Driving While Black
Posted by Michelle Moquin on October 3rd, 2014
Good morning.
Another black man was shot by a cop for, in my opinion, absolutely no reason. This video is very disturbing. From Think Progress.
Video Shows South Carolina Cop Shooting Black Man Without Any Apparent Provocation
CREDIT: AP
South Carolina state trooper Sean Groubert was arrested on Wednesday and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature after a video emerged of him shooting a driver named Levar Jones that he pulled over for a seat belt violation. In the video, Groubert’s vehicle is seen pulling up to a black man exiting a white SUV, and Groubert is heard telling Jones “can I see your license please?” When Jones turns around to recover his license from the vehicle, however, Groubert immediately begins screaming “get out of the car! get out of the car!” and firing his gun at the unarmed man.
What’s striking about this case is how swiftly Groubert escalated the incident from a routine traffic stop to the use of potentially deadly force — and the fact that he did so without any apparent provocation whatsoever. Only four seconds pass between when Groubert asks Jones for his license, and when Groubert fires the first of four shots at the unarmed driver.
The other thing that’s striking about this case, however, is the fact that Groubert will actually face criminal charges for his actions. According to The State, Groubert faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted. He was also fired by the highway patrol on Friday.
On the same day that Groubert was charged, a special prosecutor in Beavercreek, Ohio announced that he would not bring charges against officers who shot and killed a man at a Walmart who was carrying a BB gun that is sold at the store. One of the officers involved in that incident is back on the job.
Mr. Jones, the man that Groubert shot, was struck in the hip at least once. He is now out of the hospital and is recuperating.
I am also including a clip from MSNBC’s Chris Hayes. Also shocking was how Lavar Jones was treated after he was shot.
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Readers: I am so sick of these cops saying that the reason they drew their guns and fired was because they feared for their lives. Can you imagine being shot and then remaining handcuffed for hours like you’re an animal? Inhuman and Sickening.
It’s Friday…you know what to do. Blog me.
Peace & Love…
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
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michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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October 4th, 2014 at 6:17 am
This officer Groubert is a complete psycho-cop. I have never seen suck a maniac And what a sissy. He tells the victim to display his license and registration, when the victim goes to get it, he freaks out and starts shooting. Why was he allowed to finish out the day? It was straight jacket time right then and there.
This officer must have a traumatic experience that morning. Like the paper boy almost hitting him with a newspaper. He was scared for his life, probably due to his high level bigotry. Unbelievable.
October 4th, 2014 at 6:46 am
My heart goes out to both of Groubert’s victims and their families.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:04 am
Was it not the same cop? Excuse me I got it wrong.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:13 am
It doesn’t matter unless some black men start killing the bastards, they will continue.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:23 am
S.T.A.R.K has allowed the republicans to cut early voting 16 hours before it goes into effect.
=====================================================
By a vote of 5-4, the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered that Ohio’s controversial cuts to early voting can go into effect. The ruling comes just 16 hours before early voting was scheduled to start in the Buckeye State.
The court’s five conservative justices—Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas, and Kennedy—voted to let the cuts go forward. The four liberals—Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor—voted to keep them on hold.
“Thousands of Ohioans rely on early voting,” said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “For many, it is their only chance to cast a ballot during an election. While today’s order is not a final ruling on the merits, it will deprive many Ohioans of the opportunity to vote in the upcoming election as this case continues to make its way through the courts.”
The Republican-backed cuts were blocked earlier this month by a federal judge, who ruled that they violated the Voting Rights Act’s ban on racial discrimination in voting. After an appeal by Ohio, that verdict was upheld by a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court. Ohio then appealed to the Supreme Court.
A full trial on the cuts is scheduled for next year.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/supreme-court-rules-against-early-voting-ohio
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Unless someone is prepared to remove one of these bought and paid for criminals, this country is lost to those who would.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:32 am
If you want to know how upset the right is about that video showing cops murdering a black man, check out Video Shows South Carolina Cop Shooting Black Man Without Any …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szVNTru_Pxw
Video Shows South Carolina Cop Shooting Black Man Without Any Apparent Provocation.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szVNTru_Pxw
You will get:
“This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated.”
——————————————————
Showing proof of how cops lie when that murder unarmed black men is too much for them so they end the video.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:45 am
Well thank god he survived. Hopefully the D.A. Isn’t completely incompetent and they prosecute his ass and give him the full sentence.
This is rediculous to the level of parody. I could give two shits about ISIS, ISIL, or whatever other organization is the boogeyman of the month. The only thing terrorizing my people is the fucking police.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:48 am
Wendell Pierce (from the Wire and Treme) was just on Bill Maher’s show talking about getting pulled over as a black man.
Said he always put his wallet on the dash before the cop got to the window so he didn’t have to reach for anything. Still, he had an incident with kids in the car where a gun was drawn on him bc of poor police training.
==================
“poor police training” is polite black for racist motherfuckers.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:50 am
David#7, I am hoping they do. People in SC are pretty pissed about the whole thing, especially since the cop has previous complaints against him, including detaining a woman for “disrespecting an officer of the law” (not at all an actual offense).
October 4th, 2014 at 7:51 am
I swear there was a Richard Pryor bit about this. “Keep your hands where I can see em while you get your license and registration. He’s reaching for a gun!”
October 4th, 2014 at 7:52 am
There’ll be some white asshole running in here to scream at you for not respecting his people’s struggle or some bullshit. Fuck him. More black people are killed by white people than white people are killed by brown people.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:52 am
you niggers always have something to bitch about. My people are terrorized by the high price of Chardonnay and brie. We all have our crosses to bear.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:53 am
David#7, After 9/11 some of his colleagues told my BF, “people in the US haven’t had to experience being afraid and anxious all the time.” Yeah, baby, talk to black folks who grew up in the deep South.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:55 am
This cop basically tried to force this guy into providing justification for his own murder. It’s time to draw a line in the sand.
Cops are the new KKK. White people, if you don’t condemn police officers, you support this new Klan.
There are too many whites standing on the sideline when it comes to the issue of deadly force used by police. This is a national crisis; no one can stand on the sidelines anymore. Time to pick a side.
It is time to start killing some of these murderers.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:56 am
The whites who are primarily the problem are older and/or in rural areas – ie, republicans. The problem is people ages 18-25 need to get off Facebook and twitter and fucking vote. But they won’t, watch what happens in November.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:57 am
The fact that he apologized to the officer for reaching for his license AFTER he was shot was eye opening for me.
October 4th, 2014 at 7:57 am
What about the black police officers? Can I call them klansmen?
October 4th, 2014 at 7:59 am
I’m a white person and I agree 100%. I live in Ohio (where John Crawford was shot for holding a toy gun) and I wrote a letter to our governor yesterday demanding that he and others in power here step up and show some leadership. Because if we don’t challenge the things that are happening now and demand change, then we are basically saying we are okay with this, and that’s just not right!
For anyone else who would like to clog up Ohio Governor Kasich’s inbox, the link is here: http://governor.ohio.gov/Contact/Contac….
I know it’s a small thing but it’s something, at least, and the more people who write to their elected officials, the better. Yeah, I get a form letter in response every time I do this, but if enough people write in he will have to pay attention.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:00 am
Stacy#16, That is what stood out to me too. That’s a lifetime of being always scared to death that you apologize for getting shot.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:01 am
“Cops are the new KKK”
That ain’t new at all, if you wanna be really real.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:02 am
The issue is systemic racism, that the guys with the badges have little to no regard for the rights and lives of black men in this country.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:04 am
I live in London England. It seems to me that a number of American’s younger voters choose the republican party because they are voting on single issues that effect them.
I’ve seen a number of my younger relatives and friends embrace the right wing politicians over the past 2 years over single issues that they think affect them:
For Example; the gay couple that want to vote Tory to oust all the “Dirty Muslims who want to bring shariah law to Canada”
My Cousin who spent the previous 5 years on social assistance posting pictures of the drinking parties she was at demanding drug tests for welfare.
My sister who is a shop steward and Union leader complaining about people who are on social assistance for injuries or illness.
etc.
So many white people are so deep in privilege that they just latch onto single issues and then vote on that one thing; willingly ignoring anything else.
When I lived in the states people were gleefully underfunding schools on purpose because in their eyes, the schools were useless and the money would be better in their own pocket. The schools were terrible because they were starved for funds, and go worse as the funds steadily dried up.
Gah. People are stupid assholes. (Myself included)
October 4th, 2014 at 8:06 am
Normally people keep their wallet in their back pocket. The movement of him diving into this truck was the issue.
I don’t fully agree with when the officer shot him, but I can see how the officer could have thought he was jumping in his vehicle to get something other than his license. Most people in my experience know not to jump around or dive into cars.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:08 am
Burne#22, While no one can argue people are fucking idiots, especially in this country, I disagree.
The youth in America are generally NOT single issue voters, that’s generally reserved for the dumbest among us, ie, conservatives (gay marriage, abortion, etc).
The problem with the youth vote in America is that they don’t vote. You’re lucky if 1 in 5 people under 25 will vote in November.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:10 am
Derrick#17, Tell a black cop you consider him part of the new Klu Klux Klan. Then let him explain it to you
October 4th, 2014 at 8:12 am
Greg#23, You racists are always looking for any excuse to support the murder of an unarmed black man by your thugs with badges.
I have watched that video five times, there is zero diving or jumping going on, he quickly reached in to his vehicle to retrieve the documents requested of him.
It’s not unusual for someone who just used their wallet to fill their car up with gas to not have their wallet in their pocket, he probably just threw it on the seat while he was pumping gas.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:16 am
The data doesn’t support that conclusion. Youth tend to vote single issue just as much as the old and the uneducated. Their single issue tends to be different for sure (voting because of gay marriage, or because of pro-choice, or because of environmental issues, but it’s still a single issue).
But the important bit to remember is that people between 18-25 have always been voting slackers. Sometimes less so, sometimes more so, but always less than older people. That hasn’t changed in 5 generations and it’s kinda foolish to think it suddenly will.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:21 am
Michelle, when I clicked on the comment link on your blog all I got was a notice that the blog was down, or couldn’t be located by my search engine.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:23 am
Al#1, you said it for me. I completely agree.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:24 am
Beverly#26, Common sense is to say hey my wallet is in the car, is it ok if i grab it. Not go head first into your vehicle. Like I said, i don’t agree with when the officer shot him. I can see how he thought he might be going for a weapon though. If you want to ignore, then oh well.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:26 am
That’s the thing, this whole thing is completely fixable, if the people of this country would just get off their butt for ONE day. Republicans can pass all the hurdles they want, but they cannot make it impossible to vote.
If you aren’t registered, do so NOW – don’t wait and then be puzzled you can’t same day it in November.
Don’t wait to get an ID and find out what you need to have. If your company makes it difficult to get out to the polling place, schedule time off NOW.
They could put the polling places on the top of a mountain accessible only by rope and old white farts would find a way to get there.
If the silent majority in this country showed even half the determination to make their vote counted of your average racist old uncle, we would drown out all of this craziness.
The only thing that keeps these people in power is the continued apathy of the general public, Obama doesn’t have to be on top of the ballot to make an election important.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:30 am
Greg#23, You Keep using the word ” normal ‘ which is to suggest I suppose that anything other than what you would have done is abnormal.
Do you know how many black men are trained to ALWAYS keep their wallet/car papers on the dashboard or somehere visible so as not to get shot whilst in their car on a traffic stop. (In this instance it didn’t help him as he was accosted outside the vehicle. )
This cop approached a routine traffic stop aggressively with His Gun ALREADY drawn the poor dude looks so shell shocked he was instinctively just trying to cooperate as quickly as possible to avoid getting shot but that didn’t happen did it?
October 4th, 2014 at 8:32 am
If the lazy niggers would get out and vote it would cause a shift in power. One of the biggest problems in Ferguson was that the black community (a significant majority) voted at a rate of like 12%.
They don’t have a voice because they don’t demand one. Their mayor seems tone deaf because he doesn’t speak for them, and doesn’t care. And then the people he puts in charge also don’t represent the silent majority.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:36 am
Common sense is to say “please keep your hands up” OR “please get your license.”
It is illiogical to command a citizen to do something, then use deadly force against them for doing it. That is not common sense.
It his obligation not to kill. It’s not the citizen’s obligation to avoid a no-win situation that the person with the gun set up.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:38 am
Michelle I have been trying to get on to your blog for two days. It just goes back and says the “comment” section isn’t working and can’t be reached by my Safari search engine.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:39 am
Greg#23, No you don’t agree with WHEN the officer shot an unarmed Black man for no fucking reason, as long as he shot him at SOME point, you’re good to go, aren’t you?
Jesus that’s fucked up.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:41 am
Greg#23, That’s bullshit. The guy didn’t jump in his car, he casually turned around when asked to get his license. There was a good second or two when the cop yelled and the guy pulled back that you could tell he wasn’t armed, but the cop shot anyway even shooting with his hands up.
You can rationalize this bullshit all you want but every cop knows that anytime you pull anyone over and ask for license and registration they almost always go into the glove box.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:42 am
JR#36, Yes jackass because had that guy come back out of his car with a GUN after reaching into his vehicle, then shooting him would have been warranted. Make sense now captain simpleton?
October 4th, 2014 at 8:43 am
Whites are standing on the sidelines. They don’t realize they’re next. It’s already started.
October 4th, 2014 at 8:47 am
Michelle and others are telling you to get out and vote. All I hear is that you did once when you elected Obama and even with control of the House he didn’t get anything done.
That’s bullshit. Sure, you voted for Obama….where did everyone go in 2010 when there was a crazy right wing landslide at all levels of government that led to complete gridlock in Washington?
Obama can’t do it alone. It’s a miracle he’s accomplished what he has fighting complete obstruction from Republicans exploiting our obscene filibuster rules.
As Dems only controlled both houses for a short time, and in that time we did A LOT, including passing the most sweeping healthcare legislation ever. See what happens when people vote?
October 4th, 2014 at 8:54 am
For those of you having a difficult time posting to the blog with your comments just be patient. The first time it won’t go through.
You will get this message: Safari can’t open the page “http://blog.michellemoquin.net/wp-comments-post.php” because Safari can’t connect to the server “blog.michellemoquin.net”
Save your comment and repost it. Usually the second time it will go through.
My message is unless some black men are willing to risk going to jail and kill some of those sick racist bastards, this will continue. basically most whites don’t give a damn.
October 4th, 2014 at 9:07 am
Greg#23, you racist supporting bastards will stoop to any level to find a reason to excuse those murdering pieces of shit.
Even the police have judged this cop to be in the wrong. Yet you’re still defending him. Is there any instance in which you wouldn’t support a white cop shooting a black man?
October 4th, 2014 at 9:07 am
We all know he’s not going to be convicted, and even if he is, he’s not going to serve jail time.
October 4th, 2014 at 9:08 am
Weir#42, Hey dumbass, I said I don’t agree with how this went down. Learn to fucking read.
October 4th, 2014 at 9:10 am
Greg#45, I read you defending this racist cop in several posts. Learn to fucking think.
October 4th, 2014 at 9:11 am
Weir#46, I can dipshit. You just won’t let yourself even think about what the officer might have been thinking. So how about you go fuck yourself!?
October 4th, 2014 at 9:11 am
At least he’s fired. If there weren’t a video, the officer would have just lied and gotten away with it.
October 4th, 2014 at 9:13 am
This isn’t really a voting story. It is a police brutality story.
October 4th, 2014 at 9:14 am
I’ll never understand why the police are so easily spooked. they’re supposed to be protected with skills, armor, and training, but they freak out at everything.
“He moved too fast! OPEN FIRE!”
Why is the public (suspiciously often the black public) always on the hook to make the Police feel at ease? It’s like negotiating with an armed mugger every time you get pulled over.
October 4th, 2014 at 12:41 pm
The cop clearly pulled a weapon too soon…
A few things though …
When someone jumps out of the car or just gets out of the car it is standard protocol to say stay in the car and hands on steering wheel.
Not with a gun in officers hand yet…
Yet …
If you do get out of the car or you are rummaging in your glove box, cops are trained to take a ‘ready’ position bc it’s possible for someone outside the vehicle to get aggressive just as rummaging for your paperwork could be reaching for a weapon.
I’m not making excuses for poor or harsh or shooting idiots, just telling you what I know about old school ‘protect and serve’ training.
Are cops over the edge now? Yes.
And they are using military style tactics in many many cases where force is just way over the top.
I was tempted to call out the entire LAPD over the Darner case, many people were but guess what fighting with police is like telling the IRS to go to hell … It only puts you on a watch list at the least (I’m already on a few of those) and at its worst, you’re on the hit list.
They’re officially sanctioned thugs with few scrupulous amongst them anymore and they are clannish as KKK and fighting it any way but vigilanty style will end up with you arrested or dead.
For those up to the task, Alycedale and people like her will create the change … It could get ugly …
Now I’ll tell you about 2 pull over experiences …
I was behaving like a diva while pulling over ie I stayed on the phone and dif through the glove box when I was pulled over. A white female cop came over sidestepping gun pulled and elbows up ready to bring it to face in a seconds notice I caught it last second in my mirror and put my hands in the steering wheel. She put the gun down in front then and ran me the riot act about what could’ve happened bc of my actions I’m quite sure if I were a black dude (or anyone OTW) it could’ve played out differently.
The other time I jumped out of the car bc I was pissed and wanted to see the sign he claimed I ran… He got until ready position when he asked me it get back in the car with hand in gun I said no I want Tom see the sign and he said I’m going to call for back up if you dint get back in the car. In a weird comedy of errors he got a call that was apparently more important and handed me my papers and sped off … Cool bc I was not going to back down and who wants to go there with their kid in the car? To me it was important to point out the bullshittiness of his pull over.
That being said ….
You don’t want to fuel the fire of someone with raging adrenalin (under any circumstances really bc it doesn’t end well like that) and with crazy cops especially they’re already jacked up in caffeine and sugar also …
….and you can like or not like any or all of what I just said it’s the way it is (until we go rogue)
I’m just wondering who I’m going to call next time I have a rubbery attempt? Ghost busters? Hmmm I might need a private security guard…
Luv, Zen Lill
October 5th, 2014 at 11:01 am
[…] FF: Thanks for taking a step forward to stop the insanity of these thugs with badges. I tried your link to write a letter myself and it isn’t working. […]