IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

An excerpt from the United States Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness

it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 13 March, 1962

I have written much about the US boot on the neck of Latin America and the how their imperial neoliberal policies have sought to destroy and suppress the rise of authentic democracies on that continent, but the police tactics used in the protests sweeping the country now are the same as those used by Pinochet, starting in 1973 all the way up until the present day with the US Puppet regimes NOW in Chile, Honduras, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador.

Militarized police forces dressed in riot gear across the country are using the same tactics as the US Puppet dictators in these Latin American countries, shooting rubber bullets at the eyes of peaceful protestors, launching flash-bang grenades at them and, in some cases, more than 5 officers simultaneously committing felony assault and battery against those who are simply recording their abuse and misconduct and, if you thought it couldn’t get any more horrific, in some cases, committing felony assault and battery against young, minor females of color.

CW: BLOOD AND GORE

I was protesting tonight. I was recording everything when I got hit with a rubber bullet. This is the result. pic.twitter.com/b6tniiuVSq

— Steve Rogers (@shannynsharyse) May 30, 2020

With this straw that broke the back of the camel, the human steamroller is gaining momentum and, with it, the pitchforks….

The murder of George Floyd wasn’t a singular event by a racist police officer against an unarmed and subdued black man; it’s the result of systemic racism, the Qualified Immunity and undue protections for a sector of public service, a sector that has built in legal protections that include exemptions and immunities from prosecution and public scrutiny; as a result George Floyd’s murder is another tragic death in a

a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism

As a member of a uniformed public agency, sworn to uphold, protect and defend the citizenry and the rule of law as it pertains to all, this officer Derek Chauvin violated that oath and, with malice and forethought, did wantonly kill George Floyd and, as such, representing the state (the City of Minneapolis) as a servant and representative thereof, is guilty of a state crime. The other 3 officers present at the scene, providing cover and protection for Officer Chauvin as he extinguished the life of Mr. Floyd, are accomplices and, as such, are also guilty of state crimes.

What should be the consequences for such a state crime? It wasn’t just Officer Chauvin and the other 3 officers who were involved in the incident who are responsible; their actions are the responsibility of his superiors all the way up the chain of command that doesn’t end with the mayor of the city; they end with and are the responsibility of the state executive, the Governor of Minnesota. The governor is ultimately responsible for the crimes committed by police, not just in the state of Minnesota for this murder, but in all cases of abuse at the hands of police that don’t necessarily result in death, but all cases where excessive force, brutality and abuse of power resulted in personal injury, a violation of a citizen’s rights, personal integrity and safety.

A federal investigation of all police agencies is long overdue, not just in the state of Minnesota but in all jurisdictions across the country. With the current administration and their neo-facist penchant and appetite for increased state power and the funding of private, for-profit prisons, that investigation may not come now and may have to wait until this president’s successor is elected.

It should be pointed out that the City of Minneapolis has had a long and stained history of police violence and abuse of power going back almost 15 years. George Floyd’s murder is just the latest chapter in the city’s dark legacy of police brutality:

1) David Allen Grossman, is an author and retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel who has specialized in the study of psychology and how it pertains to killing. He has a long history of providing “Warrior Training” for many police agencies across the country, not the least of which is the City of Minneapolis Police Department! Any thinking, rational individual would have to conclude that Mr. Grossman should be the last person to provide such training for police, considering his morbid and sociopathic proclivity for killing. It emerges that one of Grossman’s students, Jeronimo Yanez, an officer in the City Of Minneapolis Police Department, shot and killed Philando Castile, the driver of a car pulled over by Yanez during a routine traffic stop. It turns out that Yanez was acquitted of all charges and received a “buyout” by the City as reported by PBS:

“Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds — who was in the car along with her 4-year-old daughter when the shooting occurred — famously live streamed the shooting’s aftermath to Facebook. Castile is seen bloodied and slumped in his seat while an officer, later identified as Yanes, is heard yelling, “I told him not to reach for it!”

The latest: Yanez faced one count of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of reckless discharge of a firearm in connection with Castile’s death. Last Friday, a jury acquitted Yanez of all charges. Thousands protested in St. Paul over the outcome of the trial.”

2) The City Of Minneapolis Police Department’s record of police violence has been extreme to the point where it has been necessary to chronicle that history in the following report, compiled by Communities United Against Police Brutality

It should also be pointed out and is something all thoughtful citizens who wish to participate in the upcoming national election in November should consider: Senator Amy Klobuchar, the United States Senator from Minnesota and former Democratic presidential candidate who is now seeking the VP spot in a possible Joe Biden Administration, failed to prosecute this very officer, Derek Chauvin, when she was Hennepin County prosecutor; Chauvin was one of 6 officers who shot and killed another minority member of the city’s community in 2006 and Senator Klobuchar failed to prosecute him along with the other 5 at that time. If then Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar prosecuted Chauvin in 2006, it’s a very good chance George Floyd would be alive today.

In one form or another, change is coming and the reign of the elite ruling class, protected by the police and institutional corruption at the highest level, will soon come to a crashing and not-so-peaceful end.

Another account worthy of your time: The Broken Policing System | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj on Netflix.

WHITE SILENCE IS VIOLENCE!

Watch this video! The Police, & those they serve, would rather jack up the violence & burn down the town, than be held accountable under the law.

How about, Murder in the first degree, life for killer…

How about actual real law?

(Video @shaunking) pic.twitter.com/D1yFO9lbgV

— Roger Waters (@rogerwaters) May 31, 2020

https://twitter.com/MrSomtoOkonkwo/status/1267145621351411713?s=20

Featured image credit: Aljazeera