When excuses ring hollow

Then:

After decades of being treated as less than a man, and after watching friends and supporters have the crap beat out of them merely because they looked different, this man decided to do something about it.  He calmly walked down the street with his supporters, making the point that he and they were no different than others.  By walking peacefully, he demonstrated that he and his supporters were not the problem, and that those who were full of unreasonable hatred were wrong.

He also asked us to judge people by their character - their behavior, their speech, and their actions - and not by simple pigmentation.

Now:

The murder in Minneapolis was the result of a failure of a city government to obey the "3 strike rule": two legitimate complaints about a police officer's violence - whether on or off duty - should result in removal from any duties that require direct interaction with the public, and the third complaint should result in termination without pension or benefits.

The events in Minneapolis are less about the murder of one man by a police officer than it is about a city government's failure to remember that they are public servants and their jobs are to ensure peace and the safety of the public who elected them.

The Minneapolis city government continues in its failure to ensure peace and the safety of the public by putting aside any attempt to maintain even the illusion of law and order.

There is no excuse for looting and arson.  Those who intentionally destroy the property of others while using the excuse "I was angry about an unrelated event" are not deserving of pity or mercy.  They are willingly putting their morals and character aside.  Nobody forces anyone to loot or commit arson.  These are voluntary actions, motivated by greed and hatred, resulting in the damage and destruction of the property and livelihoods of people they do not know.  They put the lie to "we're all in this together" by showing that they stand apart.

That is why I feel that looters and arsonists should be shot on sight.  This is not a racist statement.  I don't care what race, gender, creed, or what that person is wearing.  I'd shoot a bishop in full garb if I saw him stealing a large screen tv from a Best Buy in the middle of a riot.  It needs to be said again: looting and arson are voluntary actions.  A person either decides to commit these crimes or to walk away.  Those who decide to commit the crimes have taken the action to deprive others of their livelihood: does anyone think that the looted Best Buy will reopen anytime soon?  Where will those employees find jobs?  At the other businesses that have been looted and firebombed?

And this is why I condemn mayors and other elected or appointed officials who permit the destruction of property with the excuse "people need to let off steam".  People get angry.  But it is the city's responsibility to ensure that one person's anger does not result in the destruction of another person's property.  Or, as we are already seeing, the full-on attacks or murders of others - whether in uniform or not.

When a mayor abdicates the responsibilities of office, that mayor has violated the trust of the voters and should immediately resign.  To stay in office after ignoring the duties of office is no different than the politicians in "banana republic" countries who, after election, enrich themselves while ignoring any promises they made to "make things better".

The events in Minneapolis should inspire all police departments around the country to re-examine the discipline records of their officers and to immediately implement all stages of the "three strikes rule".

The excuse "this is not the time" is completely wrong: this is the time, and it can be the first step in both healing the rifts between police departments and restoring the trust that they will not permit law enforcement officers to commit infractions of department rules or the law itself.

The time has come for the cleanup - and local police departments can lead the way by example.  And as far as bad cops go: no more excuses.