a native is man is murdered by a police man in the video at this link.
a latino is murdered by a SWAT team in the video at this link.
in both videos, you don’t see the actual murders. you just see the process leading up to the murder. the drive to the house of Jose Guerena. the walk towards John T. Williams. then you hear the shots.
the infinitesimal moments given to each man to obey. the instantaneous roar of guns.
the thing that scares me most is almost not even the murders. it’s those seconds, that moment, they were given to obey.
i can hear each man thinking in that space between the order and the shots. there is not even enough time to register the command. only a fraction of an instant to figure out what to do. no time to argue or advocate for yourself. no time to think.
and after the murders, we got non-stop media reports about *what the murderers were thinking*—why they did it, what their logic was, why it was scary for them, they are the ones screaming, giving the orders, deciding how many seconds will pass before the first shot—and felt their lives were in danger.
I am thinking of all the people everywhere who had those few seconds. Aiyana Jones, Oscar Grant, Eurie Stamps, Tarika Wilson, and so so so so so many others.
remembering them all on the 40 year anniversary since the war began.
The shooting of John T. Williams is particularly disturbing. 8 seconds pass between the cop addressing Williams and shooting him. 4 seconds elapse between his first “Put the knife down” and the first shots. That’s disturbing. You can clearly see in the video, this guy isn’t threatening anyone. He’s just walking along.
While the officer involved has resigned, he was not charged with any crime. HE WAS NOT CHARGED WITH ANY CRIME. How this is possible is so far beyond me.