’d allow ourselves to make the same mistakes, we’ve already learned that lesson… right?

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The Democratic Party has a problem. Because right now, the Democratic Party is starting off the 2024 Campaign Season IN THE HOLE. I cannot vote for Joe Biden. I did not vote for Joe Biden…

**Joe Biden voted FOR the war in Iraq.**

A Senator who voted FOR the invasion of Iraq should never be President of the United States. The Presidency of Joe Biden now proves that to be so.

The Senator who voted FOR the invasion of Iraq, demonstrated the same leadership capabilities during our withdrawal of forces in Afghanistan.

The Senator who voted FOR the invasion of Iraq, brought that same vision and foresight to the table while dealing with a broken supply chain and a struggling economy.

The Senator who voted FOR the invasion of Iraq… while Osama bin Lauden was STILL ALIVE… took his place in The White House and WATCHED as Russian Forces invaded Ukraine.

He then went on to do the SAME THING as our President.

Let there be NO DOUBT… Vladimir Putin is the sole cause of the war in Ukraine, but our INACTION every step of the way did nothing to assuage that aggression.

In fact… our INACTION encouraged it.

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https://theintercept.com/2019/09/26/donald-trump-wants-ukraines-president-probe-conspiracy-theories-democrats/

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https://observer.com/2019/04/mueller-report-paul-manafort-konstantin-kilimnik-russia-ukraine/

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INACTION. Born of INACTION…

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https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/michigan-hillary-clinton-trump-232547

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Party Politics at its finest.

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Even after the election of President Biden in 2020, we still find ourselves sliding BACKWARDS. Legislatures across this Land are working everyday to take rights away from American Citizens… based on their SEX… based on the color of their SKIN… based on the demographics of the community they are FROM…

Hillary Clinton didn’t lose to Donald Trump in 2016 because he was a brilliant orator or a political genius. Hillary Clinton lost because THE PEOPLE didn’t show up. I hate to quote Senator McConnell here, but candidate quality has a lot to do with it.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/did-biden-win-little-or-lot-answer-yes-n1251845

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Right now, we’re racing headlong toward another 2016 Presidential Election…

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… and EVERYTHING that goes along with it.

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https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/download

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We must learn from our mistakes, or we are bound to repeat them.

-JC

The Challenge of Change

–Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Our experiences define us, events we’ve witnessed as well as those that have impacted us directly. They inform us and guide our decision-making process in the future, helping us to avoid making the same mistakes.

As a young man, I lived in an apartment with a hard-working guy who drank like a fish and love loud music… and so did all his friends. One night, sometime after midnight, one of our neighbors called the cops because of the noise, and they came out to shut the party down.

My friend Chris didn’t like the way the situation was unfolding, so he decided to jump off our second-story balcony and try running from the police. I don’t know exactly what happened, but it wasn’t long before one of those officers escorted him back into the living room of our apartment.

Winded, he sat down on the floor with the rest of us. Unharmed.

And he is STILL alive to this day. Well… I haven’t spoken with him in quite a while, so I can’t say that with certainty. But after that night, he lived to see another sunrise.

He ran from the cops and lived to see another DAY.

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Why did he run? We were all underage… he didn’t want to lose his JOB or ruin his chances of going to SCHOOL… he worried about the expense of legal fees and diversion… he didn’t want to face the look of SHAME from his family…

I doubt he ever feared being killed by a Law Enforcement Officer while being held in custody.

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As a child, I was taught to respect Law Enforcement. “… to Protect and Serve.” That means all of us, criminal AND civilian. Once the cops come, they have a JOB to do, and it should be ‘Yes sir/No sir/Thank you sir’ until they’ve secured the situation. Whether you’re in the wrong or not, once they’ve been called to the scene… they are in control. They’re the ones with the WEAPONS.

In essence… submit. Have FAITH in the Justice System.
Have FAITH in Our Rule of Law.

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https://youtu.be/XFKUYdm2HBg

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After watching that footage… of Law Enforcement Officers, beating an UNARMED man… how could anyone recommend that course of action? Those officers… they made the mistakes that aggravated that situation. They sprayed themselves with pepper spray, and as more officers drove by the scene of the initial encounter, they saw one of their own in distress.

**They roused themselves into anger.**

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All based on assumptions… about who Tyre Nichols was, about the events that had just transpired, as well as the potential ongoing threat posed by Mr. Nichols to his community.

IF Mr. Nichols was driving recklessly, then the potential threat to the community was resolved the minute they pulled him from his CAR… but he was STILL perceived to be a threat. Why.

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What would motivate someone to RUN. Whether you’re in the wrong or not, why run? Why make the situation worse… for yourself and the officers involved. They’re just trying to make it through their day as well.

But TWO THINGS can be true at the same time. What motivates someone to do what was done to Tyre Nichols, whether he was in the wrong or not. What crime did he commit that justified that response? What will happen when we are allowed to see ALL the evidence, and fully understand why that encounter took place.

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https://youtu.be/aEHi6vACDWQ

Convenient spy camera, spying on a residential neighborhood… is convenient. Where’s the footage from the camera where the initial encounter took place.

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Because you heard them… they thought he was on drugs. Erratic driving. Crossing the yellow line. What happens if that turns out to be TRUE? What if there’s evidence that justifies the stop?

My mother-in-law was hit by a drunk driver 15 years ago and she will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair… must we now stop pulling over drivers who show signs of intoxication? The man who did that to her… he lived to see his court date. So, what’s the difference?

The Officers who encountered Tyre Nichols that night, threw him into a silo. They decided who he was based on the information they had, then filled in the rest of the story based on stereotypes they had learned, utilizing their base of knowledge and experiences.

They made an assumption based on LIES, and it led to the death of Tyre Nichols.

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https://theconversation.com/juries-are-subject-to-all-kinds-of-biases-when-it-comes-to-deciding-on-a-trial-176721

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The profile they painted of Mr. Nichols was based on facts and evidence… facts and evidence that were skewed from the start. From the very moment they were collected.

They acted on instinct… and their instincts were wrong.

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“Catching errors should be built into what a crime lab does. This is required for clinical laboratories because LIVES are at stake… For crime laboratories, these types of quality controls have never been required.”

Biased facts will lead to biased acts.https://t.co/S6htX3mCF2

— Jack Charbonneau (@MrJLCharbonneau) January 28, 2023

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Evidence collected, manipulated through omission and selective interpretation. To benefit the needs of the few… over the needs of the many.

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“About 55 percent of fatal encounters with the police between 1980 and 2018 were listed as another cause of death.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/30/us/police-killings-undercounted-study.html

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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/15/us/african-americans-sickle-cell-police.html

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https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/08/warrior-cop-class-dave-grossman-killology.html

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I am no saint… far from it. I am merely a man, susceptible to fallacy and vice like all the rest. But that is the genius of our system… these faults are to be expected. Justice. Rehabilitation. Perfection is Of Divinity alone. The rest of us… we must seek forgiveness for our mistakes.

How many more mistakes will we allow before we hold our Elected Officials accountable and demand the changes we need. If it can happen to ONE of us, it can happen to us ALL.

We thought the answer was CLEAR… white cop murders black citizen… must be racism. Obviously, we were wrong. Law Enforcement Officers of all stripes… from all backgrounds… and the outcome continues to be the same…

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https://jackcharbonneau.com/2021/04/24/justice/

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It’s not the COPS, it’s the TRAINING.

The problem is SYSTEMIC… and it must change.

-JC

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It is with deep sympathy and respect that I write these words. I will not patronize anyone with thoughts and prayers, but I do pray our Elected Officials… the people who actually have the power to make change happen… will do more than just pray.

I hope they will ACT.