Questa volta abbiamo cercato: I can’t breathe. Black lives matter.
As the gap of the political divide in our world grows deeper, we would like to take a few minutes of your time or express our support of equal treatment, equal justice, to express solidarity with groups which have been marginalized for too long, and to outright say black lives matter. The AskReddit moderators have decided to disable posting for 8 minutes and 46 seconds — the time George Floyd was held down by police — and we will lock comments on front page posts. Our hope is that people reading this will take a moment to pause and reflect on what can be done to improve the world. This will take place at 8PM CDT.
AskReddit is a discussion forum with which we want to encourage discussion of a wide range of topics. Now, more than ever, it’s important to talk about the topics that divide us and use AskReddit to approach these conversations with open minds and respectful discussion.
This is also an important opportunity to reiterate our stance on moderation. Simply put, we believe it’s our duty to ensure neutral and fair moderation so people with opposing views can use our platform as a place to have these important and much needed discussions about their views, our hope being that the world will benefit as a result. We feel that it is our duty to make sure that AskReddit is welcoming to all. To that end, we have a set of rules to ensure posts encourage discussion and to ensure users feel safe, welcome, and respected. As always, blatant statements of racism or any other kind of bigotry will not be tolerated. We want users to be able to express themselves and their views. Remember that everyone here and everyone you see in the news are human beings, too.
With all of that in mind, we reiterate our encouragement for people to discuss these hard, and often uncomfortable, topics as a way to find alignment, unity, and to progress as a society.
We ask that you take a few minutes to research a charity that aligns with your beliefs or a cause you care about and that you donate to it if you’re able. Rolling Stone put together a lot of links to different funds across many states if you would like to use this as a place to start.
-The AskReddit mods
Ed ecco le risposte:
I just have to say I’ve seen some very negative things about the whole situation on some different subreddits, even my own city’ subreddit which I thought would be fully supportive. Turns out they are the complete opposite.
But, there’s been a whole lot of love, caring, and support coming from MOST subreddits and I truly appreciate it. It means the world honestly.
God I remember 4 months ago watching videos of police officers in china silencing the HK protesters thinking about how insane it was then now I wake up and see the same thing happening to the BLM protesters.
Progression? Well, I was quite surprised when I had seen Joe Biden’s recent speech, as he called for a special independent force to investigate officer involved crimes. A solution that, I often wondered why, was not the pivotal demand of protestors.
Contrary to what some people think, the police are not who make the decision to charge someone with a crime. Police do wield tremendous investigatory and persuasive power, but the decision of whether or not to officially charge a person with a crime lies with the prosecutor, who will be the local district attorney if you are charged with a state-level crime, or the U.S. District Attorney if you are charged with a federal crime.
There is an inherent conflict of interest in the American justice system arising out of the intimate police-prosecutor relationship that has evolved in the United States over the last forty years. While police and prosecutors formerly operated as independent units, a concerted effort to join forces has resulted in close working relationships. These relationships have increasingly led law enforcement to employ perjury and unethical tactics to obtain unjust convictions against criminal defendants. In addition, they have allowed law enforcement to commit atrocious acts without fear of punishment. And, because police and prosecutors enjoy immunity under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for almost any conduct, victims and their families are often left without recourse in either a criminal or civil forum—even when law enforcement officials commit criminal, malicious, or bad faith acts against them.
> “Prosecutors work with police day in, day out, and typically they’re reluctant to criticise them or investigate them,” said Prof Samuel Walker of the University of Nebraska. Describing Lugod’s case as a cause for concern, Walker said: “A major change in our standard legal practice, and the structure of our criminal justice system, is required.”
> Among the 95% of district attorneys who are elected, many like Kleine receive valuable donations and public endorsements from police unions for their campaigns. The alternative, a “soft on crime” denunciation, can be electorally toxic. These unions frequently go on to provide legal representation for officers in fatal shootings handled by the same prosecutor.
> The consequences of falling out of favour with the police lobby can be dire. In Texas, Dallas County DA Craig Watkins was unseated by challenger Susan Hawk this year after police unions ploughed tens of thousands of dollars into Hawk’s campaign, and officers took to the streets to knock on doors for her. Their intervention followed the indictment of four police officers by grand juries under Watkins’ oversight in 2014.
–Ties that bind: how the bond between police and prosecutors impedes justice
Friendships, donations, fear of powerful police unions, fear of losing cases and being forced to face the repercussions. These are the hurdles that a prosecutor must overcome before criminally charging their police counterpart. It creates an apparent conflict of interest that often leads to an abnormally large margin of dismissed cases.
Charging officers with crimes is still difficult for prosecutors
To everyone going out and protesting tonight, good luck and please stay safe.
To anyone who plans to go out and protest, please remember to wear a mask, not only because of the virus but also to help protect you from inhaling tear gas, and some form of eye protection (swim or ski goggles are ideal, but sunglasses will also work) to keep you safe from pepper spray. Don’t be afraid to defend yourself if worst comes to worst.