Eric Garner R.I.P.

I try not to be political in the least. I don't even know the details of this death, other than a man who'd been repeatedly told not to do something, finally frustrated the police so much, they physically attempted to detain the guy, and ended up killing him. This is murder. But an accidental murder. But how often do we say to ourselves, that we didn't mean to do something. Or a murderer says that they never meant to hurt the person they killed.

This was different than the Michael Brown case, in that the victim also suffered a heart attack from the incident. Seeing the morbidly obese man, it's pretty clear that a guy that size probably wasn't going to live long anyway. Not to say his death was inhumane, but to not allow a trial seems so...wrong.

I get the guy being in a criminal act. Or that he has a history of criminal behavior. But choking a guy in public to death, is not only gruesome, it just feels wrong. In that sense, it's hard to believe a grand jury wouldn't see enough evidence to, at the very least, ask deeper questions. Not that they'd ever find any. But this police brutality badge is going to haunt them further because of this. NO ONE wins.

My solution has always been simple. Stay off their radar. Yes, but what if by just existing you are always on their radar. True. A black man in a luxury vehicle driving through Compton is always going to get looks. Gets looks from every race. Doesn't matter. We all profile. And it's strange to hold police accountable for what we do generally, in life. Can we ignore an Asian in a all black neighborhood? No.  We naturally believe, this person is either lost or due to demographics, out to buy drugs. Does it mean they are? No. If they're lost, they have assistance. If they aren't selling drugs and just passing through, that's all that needs to be said. This distrust for police is an attitude issue, not a police brutality issue. No one likes to take responsibility, sometimes, for their own bad behavior. It's just shocking how much we haven't spoken about bad behavior leading up to these deaths. But focus on the deaths themselves. I implore people to come up with a solution instead of chanting catchy phrases. Like "Hands Up Don't Shoot." Or "Can't breath." How about "crime is crime. You will get noticed." Yeah, I know, not as catchy. But you get my drift.