There is some pretty saucy news coming out of Florida as new evidence released in the case of George Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. The big news of the day involves witness testimony of a witness who alleges that Zimmerman was a child molester… as a child. I’m not going to get into a discussion of the allegations because in my opinion, none of the allegations are relevant to the case at hand. Let’s be honest, Trayvon Martin isn’t dead because George Zimmerman allegedly sexually molested a girl two years his junior when he was 8-years-old.

But don’t tell that to the media or the many folks around the internet chattering about it; let them tell it, this is the proverbial smoking gun that kills Zimmerman’s defense. Which is funny in itself because it was announced by the FBI last Thursday, that after months of investigation, the Trayvon Martin homicide showed no evidence of racial motivation or bias; nor were there any civil rights violations. But somehow the media missed that tidbit, and opted to go with the sensationalist headlines.

Federal authorities investigating the death of black teenager Trayvon Martin interviewed dozens of people who knew shooter George Zimmerman – and none said the neighborhood watch volunteer was racist, according to news reports of documents released Thursday.

{…] Agents also interviewed the Sanford Police Department’s lead investigator, Chris Serino, on the Zimmerman case, the Sentinel reported. Serino reportedly said Zimmerman pursued Martin based on his attire. But, he added, though Zimmerman has a “little hero complex,” he wasn’t a racist.

Similarly, Zimmerman’s former fiancee told the FBI that Zimmerman had a bad temper but did not seem racially biased. The violence in their relationship escalated and culminated in domestic-violence injunctions against each other in 2005.

His fiancee also said Zimmerman had mentioned wanting to be a police officer. (Source)

However, on another note, it would appear that there’s a huge crime problem in the state of Florida. No,the crime problem is not related to young black teens being innocently shot to death; nor does it involve black women with false self-defense claims serving prison time. Given the fact that I’m discussing it, obviously this problem has something to do with race. So what’s the problem down in Florida? Well, it would appear that in the bedding metropolis that is Castleberry, Florida, there’s a huge problem with jaywalking. Not quite the menacing crime where you currently reside; but, clearly it’s a crime and problem of epic proportions in the Sunshine State. Why do I say this? Check out what happened to Zikomo Peurifoy recently when he encountered the police.

Peurifoy was stopped by Castleberry’s finest for improperly proceeding along a local thoroughfare. When asked to produce identification by police, Peurifoy’s refusal resulted in an arrest after having a taser deployed on him three times. The entire incident was caught on tape by Peurifoy’s friend, Noelle Price, who was also arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting this criminal mastermind.

Check out the video:

Florida police said they followed procedure when they Tasered accused jaywalker Zikomo Peurifoy three times when he refused to provide identification after police stopped him for allegedly jaywalking.

A video of the altercation taken by Peurifoy’s friend Noelle Price, who was arrested along with him, and which Peurifoy posted to his Youtube account, may now be shown to officers as an example of how to properly handle an uncooperative suspect, said Capt. David Del Rosso, of the Casselberry Florida Police Department.

“The officers were polite the whole time through and gave good verbal commands,” Del Rosso said. “You hear the officer saying why he stopped him.”

[...] Del Rosso said asking for identification when a person is stopped is standard police procedure. It allows officers to check for outstanding warrants. (Source)

Now I won’t go into detail about how this serves as yet another example of how police officers harass black folks — nope, we’ve discussed this at length before. Instead, I’ll leave it up to you to debate whether you believe the officers in this case were justified in handling the situation in the manner they did. Yeah, I know none of this would have happened if the officers request for identification were granted. And of course that might be true. However, I wonder how many of you are aware that in some states you’re not required to identify yourself if asked by police? Unfortunately for the brother in the video above, Florida isn’t one of those states — currently, there are 24 states with “stop and identify” laws. Oh, and about police harassment and people of color, checkout the following video.

The post Video: Florida Man Tasered and Arrested for Jaywalking appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

Listen to what his mother says:

Rudy Eugene: Naked Face-Eating Man Shot By Miami Police

But that aside, I figured black folk would be raising all kinds of hell and protesting in Miami by now; I mean, now that we know it was a brotha shot and killed by the police. OK, so he was eating another man’s face while growling like a wild animal; not normal, I get that. But damn, he was naked and unarmed. Hell, I know he wasn’t wearing a hoodie or nothing, but did they really have to shoot him? I’m only asking because you know how that hoodie thing plays out in Florida. But yet ain’t nobody marching or nothing, so I guess it doesn’t matter; yep, maybe he should’ve had Skittles.

To hear his friends tell it, he never used hard drugs:

I mean seriously, is this what’s hot out in the streets?

C’mon y’all, Harriet Tubman didn’t take a front seat on the bus for this type of foolishness:

JOPPA, Md. — A Maryland college student has admitted murdering and dismembering a man and then eating his heart and part of his brain, police said Thursday.

Kenyan-born Alexander Kinyua, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Nigerian national Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie, allegedly carried out the gruesome deed after ranting online about human sacrifices and death cults.

The 37-year-old victim had been living at the Kinyua family home in Joppa, Md., for the past six months, the Baltimore Sun reported.

His severed head and hands were found in the home and more of his remains were dumped in a trash container outside a church, police said.

Kinyua, 21, allegedly confessed to killing Agyei-Kodie with a knife then eating his heart and portions of his brain. 

Alexander Kinyua (L), has confessed to killing his roomate, Kujoe Bonsafo Agyei-Kodie (R), and eating his heart and part of his brain.

Harford County Sheriff Jesse Bane said the crime was among the most brutal and bizarre he had seen in his 40 years with the force — and he had never come across a case of cannibalism.

“I’ve not encountered that in this county, and I hope we never encounter it again,” Bane said.

Kinyua’s father, Antony, reported Agyei-Kodie missing last Friday after going for a jog.

Then Tuesday night, Antony called police to say his other son, Jarrod, had found a human head and two human hands inside metal tins under a blanket in the laundry room, according to charging documents.

Kinyua told his father they were instead animal remains but when interviewed by police he allegedly admitted to killing Agyei-Kodie.

Kinyua faced a court Thursday via live video feed from Harford County Detention Center. The judge ruled he be held without bail.

Kinyua is a third-year electrical engineering major at Morgan State University and fellow students said his behavior had become increasingly troubled in recent months, the Baltimore Sun reported.

He was charged with first-degree assault and reckless endangerment for allegedly fracturing the skull of a classmate with a baseball bat on May 20, in what police described as a random attack.

Kinyua, who was born in Kenya but has lived in Maryland with his family for the past nine years, had also began making threatening online posts, including recent Facebook messages about “mass human sacrifices.”

I don’t know what’s really going on in Black America; and, it’s a damn shame I can’t even blame it on crack. I don’t know, but black folks eating  other people here in America, sounds a little bit like Negroes taking this post-racial thing too seriously. Sure we might be all “equal” now, but does that mean we gotta do what “other people” do? I tell you one thing that hasn’t changed, cannibal or not, police will still buss a cap in a nigga’s ass. I know assimilation can be a bitch; but, being post-racial doesn’t give black folks creative license to start eating people and having shootouts over Kool-Aid.

The post Post-Racial Update: Rudy Eugene, the Maryland Cannibal, & the Detroit Kool-Aid Shootout appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

But, politicians want to sit around and debate the issue. They want to request a whole bunch of statistical analysis to prove what every Black person over the age of 2 years old understands: police profile racially. Why do politicians play this game? To pretend they are actually attempting to address the scourge of law enforcement bigotry without actually doing a goddamn thing about the problem.

If all these folks are going to do is sit around in a little room and say, “profiling is bad…. we should do something about it…” and then move onto the next topic, they need to get the fuck out of office, because they do not care about what happens to real people in the real world.

Who are the people compiling the statistics and where are they coming from? Most of the time, they work FOR the people in power, who are invested in maintaining the status quo. So, not only can they manipulate the facts to make them fit the narrative of the white dominators, but they rely on information given to them by the oppressive law enforcement community. Somehow, the word of a cop is seen as more reliable than that of his victim, so he can lie about absolutely anything and be seen as the “good guy” in the story. What is to stop a white police officer from incorrectly listing the race of his victims in order to “prove” that he is not engaging in racially biased behavior on the job? (In fact, it was proven that in East Haven, Connecticut, police officers did exactly this for many years)

If a victim of police oppression reports the crimes that officers commit against him, it is usually written off as unfounded, or uncorroborated. Yet the word of a single pig is enough to land a man behind bars. Why are police given more credibility than an ordinary community member, especially if that community member is Black?

There is also nothing stopping police officers from harassing and endangering anyone who reports profiling or brutish behavior. Everyone knows about the “blue wall of silence”. If a Black person walks into a police station to report to an officer that one of his fellow “boys in blue” has committed criminal acts against him, he is putting his safety in the hands of people who are invested only in defending and protecting the man carrying the badge.

Combating racial profiling is not about crunching numbers, compiling reports and making recommendations that the police look at as optional. In order to fight racist police practices, there needs to be serious consequences for officers who are caught profiling. They should be kicked off the police force and charged with a felony. They need to be held accountable. As it stands today, police officers can commit even most egregious offenses, like the murder of unarmed people, with little to no chance of repercussions. ANYTIME a police officer shoots an unarmed person, they should be charged and convicted for murder (or attempted murder if the person is lucky enough to survive.) Police officers complain that they do not want to have to stop to think before they act, that it could put their lives in danger… well… tough shit. Shouldn’t you HAVE TO take a second to think before you take the life of another human being?

Police officers also should not be foreign invaders. If there is a need for law enforcement presence in a given community, the officers should be recruited from among local residents only. No more white “good ole boys” rolling into a Black community and running roughshod over the rights of the people who actually live there. Let the white boys stay in their little suburban communities and arrest the folks with the meth labs in their garage.

I understand the desire for activist groups to enforce racial profiling laws. There is this belief that compiling statistics to “prove” that racial profiling exists will somehow force police departments to change their ways. That the threat of removing funding sources to police departments who are non-compliant will help alleviate the insidiousness of racial profiling. However, I think that until a police officer has to worry about facing VERY REAL CONSEQUENCES, like PRISON TIME for engaging in such practices, there is really no incentive for an individual officer to change his behavior.

Recently, there was an amendment passed for Connecticut’s racial profiling law, the Penn Act. A huge production was made about the “much needed changes” to the Penn Act that were added. Basically, the legislators decided that the Penn Act provisions would be enforced more stringently if they added a “traffic stop receipt” concept to the legislation, so that motorists who have been pulled over can be sure that their race was listed correctly. They also included a provision that allowed people to anonymously launch complaints about profiling, and appointed a committee to investigate the claims, as well as to examine the statistics compiled for evidence of profiling. Honestly, I do not see the efficacy of this sort of approach. Why do people need “proof” that profiling happens? We all know it does! How do statistics protect motorists from police officers? Where is the incentive for officers to stop this behavior?

And what about pedestrians? How many anti-profiling laws include people on foot? We all know that “stop and frisk” policies are steeped in racial profiling. Why not include people who are walking through the community under the umbrella of these profiling laws? One proponent of the Penn Act Amendment here in Hartford actually became angry when another activists mentioned that the Act did not go far enough because it only “protected” motorists! He said that the Penn Act was not intended to protect people on foot, therefore the amendment did not include them. Well, if you are “amending” a piss poor law, why not make the logical choice to extend the legislation to cover ALL people who are profiled, not just those in cars?

Compiling statistics is not the solution. SERIOUS consequences for INDIVIDUAL officers as well as departments who violate the rights of community members MUST BE INCLUDED in order for an anti-profiling law to offer any serious protection for the public. It is one thing to “work within the system”, it is quite another to ignore what REALLY needs to be done to address police profiling and brutality simply to get a piece of legislation passed.

The post Does Anti-Profiling Legislation Really Work? appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

This from the Bonner County Daily Bee:

SANDPOINT — It’s unlikely that any other Bonner County sheriff candidate spent their Friday night like Shaun Winkler.

At his compound just outside Priest River, Winkler and other family members of the northern Idaho Ku Klux Klan klavern held a get-together that included a nighttime cross lighting. Winkler, 33, is also tied to the Aryan Nations and Church of Jesus Christ-Christian. He has participated in racially-charged Kootenai County protests.

According to Winkler, cross lighting, more commonly known as cross burning, often provokes strong reactions from most people. That’s why the ceremony is conducted in private within the compound once a month or so.

“Generally, for a cross lighting, it’s extremely rare we’d let any media there at all,” he said.

However, after discussing the matter with his family and associates, Winkler agreed to allow photos and outside observation for the ceremony. He said the evening was meant to express both camaraderie and religious devotion.

The evening began like many a family picnic elsewhere in the country. Group members barbecued and enjoyed a congenial meal with one another. About 20 people attended the event, although not everyone wore the iconic klan robes. Three attendees specifically identified themselves as members of the klavern. Winkler mentioned that not every member of the group could make the trip.

Afterward, Winkler called everyone’s attention to speak for about a half-hour on the racial, political and social groups they opposed. Finally, once darkness fell, the evening concluded by setting a wooden cross afire.

That particular action, Winkler predicted, would be the source of much misunderstanding.

“Mainstream society looks at cross lighting as a symbol of hate, but it predates the klan by hundreds of years,” he said. “We look at it more as a religious symbol.”

According to Winkler, the religious component of the ceremony dates back to back to Scottish origins, when clan members used it as a means of communication. He also saw it as a pointedly Christian symbol, a representation of Jesus Christ’s light spreading to the rest of the world.

[...] Despite the unpopularity of his racial views, Winkler is soldiering on with his sheriff’s candidacy. On Monday, he participated in a candidate’s forum at the Blanchard Community Center. He continued to insist his Ku Klux Klan ties would not impact his performance as sheriff or make him susceptible to racial profiling. Instead, he would focus on tough stances regarding drugs and sex offenders.

“Most people don’t know that we don’t just oppose the Jews and the negroes,” he said. “We also oppose sexual predators and drugs of any kind.”

Winkler added that if he had his way, perpetrators of sexual crimes would be hung immediately.

As for the cross lighting and his other white supremacist links, Winkler admits that those who oppose him for his viewpoints probably won’t come around. Given that likelihood, he’s not worried about alienating potential supporters.

“I think at this point, whoever is going to disagree with me will keep on disagreeing, and those who agree with me will keep on agreeing,” he said.

Personally, I think it’s good to see a Republican candidate brave and honest enough to show their true color. I wish there were more candidates like Winkler. You know, this way we don’t have to waste time with the silly arguments about whether the Republican party is made up of racist xenophobes, and bigots. I don’t know about you, but voters tend to place a premium on a candidate’s honesty. That said, with candidates like Winkler, we sure can’t go wrong, no?

“In the event I was elected sheriff, I would not act on racial profiling,” Winkler said. “Being in the white power movement, I know how it feels to be profiled by law enforcement.” (source)

Yeah, I’m sure you do know about that profiling thing, Shaun…

I’m sure you do remember Cherie Buckner-Webb, and what y’all did to her.

The post Post-Racial Update: Republican KKK Leader Running for Sheriff Invites Media to Cross Burning appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

This via The Real News Network:

We are here to say that incarceration has nothing to do with solving the problems of American society it has everything to do with putting people in their place repressing people and it’s time for this to end, we want jobs, education, health care, we do not want jails…right now the United States represents 5 percent of the world’s population but we incarcerate 25 percent of the world’s prisoners, this in a nation that’s obsessed with the idea of freedom, the question is why, why do we incarcerate so many people than other places in the world, we clearly don’t have the answers so we are here to say we have to stand up for people like Mumia Abu Jamal. - JOHANNA FERNANDEZ, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, BARUCH COLLEGE, CUNY

It is imperative that we continue to bare witness to the many injustices suffered particular by people of color and poor people in general, all across these United States of America – a country where as you know, said people are over-represented within the criminal justice system, by no accident.

The post “Occupy the Department of Justice”: Trayvon Martin, Mumia Abu Jamal, & Mass Incarceration appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

To say that racial tension around this thing has morphed into epic proportions beyond throwing a garbage can through the window of Sal’s Pizzeria in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn would be an understatement. This is Obama’s America, folks; and it looks like post-racial bliss is currently on timeout. Yes, from the looks of things, for now at least, walls spray painted with the words, “Long Live Zimmerman,” might be the norm as “certain people” embrace this new cult-like hero.

OK, so just how bad has it gotten? Well, apparently there’s a race war pending. So much so that a website called SaveWhitePeople.com has emerged. – I took some time to visit the site and listen to their podcast; let’s just say that humanity needs an enema. Now I’m not sure when white folks became an endangered species, and how they have. But let’s just say that racist certain Caucasians are prepared to not go out with a fight. Hear that New Black Panther Party? According to the Miami New Times, there are Neo-Nazi militias armed to the teeth in Sanford, Florida:

Neo-Nazis are currently conducting heavily armed patrols in and around Sanford, Florida and are “prepared” for violence in the case of a race riot. The patrols are to protect “white citizens in the area who are concerned for their safety” in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting last month, says Commander Jeff Schoep of the National Socialist Movement. “We are not advocating any type of violence or attacks on anybody, but we are prepared for it,” he says. “We are not the type of white people who are going to be walked all over.”

[...] Schoep, whose neo-Nazi group is based in Detroit, tells Riptide the patrols are a response to white residents’ fears of a race riot.

A group called the New Black Panther Party recently offered $10,000 for a citizens’ arrest of George Zimmerman, Martin’s shooter. Schoep said the bounty is a sign that “the possibility of further racial violence… is brimming over like a powder keg ready to explode into the streets.”

The patrols are comprised of between 10 and 20 locals and “volunteers” from across the state, including some from Miami, he added. He couldn’t go into specifics on what kind of firepower, exactly, the patrols had with them.

“In Arizona the guys can walk around with assault weapons and that’s totally legal,” Schoep said, referring to the group’s patrols of the US-Mexico border. “What I can tell you is that any patrols that we are doing now in Florida are totally within the law.”

Oh, I’m not sure if this is the very same militia group, but a couple of years ago I wrote something about one of them literally having shoot to kill hunts for “illegal immigrants” on the Arizona border. Yeah, just the type of Boy Scouts you need around down in Sanford.

Asked if the patrols wouldn’t just make things worse — spark a race riot, for instance — Schoep insisted they were simply a “show of solidarity with the white community down there” and “wouldn’t intimidate anybody.”

I guess the potential of having a bullet lodged in your body, isn’t exactly intimidating; nope, not when you have a Stand Your Ground law at your back just in case someone Black feels the urge to break your nose and bash your head into the concrete. Yep, such thrill seekers those blaks.

“Whenever there is one of these racially charged events, Al Sharpton goes wherever blacks need him,” Schoep said. “We do similar things. We are a white civil rights organization.

He went to great lengths to contrast his organization with the New Black Panther Party, who he blamed for scaring local whites and spurring the need for NSM patrols. Schoep admits that the NSM and the Black Panthers are actually alike in that they are both racial separatists. But he sees a double-standard in the government’s treatment of the two groups.

“The Black Panthers have been offering bounties and all that,” he says. “But if we called for a bounty on someone’s head, I guarantee we’d be locked up as quick as I could walk out of my house.”

Schoep was also quick to clarify that he isn’t taking sides in Trayvon Martin’s controversial shooting. “That’s for the courts to decide,” he says. Besides, Schoep says, Zimmerman’s not even white.

“I think there is some confusion going on,” Schoep says. “A lot of people think that this guy who shot Trayvon was white… but he’s half Hispanic or Cuban or something. He certainly doesn’t look white to me.”

Oh, so lemme guess: they’ll take a shot at Zimmerman if need be? Oh yeah, and that whole White Civil Rights organization thing? It’s nice to know that there’s such an organization around should the dictator of a president who happens to be black decides to force people the same color as his maternal grandparents to drink from segregated water fountains. Yep, you need that type of fire power when you’re up against water hoses and German Shepherds trained to chew the ass off of a Caucasian with a single command. Thank White Jesus for the fine folks at nsm88.org.

White Civil Rights Activists Along Arizona Border

I’m not sure how productive these guys actually will be. But check out what happened when they showed up in Trenton, NJ last year. Yeah, from the following video, it’s quite apparent that these are a bunch of yahoos who just love getting their asses kicked; seriously, it’s like sexually arousing:

No word on whether Rush Limbaugh thinks this is all manufactured racism by Black leaders:

Meanwhile, checkout how random Black people are being shot out in Tulsa, Oklahoma by a white suspect:

TULSA — Several members of the Tulsa chapter of the NAACP gathered at a north Tulsa church Friday evening for an emergency meeting to discuss what police have characterized as a possible “shooting spree” that targeted five people early Friday morning.

The post Gun-Toting “White Civil Rights Activists” Defend White Sanford, Florida Residents appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.

Alright, so I realize that coming from me, that has to be an absurd question. But ever since a good friend and long-time reader tipped me off to a recent incident in Austin, Texas where she lives, I’ve been struggling to answer that very question myself. Now I realize that for someone like me — a professional racism-chasing minority — to be in support of racial profiling automatically makes me a hypocrite. Not only that, but by having that opinion serves as grounds for having my hood pass revoked and labeled a slave-catcher like Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson and others. So with that in mind, I found myself asking myself the following question: would racial profiling be a bad thing if it involved the profiling of white folks? After all, don’t we look at the redneck in his pickup truck with the Confederate flag  bumper sticker sorta funny? Or what about the white boys with shaved heads, and swastika tattoos who wear Doc Marten boots? Or what about the guy in the child molester conversion van who just loves to pass out candy to kids at playgrounds?

Is it wrong to racially profile those guys?

After reading the story of Scott Henson, and his recent run-in with the police while walking down the street with his 5-year-old granddaughter, after a 911 caller reported what appeared to be an attempted kidnapping. I found the scenario to be familiar with one exception: Hanson is white and his grandchild is black. And let’s be honest: as oddly unusual a sight, I can see why someone would assume this to be an attempted kidnapping. And quite frankly, I can see why someone would want something done about it; at least, that’s what I think.

This according to newsone.com:

Scott Henson (pictured), a self-described White Texas redneck, was cuffed last Friday by a swarm of policemen, because he was walking his Black 5-year-old grandchild down the street. The Austin resident spoke to NewsOne about how he was accosted by police for being in the company of his grandchild, Ty(pictured).

Ty’s mother is not Henson and his wife’s biological child; the couple decided to raise her after her own father died.  Still, the woman calls Henson and his wife “Mom” and “Dad,” and naturally, her daughter refers to the couple as her grandparents.

Henson’s grandchild typically spends Friday nights with her grandfather and his wife, so that the little girl’s parents can get a break.  Last Friday, Henson, who is a journalist and creator of two popular blogsGritsforBreakfast and Huevos Rancheros, took his grandchild to a skating rink near his home as a reward for being a high achiever at school.  The kindergartener grew tired of skating, so the pair decided to walk home rather than have his wife pick them up from the rink.

Ty’s mother is not Henson and his wife’s biological child; the couple decided to raise her after her own father died.  Still, the woman calls Henson and his wife “Mom” and “Dad,” and naturally, her daughter refers to the couple as her grandparents.

Henson’s grandchild typically spends Friday nights with her grandfather and his wife, so that the little girl’s parents can get a break.  Last Friday, Henson, who is a journalist and creator of two popular blogsGritsforBreakfast and Huevos Rancheros, took his grandchild to a skating rink near his home as a reward for being a high achiever at school.  The kindergartener grew tired of skating, so the pair decided to walk home rather than have his wife pick them up from the rink.

After walking a distance from the rink, Henson felt as if he was being followed.  Suddenly, someone called out to them, and it turned out to be a deputy constable.

“She told me to take my hand out of my pocket and to step away from Ty, declaring that someone had seen a White man chasing a Black girl and reported a possible kidnapping. Then she began asking the 5-year-old about me. The last time this happened, Ty was barely 2, and I wasn’t about to let police question her. This time, though, at least initially, I decided to let her answer. “Do you know this man?” the deputy asked. “Yes, he’s my Grandpa,” Ty said.  “What did you say?” the deputy repeated. “He’s my Grandpa!” Ty yelled, then rushed back over to me and grabbed hold of my leg. “Okay,” the deputy responded.

The constable asked for Henson’s name and address, and he chose not to answer stating that if he was not being held for anything, he would like to take the child home.  The woman complied and allowed Henson to leave.

Just as Henson and Ty were approaching their home, a police cruiser that had passed them by after the constable released them suddenly turned around and threw on his flashing lights.  Four more police cars joined, surrounding Henson and Ty.  Officers jumped out of their vehicles with tasers drawn, demanding that Henson throw up his hands and step away from the child.  The officers grabbed the child and put her in the backseat of a vehicle.  By now there were a total of nine to ten police cars surrounding Henson and his granddaughter.

“ I gave them the phone numbers they needed to confirm who Ty was and that she was supposed to be with me (and not in the back of their police car), but for quite a while nobody seemed too interested in verifying my story. One officer wanted to lecture me endlessly about how they were just doing their job, as if the innocent person handcuffed on the side of the road cares about such excuses. I asked why he hadn’t made any calls yet, and he interrupted his lecture to say, ‘We’ve only been here two minutes, give us time” (It had actually been much longer than that). Maybe so, I replied, sitting on the concrete in handcuffs, but there are nine of y’all milling about doing nothing by my count so you’ve had 18 minutes for somebody to get on the damn phone by now so y’all can figure out you screwed up.”

According to Henson, the same  deputy constable who had questioned him earlier walked in on the scene and briefly looked his way as she spoke to police personnel. Soon after, a supervisor arrived and began questioning the officers.  The woman came over to Henson and began explaining how the police department has to take complaints about possible kidnappings seriously. By this point, though, Henson felt he was guilty in the eyes of law enforcement for the “heinous crime of babysitting while white.”

After Henson was released, there were no apologies issued.  After being interrogated, Ty was given a flashlight as a consolation prize.  According to Henson, the deputy constable who could now barely look him in the eyes, “You knew better. This is on you.”

Now of course you know my motto: there are three sides to every story – there’s bullshit, bullshit, and there’s the truth. So with that in mind, and after reading Henson’s blog post myself, I decided to take a look into it and see what the police was saying. And well, I found their story to be intere4sting. Yep, their story even included a release of the dashboard camera video that tells a different story. Yep, Henson wasn’t beaten, tasered, or had a broomstick up the butt like any innocent Black man would have; but, I guess that’s because he was melanin deficient:

Yes, so with that in mind, I’d have to say that the woman who found Scott Henson to be “suspicious”, just like George Zimmerman, she was right to call 911. For me, being vigilant and acting in the interest of safety and security in my neighborhood is what being a good neighbor is all about. But I guess in today’s world where we don’t even know our next door neighbors, being vigilant is a lost art. Hell, no wonder young folks are into that whole “Stop Snitching” thing.

This is what ignorance looks like; and why racial profiling continues to negatively impact the lives of minorities. This is what keeps us apart.

Look, the fact that we live in a society riddled with racism and prejudice is undeniable. As such, racial profiling will always be the order of the day. It has always been a problem for minorities when employed as a crime fighting tool by the police. As trusting as we’re taught to be of people in positions of power, the truth is, they’re not always right. Contrary to what your nightly news tells you, not all Black people are criminals; not all Latinos are “illegal immigrants”; not all people of middle-eastern heritage are terrorists; not all people of Asian persuasion are math, science, and computer geeks; and, though they may not say it on the news regularly, not all white people are racist and fearful of people of color. But maybe if more white folks were racially profiled and it lead to negative consequences, maybe the evil practice of racially profiling minorities would stop.

Maybe then and only then, would my 60-year-old mother would be without fear when she encounters young Black males in hoodies, baggy jeans, and doo-rags while she walks the streets of Brownsville out in Brooklyn, New York as she often does. Talking to her about Trayvon Martin I was ashamed when she told me this, but given the society within which we live, I can totally understand.

Now watch and learn about one Black police officers fight for justice:

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I watched the interview you gave with Juan Gonzalez this morning regarding the case with your father. A 68 year old marine veteran that was shot in his home by police that were supposed to be responding to a medical alert call by a dispatcher for assistance. A man who as the audio tapes of the incident indicate had heart trouble and was a 68 year old man who wanted to be left alone. A man whose door was taken off the hinges by law enforcement and who ultimately, tragically wound up dead in his own home.

As I watched my heart broke into a thousand pieces and my soul felt your hurt and your pain.  To see you explaining the circumstances that surround what happened that morning, bravely providing details just broke my heart completely.  Waiting for a grand jury to convene in the hope that charges are brought, in the hope that enough evidence is presented to warrant charges.   To wait and HOPE that you actually GET a day in court – this is a level of bravery and strength that is indescribable with mere words.

Rev. Jeffery (cq) Wheeler, left, speaks as Kenneth Chamberlain Jr. of White Plains holds a photo of his father, Kenneth Chamberlain, as a group prays in front of his father's apartment building on Lexington Ave. in White Plains Nov. 30, 2011. Chamberlain's father was shot and killed by police. ( Peter Carr / The Journal News )

The question is poised frequently, “Why is there so much of an uproar and why are so many marches and protests erupting in conjunction with the Trayvon Martin Case?”  The uproar is not newly hatched as the media spin would have people believe. Taking absolutely nothing away from the injustice that was visited upon the parents of Trayvon Martin, this kind of injustice is not NEW to the African American community.  It has happened and it CONTINUES to happen every single day all across this country. We just don’t get all of them  to make CNN or MSNBC news.   It happens so much that we CANT march all the time it happens, because if we did that is all we would do day in and day out. March seeking justice for our brothers and sisters, fathers mothers, and children.

The level of devaluation that black males have to endure in this country is epic. It is on a level of profundity that, is unbearable to contemplate.  What more can a man do, besides serve his country and put his life on the line – what more can you do to show your love for this country and commitment to the principles of liberty and justice for all? What is it that you have to do to prevent getting your door kicked in, shot with a taser, and ultimately killed by police officers in your own home?

I cannot begin to conceive of the hurt in your heart and how you are finding ways to cope with it. I truly and honestly can say that my deepest and heartfelt prayers are with you and your family, and all the attorneys working with you to try to obtain the TRUTH and JUSTICE in this case. There are no marches in White Plains, haven’t seen anyone tweeting about this case, and the media has yet to deem it important enough to report on.  Please know that someone does care and stands with you in the belief that justice must be and will be served in this case.

I will light it and remember and pray  for your strength and the strength of all who have  had to deal with the injustice that is pervasive in this country based on nothing more than racist ignorance….and I will continue to do so…

Until justice is served, until we actually are FREE

NOTE: Join the Facebook page Justice For Kenneth Chamberlain Sr..

The post An Open Letter: To the Relatives of 68-Year-Old Kenneth Chamberlain Sr.Killed by Police appeared first on THE INTERSECTION | MADNESS & REALITY.