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Kill and be killed: Police murders in Oakland
National news wires lit up with shocking news that four Oakland, California, police officers were shot dead on March 21 in two separate gunfire exchanges with 26-year-old parolee Lovelle Mixon.
It began with an apparently routine traffic stop by two motorcycle cops when suddenly Mixon opened fire, killing one on the spot and mortally wounding another.
In a final shootout at his sister’s home several hours later, two SWAT officers were killed with an assault rifle before Mixon himself was fatally gunned down.
Another violent police confrontation in the Black community; not the first, not the last. Basic conflicting social, economic and political interests remain between the protagonists and are sure to explode again.
Predictably, the bloody aftermath produced cries of outrage from self-righteous establishment politicians fanning stoked emotions to justify renewed calls for increased police patrols, stricter probation standards and harsher punishment of offenders.
This completely misses the point. Haven’t we heard enough of these domestic versions of “Shock and Awe?”
What more can be done to repress a Black community that already comprises 40 percent of the national prison population of nearly 2 and a half million and suffers an unemployment rate double that of the white population?
Oakland is not unlike Black communities elsewhere with huge deficits in education, income and jobs. Squeezed into dilapidated corridors of economic neglect, big-city minorities endure horrible sub-standard living conditions.
Crime and punishment
One of the worst consequences is crime in the Black community. It is no joke. It is real, it is violent and it is extensive. It is rare for a family not to have been touched by senseless predatory acts among and between Black youth.
But police are not the solution.
Cops are not equipped to either understand, appreciate or address the despair that spawns violence so prevalent in the Black community.
Instead, it better suits their “law enforcement” approach to virtually treat whole sections of youth as criminals.
Read More
http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/kill-and-be-killed-police-murders-in-oakland/
In a final shootout at his sister’s home several hours later, two SWAT officers were killed with an assault rifle before Mixon himself was fatally gunned down.
Another violent police confrontation in the Black community; not the first, not the last. Basic conflicting social, economic and political interests remain between the protagonists and are sure to explode again.
Predictably, the bloody aftermath produced cries of outrage from self-righteous establishment politicians fanning stoked emotions to justify renewed calls for increased police patrols, stricter probation standards and harsher punishment of offenders.
This completely misses the point. Haven’t we heard enough of these domestic versions of “Shock and Awe?”
What more can be done to repress a Black community that already comprises 40 percent of the national prison population of nearly 2 and a half million and suffers an unemployment rate double that of the white population?
Oakland is not unlike Black communities elsewhere with huge deficits in education, income and jobs. Squeezed into dilapidated corridors of economic neglect, big-city minorities endure horrible sub-standard living conditions.
Crime and punishment
One of the worst consequences is crime in the Black community. It is no joke. It is real, it is violent and it is extensive. It is rare for a family not to have been touched by senseless predatory acts among and between Black youth.
But police are not the solution.
Cops are not equipped to either understand, appreciate or address the despair that spawns violence so prevalent in the Black community.
Instead, it better suits their “law enforcement” approach to virtually treat whole sections of youth as criminals.
Read More
http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/kill-and-be-killed-police-murders-in-oakland/
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Every lawmaker in the state will be too afraid after the jumbo police rally today to even try to hold police more accountable to the public when they violate the public trust and abuse or murder citizens.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/25/18573293.php
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/02/25/18573293.php
I think we should be careful to remember that Mixon was never tried and convicted for the shootings. He was only a suspect. We know he was killed and that he was killed because he was the suspect, but we shouldn't say that Mixon killed anyone. He was only alleged to have killed someone. And those allegations came from an untrustworthy source: the police. Why should we choose to believe the police about that when we know police lie all the time? To say that Mixon killed police rather than say that Mixon is ALLEGED to have killed police is giving too much faith in police allegations. He was never convicted, and he'll never get a trial because the SWAT team decided that they were not going to let him have a trial. We need to defend the Constitution and the rhetoric at all ends. That includes reiterating that Mixon was only a suspect.
Rarely mentioned is the fact that in the era of "privatization" (read theft) of prisons by the party of greed, their corporate masters bribe...er, contribute to the campaigns of crook politicians to lengthen sentences so they can make more dough. Coward politicians jump in front of cameras and bravely denounce crime which is like saying they are against rabies or VD. Recall Nixon who, after the Bush Crime Family (who by the way "discovered" Nixon) was the biggest crook of all and both his faux war on crime and war on drugs were nothing more than the swelling of the police state required by covetous controllers in order to maintain power.
If a black, 19 year old kid gets busted with $20 worth of weed rest assured he wouldn't be waiting for what passes for justice in this country in a penthouse stacking kruggerands.
Meanwhile, if someone in your family is in danger I'd recommend you dial 911 and tell them a cop has been shot, seems an army appears before the doughnuts hit the ground.
And is it my imagination or is it a requirement that most cops resemble skinheads?
Please know I am an aging white man who has come to realize that those truly few who control most the money and nearly all the media must always divide in order to conquer. We are at a turning point (however slowly it turns) where they will continue to use their evil influence to further divide us. Obama wasn't elected by blacks alone, many are fed up. It is our duty as true american citizens to keep each other informed as well as educating the working class cops to not be used.
I denounce violence in all forms and murder by anyone, including (maybe particularly) by the state and know this for the tragedy that it is.
If a black, 19 year old kid gets busted with $20 worth of weed rest assured he wouldn't be waiting for what passes for justice in this country in a penthouse stacking kruggerands.
Meanwhile, if someone in your family is in danger I'd recommend you dial 911 and tell them a cop has been shot, seems an army appears before the doughnuts hit the ground.
And is it my imagination or is it a requirement that most cops resemble skinheads?
Please know I am an aging white man who has come to realize that those truly few who control most the money and nearly all the media must always divide in order to conquer. We are at a turning point (however slowly it turns) where they will continue to use their evil influence to further divide us. Obama wasn't elected by blacks alone, many are fed up. It is our duty as true american citizens to keep each other informed as well as educating the working class cops to not be used.
I denounce violence in all forms and murder by anyone, including (maybe particularly) by the state and know this for the tragedy that it is.
In the case of the SWAT entry, I think self-defense is a more reasonable description. In the case of the traffic stop, we've only heard the account of police and an alleged witness who will never be cross-examined.
does that sentiment of yours apply to the cops too, cops who are always crying about how scared they are and that's why they use deadly force against unarmed citizens?
the BART cops who shot Oscar Grant and then tried to cover up the murder are now saying they were afraid for their lives on the BART platform that night. a half dozen heavily weaponized cops were afraid for their lives as they wrongfully detained some unarmed kids of color who did not attack them in the slightest way. don't they have radios to call for back-up if something truly scary happens? of course, they were under no physical threat whatsoever that night, but that excuse works to justify the murder of Oscar Grant in the minds of far too many people
the BART cops who shot Oscar Grant and then tried to cover up the murder are now saying they were afraid for their lives on the BART platform that night. a half dozen heavily weaponized cops were afraid for their lives as they wrongfully detained some unarmed kids of color who did not attack them in the slightest way. don't they have radios to call for back-up if something truly scary happens? of course, they were under no physical threat whatsoever that night, but that excuse works to justify the murder of Oscar Grant in the minds of far too many people
The police, Mixon, and his niece. Meaning that there are 3 ways this plays out.
a) pigs bust in, Mixon unloads, either from behind cover or not. Kills two and then is gunned down.
b) Pigs bust in, Mixon is promptly shot without warning. The 16 year old niece comes in the room and kills two of the police, who then do nothing.
or
c) pigs bust in, Mixon is promptly shot without warning. Then, for some reason, the police then shoot and kill 2 of their own for some reason.
There's my three theories.
a) pigs bust in, Mixon unloads, either from behind cover or not. Kills two and then is gunned down.
b) Pigs bust in, Mixon is promptly shot without warning. The 16 year old niece comes in the room and kills two of the police, who then do nothing.
or
c) pigs bust in, Mixon is promptly shot without warning. Then, for some reason, the police then shoot and kill 2 of their own for some reason.
There's my three theories.
it's doubtful that the girl shot anyone, although she was bombed then dragged out of the apartment
one possibility almost no one mentions is friendly fire
remember Pat Tilman and how the pentagon said he died courageously fighting the bad guys, only to come out later that he was shot by his own troops (and maybe even deliberately)?
well, the cops are like a local version of of an occupational army in oakland -- shit, just look at the mega-cop rally in oakland today, by cops most of whom do not live in oakland or give a shit about it. and the cops will certainly lie to make each other look more hero-like and less fallible
one possibility almost no one mentions is friendly fire
remember Pat Tilman and how the pentagon said he died courageously fighting the bad guys, only to come out later that he was shot by his own troops (and maybe even deliberately)?
well, the cops are like a local version of of an occupational army in oakland -- shit, just look at the mega-cop rally in oakland today, by cops most of whom do not live in oakland or give a shit about it. and the cops will certainly lie to make each other look more hero-like and less fallible
If the theory is accepted that Mixon shot the cops who entered the apartment, then it was still self-defense, because at that point in time Mixon had reasonable cause to believe that his life was in imminent danger and that the cops who entered the apartment were going to try to kill him. So shooting them would have been justifiable self-defense.
All of the politicians who have worked to increase our prison populations with all kind of non-violent offenders. The same politicians who are crying in the limelight over the deaths of these cops - they should shoulder some of the blame for this violence.
If we were only incarcerating truly troubled and dangerous people, there would be a much smaller prison population. The focus could be on those who are dangerous and/or need more help. Then, when people get on parole, there are fewer people to deal with and those would be the people deemed those with the most troubling and violent histories.
By incarcerating so many people and many non-violent offenders, the system goes into chaos. Because of the nature of our political system, the backwards attitudes and hate - I don't believe we will have the change we need. More cops and more citizens will be killed. Police will continue to live outside the communities they work in and those police with bad histories will continue to hide behind the protections politicians have given them - so there is no daylight for the public. Yes, there needs to be change but not from the politicians we have in America.
If we were only incarcerating truly troubled and dangerous people, there would be a much smaller prison population. The focus could be on those who are dangerous and/or need more help. Then, when people get on parole, there are fewer people to deal with and those would be the people deemed those with the most troubling and violent histories.
By incarcerating so many people and many non-violent offenders, the system goes into chaos. Because of the nature of our political system, the backwards attitudes and hate - I don't believe we will have the change we need. More cops and more citizens will be killed. Police will continue to live outside the communities they work in and those police with bad histories will continue to hide behind the protections politicians have given them - so there is no daylight for the public. Yes, there needs to be change but not from the politicians we have in America.
"If we were only incarcerating truly troubled and dangerous people, there would be a much smaller prison population. The focus could be on those who are dangerous and/or need more help. Then, when people get on parole, there are fewer people to deal with and those would be the people deemed those with the most troubling and violent histories."
While I'm a prison abolitionist, I think this is a much better approach then the "fry 'em" nonsense that has been plaguing California since the Pete Wilson days. Add to that working to change the system, and you may actually have a plan. Instead, we have a draconian system that incarcerates more and more people, demonizes more and more people, and to this day, is still obsessed with "terrorists" and other figments of the twisted political imagination rather than dealing with the actual problems in society.
While I'm a prison abolitionist, I think this is a much better approach then the "fry 'em" nonsense that has been plaguing California since the Pete Wilson days. Add to that working to change the system, and you may actually have a plan. Instead, we have a draconian system that incarcerates more and more people, demonizes more and more people, and to this day, is still obsessed with "terrorists" and other figments of the twisted political imagination rather than dealing with the actual problems in society.
Well thought and well put to print. Keep writing to other less conscious Feminists.....
This is exactly what The Black Panther Party Meant when they said "A PIG IS A FOUL DEPRAVED TRADUCER WHO CAN USUALLY BE FOUND MASQUERADING AS THE VICTIM OF AN UNPROVOKED ATTACK".
LOOK ALSO WHAT THE POLICE ,JUDGES, AND POLITICIANS DID WITH THE POLLY CLASS LAW- THEY USED (AND ARE USING IT ) TO SEND BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE TO PRISON FOR 25 TO LIFE SENTENCES.
LOOK ALSO WHAT THE POLICE ,JUDGES, AND POLITICIANS DID WITH THE POLLY CLASS LAW- THEY USED (AND ARE USING IT ) TO SEND BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE TO PRISON FOR 25 TO LIFE SENTENCES.
GREAT ARTICLE-SF BAYVIEW -i KNEW i COULD COUNT ON YOU TO BE OBJECTIVE.
anytime anything happens,even if its done by white people,all the laws will be used to attack african TIRED OF RACISM AMERICA!
THIS SYSTEM OF WHITE SUPREMACY IS A MANDATE TO MURDER COMMIT ,GENOCIDE, HARASSMENT OPPRESSION, AN BRUTALITY BY WHITE MEN AN WHITE COPS, ON THE BLACK POPULATIONS OF AMERICA THIS INFERIOR DISEASE IS CALLED WHITE SUPREMACY AND XENOPHOBIC BEHAVIOR IT IS COMMON IN ALL WHITE PEOPLE, THEY HAVE SELF HATRED ,JEALOUSY, AND ENVY OF BLACKS, THEY FEAR, THE BLACK, MAN, WHY?? THEY FEAR BLACKS BECAUSE OF THE INJUSTICE , THE INEQUALITY,, OF SLAVERY, , THESE, CREATURES, ARE SELFISH, GREEDY UNCARING STUPID, AN IGNORANT THEY , LACK THE UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURE OF OTHERS,THEY ALL NEED 2B CKD, THIS, RACISM PROFILING BLACK PEOPLE IS PART OF THEIR MENTAL PROBLEMS, THEY EVEN HATE, BLACK OFFICERS, TO, KILL A BLACK MAN OR IMPRISON A BLACK MAN, IS ALL THEY WANT TO DO, THEY KILL UNARMED YOUNG BLACKS EVERYDAY IN EVERY CITY OF AMERIKKKA, THE POLICE, NAZIS NEVER GO TO JAIL FOR THEIR MURDERS OF BLACKS, THERE WILL BE MORE POLICE SHOOTINGS, OF BLACKS, SO, IF, THAT IS SO, THEN BLACKS MUST PROTECT THEMSELVES, OR GET MURDERED, AN MADE A VICTIM, BLACKS HAVE BEEN DYING, EVER SINCE THIS WHITE MAN STOLE THEM FROM AFRICA, THE WHITE MAN HAS NOT TO THIS LATE DATE, HE,S STILL KILLING, BLACKS, THESE, ARE DEVILS, THERE IS NO RACE ON THIS EARTH, THAT HAS COMMITTED A ONGOING GENOCIDE ON BLACKS, COLLECTIVELY THEY ARE ALL DEVILS, THEY ARE ANTI-GOD , ANTI LIFE, PRO-STATAN, AND PRO MURDER AN GENOCIDE,
even white relatives of black people are racist toward them! unbleepin believeable! abolish the united states NOW!!
>> well, the cops are like a local version of of an occupational army in oakland
Paid for by your taxpayer dollars. Follow the money. Who pays for this army? Why?
The powers that be love it when poor people hate the police, and vice versa. Keeps anyone from asking the hard questions.
>> shit, just look at the mega-cop rally in oakland today, by cops most of whom do not live in oakland or give a shit about it
If they didn't give a shit, why did they come up? Hint: it wasn't free donuts. Hint #2: it wasn't because they like Oakland.
>>. and the cops will certainly lie to make each other look more hero-like and less fallible
Just like the gangsters. Why do you expect anything different or better?
>> @ Add Sense
>> If the theory is accepted that Mixon shot the cops who entered the apartment, then it was still self-defense
Lying in wait is murder one, fool.
>> because at that point in time Mixon had reasonable cause to believe that his life was in imminent danger and that the cops who entered the apartment were going to try to kill him.
Mixon could have dumped his guns, changed his clothes and ran for it. Or he could have hidden under the bed and waited for them to come drag him out. Or he could have been a man about it and either walked into a police station, gone to a pastor at a church, or found a media truck -- any of these would have resulted in him being taken into custody alive.
>> So shooting them would have been justifiable self-defense.
You simply would not believe the case law on this point. At the point where one knows that it is the police breaking in, the self defense rights disappear completely. You would essentially have to prove in advance that the police were unlawfully setting out to commit a murder, and even then, firing through a wall completely negates this argument.
It is highly unlikely that the cops shot first. At the moment Mixon chose to pull trigger on cops for a second time that day, he pulled the trigger on his own death. Not like a hero, but like a coward unwilling to face his own actions.
Paid for by your taxpayer dollars. Follow the money. Who pays for this army? Why?
The powers that be love it when poor people hate the police, and vice versa. Keeps anyone from asking the hard questions.
>> shit, just look at the mega-cop rally in oakland today, by cops most of whom do not live in oakland or give a shit about it
If they didn't give a shit, why did they come up? Hint: it wasn't free donuts. Hint #2: it wasn't because they like Oakland.
>>. and the cops will certainly lie to make each other look more hero-like and less fallible
Just like the gangsters. Why do you expect anything different or better?
>> @ Add Sense
>> If the theory is accepted that Mixon shot the cops who entered the apartment, then it was still self-defense
Lying in wait is murder one, fool.
>> because at that point in time Mixon had reasonable cause to believe that his life was in imminent danger and that the cops who entered the apartment were going to try to kill him.
Mixon could have dumped his guns, changed his clothes and ran for it. Or he could have hidden under the bed and waited for them to come drag him out. Or he could have been a man about it and either walked into a police station, gone to a pastor at a church, or found a media truck -- any of these would have resulted in him being taken into custody alive.
>> So shooting them would have been justifiable self-defense.
You simply would not believe the case law on this point. At the point where one knows that it is the police breaking in, the self defense rights disappear completely. You would essentially have to prove in advance that the police were unlawfully setting out to commit a murder, and even then, firing through a wall completely negates this argument.
It is highly unlikely that the cops shot first. At the moment Mixon chose to pull trigger on cops for a second time that day, he pulled the trigger on his own death. Not like a hero, but like a coward unwilling to face his own actions.
We are painting the entire Law Enforcement community with the same paint brush. Does this sound familiar? stereotyping someone because of their occupation....Isn't that what we are fighting against? There is no rhetoric that can spin the events of Saturday, March 21, 2009 to justify the actions of an evil, criminal. Mixon is a coward and a killer make no mistake about that. We must break the cycle of not snitching, fatherless families, drug dealing and blaming the "Man". Make education important, turn off the TV, take your kids to the library, set an example.
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