Without the several videos of the recent killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis her murder would have been quickly denied and covered up. And if you don’t believe this, look back on the tragic unprovoked murder of the young black man, Ahmaud Arbery, in Georgia February 2021. The case made the national news, and I covered it closely in these pages. (Go to potlatchga.com and open the November 2021 archives for more information.) The grisly murder took place about 10 miles from where I sit typing this. You might remember that Arbery was shot point blank with a twelve gauge shotgun. His alleged crime was that he was black and jogging in a white neighborhood. The assailants, connected to local law enforcement authorities, were initially exonerated by the local district attorney who claimed the shooting was a case of self-defense. Like the Good case, there was video of the incident that showed otherwise, the irony being that it, like the one from the ICE officer, was provided by the perpetrators themselves. Arbery’s killers are now serving life imprisonment; without the video they would have been set scot-free to continue their contempt and hatred towards others. It remains to be seen just how the case of Renee Good will play out.
Here are a few thoughts: police work is hard and often dangerous. Furthermore there is often tension between the public and the police, especially in times of extreme unrest. In such circumstances, law enforcement officers and authorities frequently band together to protect their brothers-in-arms, an understandable human response. Most often, however, the public and police work together with mutual respect and forbearance. We do not have an adversarial relationship with our police in this country.
The introduction of an armed paramilitary forces into our communities has clearly provoked unrest and violence leading to the violation of constitutional and human rights.
Regardless of valid criminal and immigration issues, quickly trained (eight weeks) men, armed with assault rifles and revolvers, wearing bullet proof vests and masks, barking orders, invective and profanity at citizens is unacceptable in our free and democratic communities. There is no respect or forbearance, only arrogance and contempt, a formula for disaster.
Renee Good, a white woman, and Ahmaud Arbery, a black man, have much in common. Both could be poster figures for the failure of America; both are victims of bias and prejudice, both are examples of what happens when evil is released by authorities hell bent on compelling obedience to their warped and perverted beliefs.