Are You Showing Support for Black Lives Matter in Second Life?

[Lyssa Greymoon]

2 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

My thinking is that it lets them plea it back down to the original charge.

Or they're intentionally making it harder to convict him.

ETA, after hearing more details, it sounds like 2nd degree murder is a more appropriate charge and will be easier to get a conviction than for 3rd degree murder.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Lyssa Greymoon

[Derek Torvalar]

3 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Plea bargaining happens before ever going to arraignment. Yes, I have been there.

Begins there and can be undertaken during trial as well.

[Selene Gregoire]

*plonk*

[Beth Macbain]

7 hours ago, Jordan Whitt said:

I am just really sad that (now) almost 110,000 of your people have died from this virus, and as it was pointed out, the majority of them black people, and the only time their lives seem to matter is when it's trending or at the hands of your police force. 

I've been thinking about this all night and finally realized something.

WE SHUT DOWN THE ENTIRE DAMN COUNTRY over this and trying to prevent more unnecessary deaths. I've been holed up in my apartment since the middle of March leaving only for groceries and to stop into work for a couple of hours (where I am masked and not allowed to go near anyone) to print things I can't print at home. I've not seen my family or friends, had dinner in a restaurant, been there to celebrate births, mourn deaths, hug or even touch a single human being, for going on three months now, all to do everything I can to prevent spreading COVID - not to prevent myself getting it because I'd likely be fine. We have tanked the economy, isolated ourselves, eliminated everything but the barest essentials - all because stopping the spread of COVID matters.

I've not read the last three pages of this, but... honestly. To say that the deaths from COVID don't matter to us is stupid and false.

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

22 minutes ago, Blake1111Coverdale said:

My military status as a VET, and prior law enforcement experience actually can make my opinion more informed than yours especially on subjects that pertain to my knowledge, expertise and experience in specific subjects. Good thing for you I base my statements on facts not on my opinion.

You make assumptions about my "knowledge, expertise and experience". You cannot know that about any of us, so your argument here fails. 

[Luna Bliss]

It's the same damb thing always to the "what about me" crowd. They can't stand the attention not focused on their problem, the one that affects them more.  They see others getting attention, think it's not fair, and whiiiiiiiiiiiine WHAT ABOUT MEEEEEEE.

[Janet Voxel]

1 hour ago, Blake1111Coverdale said:

THE CONSEQUENCES FOR COMMITTING A CRIME ** CAN ** BE EXECUTION AT CURBSIDE BY A COP... 

Not when a suspect has been detained or neutralized (in the case of George Floyd). If they haven't been(in the case of Micheal Brown), police officers are trained to use pepper spray and stun guns to deescalate the situation. Even if he wasn't detained or neutralized, Michael Brown was still unarmed. It also speaks to bad policing that Michael Brown was not cuffed before he was being placed in the vehicle. 

1 hour ago, Blake1111Coverdale said:

 WHEN YOU DECIDE TO TRY AND KILL THE COP WHO IS ATTEMPTING TO STOP YOU FROM GETTING AWAY WITH YOUR CRIME. 

Debatable...There are different eyewitness accounts ranging from Micheal Brown punched the officer while being put in the vehicle (again...why wasn't he cuffed?) to he wasn't in the vehicle at all to he was surrendering and his hands were up. That makes it questionable.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-missouri-town-under-siege-after-police-shooting.html

1 hour ago, Blake1111Coverdale said:

 PEOPLE ESPECIALLY COPS HAVE NO RIGHT TO SELF DEFENSE ?   

Was it Self-Defense though?

Here's a different eyewitness account

Quote

"We were so close, almost inches away, that when he tried to open his door aggressively, the door ricocheted both off me and Big Mike's body and closed back on the officer," Johnson said.

Still in his car, the officer then grabbed Brown by his neck, Johnson said. Brown tried to pull away, but the officer kept pulling Brown toward him, he said.

The officer drew his weapon, and "he said, 'I'll shoot you' or 'I'm going to shoot' " and almost instantaneously fired his weapon, hitting Brown, Johnson said.

"I saw the officer proceeding after my friend Big Mike with his gun drawn, and he fired a second shot and that struck my friend Big Mike," Johnson told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "And at that time, he turned around with his hands up, beginning to tell the officer that he was unarmed and to tell him to stop shooting. But at that time, the officer firing several more shots into my friend, and he hit the ground and died."

Well that was the guy with him. He's covering for his friend right? Well here's a different one:

Quote

Witness Tiffany Mitchell was picking up Piaget Crenshaw for work when she saw Brown and the officer "tussling through the window." Mitchell and Crenshaw concurred with Johnson, saying Brown appeared to be trying to pry himself away from the officer's grasp. Brown had his hand on the police cruiser, trying to push himself away, Mitchell said.

Mitchell reached for her phone to record the encounter.

"I didn't get the video because a shot was fired through the window so I tried to get out of the way," she said.

After that shot, Brown broke free from the officer's grasp, both women told CNN, and started running, but he only got about 20 feet from the squad car by Crenshaw's estimate.

"The cop gets out of his vehicle shooting," Mitchell said. "(Brown's) body jerked as if he was hit from behind, and he turned around and he put his hands up. ... The cop continued to fire until he just dropped down to the ground, and his face just smacked the concrete."

Added Crenshaw, who said she was watching the incident unfold from a nearby balcony, "The (officer) actually shot kind of carelessly. They shot my neighbor's building that was on the opposite side of the police car. They then later came and removed that bullet. ... Anybody could've been standing right there."

See here's the thing: Black Lives Matter isn't just about these specific incidents. It's about much, much more than that. It's about poor policing in minority neighborhoods, its about a criminal justice system that is profiting of putting mainly black men in jail. Even a DOJ investigation "described a city that used its police and courts as moneymaking ventures, a place where officers stopped and handcuffed people without probable cause, hurled racial slurs, used stun guns without provocation, and treated anyone as suspicious merely for questioning police tactics. Shortly after the report was issued, Thomas Jackson, the embattled police chief, stepped down."

That should tell you something, that should tell you something is wrong. You chose to cherry pick a case where someone was actually guilty of committing a crime, but you entirely skipped over how questionable his techniques were. Then tried to justify them, when the whole incident is highly questionable.

Also...what kind of policing is grabbing someone through a window?

Edited June 4, 2020 by Janet Voxel

[Madelaine McMasters]

7 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

8 hours ago, Jordan Whitt said:

I am just really sad that (now) almost 110,000 of your people have died from this virus, and as it was pointed out, the majority of them black people, and the only time their lives seem to matter is when it's trending or at the hands of your police force. 

I've been thinking about this all night and finally realized something.

WE SHUT DOWN THE ENTIRE DAMN COUNTRY over this and trying to prevent more unnecessary deaths. I've been holed up in my apartment since the middle of March leaving only for groceries and to stop into work for a couple of hours (where I am masked and not allowed to go near anyone) to print things I can't print at home. I've not seen my family or friends, had dinner in a restaurant, been there to celebrate births, mourn deaths, hug or even touch a single human being, for going on three months now, all to do everything I can to prevent spreading COVID - not to prevent myself getting it because I'd likely be fine. We have tanked the economy, isolated ourselves, eliminated everything but the barest essentials - all because stopping the spread of COVID matters.

I've not read the last three pages of this, but... honestly. To say that the deaths from COVID don't matter to us is stupid and false.

Yeah, I'm a bit baffled by Jordan's insinuation that we can't simultaneously comprehend C19, BLM, and their interconnectedness. I've seen ample evidence to the contrary.

[Luna Bliss]

Well, Jordan, it's you calling our concern "virtue signalling" that really gets to me.  That's very insulting.

[Gatogateau]

10 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Yeah, I'm a bit baffled by Jordan's insinuation that we can't simultaneously comprehend C19, BLM, and their interconnectedness. I've seen ample evidence to the contrary.

Maybe she thinks most of us are cats, you know, with limited attenti........ Ooooh! Lookit! Laser pointer!

[Gatogateau]

1 hour ago, Sylvia Tamalyn said:

They should, but too many people act like they don't. That is the problem.

Edited to clarify before it gets jumped on: Too many people act like/believe that BLACK lives don't matter. 

Emphasis mine. Just because.

[Aethelwine]

6 hours ago, Maryanne Solo said:

 I don't watch this show, (or any TV for that matter), but found this on youtube. I wasn't searching for anything riot related either.

 

I feel like my IQ dropped watching that "Youtube expert" on SkyNews. The A symbol in a circle is an anarchist symbol nothing to do with Antifa. Antifa's symbols are flags. Black Block are Black Block not Antifa.

The A symbol is all over punk rock albums and in group names has been for years, it is a part of popular culture.

Honestly, I am astonished how their expert gets even the basics so wrong.

[AyelaNewLife]

I know this thread is now beyond redemption, but here's some 'fun' statistics for you. If any of you want to move to the first world, I'll fake-marry you for residency.

[Beth Macbain]

2 minutes ago, AyelaNewLife said:

If any of you want to move to the first world, I'll fake-marry you for residency.

Er... what country are you in again? I'm weighing my options based on local cuisine AND human rights.

[AyelaNewLife]

1 minute ago, Beth Macbain said:

Er... what country are you in again? I'm weighing my options based on local cuisine AND human rights.

#2. I hope you like gravy on your chips.

[Gatogateau]

1 minute ago, Beth Macbain said:

Er... what country are you in again? I'm weighing my options based on local cuisine AND human rights.

Oh gawd. Now you're gonna take this to food fights.   ♥

Pretty sure most countries can pony up to canned chicken, brussel sprouts, and Oreos. 

:::scampers again:::

[Paul Hexem]

1 hour ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

My thinking is that it lets them plea it back down to the original charge.  Plea deals always result in the person pleading to something less than the actual charge - and plea deals are so very common.  Though given how seldom the police are actually convicted, the accused may figure they have a better chance at going to court than taking a plea.

I'm not so sure. I haven't seen too many of these cases where the cop is on trial get plea deals- usually they go to court and stack it in their favor, either simply by knowing the prosecution/judges/court, or simple witness intimidation.

The tinfoil hat is telling me it's intentional- set it up so he goes free while still being able to claim they tried. For what ends, I don't know.

[Beth Macbain]

4 minutes ago, AyelaNewLife said:

#2. I hope you like gravy on your chips.

I do! And squeaky cheese thrown in there as well!

[AyelaNewLife]

2 minutes ago, Beth Macbain said:

I do! And squeaky cheese thrown in there as well!

The ring is in the mail.

Edited June 4, 2020 by AyelaNewLife
I did typo

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

National Guard members taking the knee together with protesters.

If I ever meet one of these guys in a pub, the first round's on me.

[Gatogateau]

Are any of you going to donate to any of those charities? I was thinking about Fair Fight, for promoting and aiding in fair elections. One of the biggest problems is to get the Constitution-hating Cheeto out of office. His ilk votes. I don't have a lot of money (classic understatement), but maybe $20 or something? I would think any little bit helps.

[AyelaNewLife]

5 minutes ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

National Guard members taking the knee together with protesters.

If I ever meet one of these guys in a pub, the first round's on me.

Video of the incident:

 

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

1 minute ago, Blake1111Coverdale said:

You're a petty, word nazi, disrespectful witch. You're pushing it. You're freekin crazy if you think I will back down. Im one of the nicest giving males in the world but when someone challenges me, I  never back down, not ever.  

Threats now?  How very enlightening. 

[LittleMe Jewell]

15 minutes ago, Paul Hexem said:

I'm not so sure. I haven't seen too many of these cases where the cop is on trial get plea deals- usually they go to court and stack it in their favor, either simply by knowing the prosecution/judges/court, or simple witness intimidation.

The tinfoil hat is telling me it's intentional- set it up so he goes free while still being able to claim they tried. For what ends, I don't know.

Possibly so.  It gives the families and protesters what they want -- harsher charges -- but, from how I read the Minneapolis definitions of the various degrees of murder, it does seem like it will be much harder to get a conviction on the upgraded charge.  By the same token, there are often many more charges piled on to the initial ones by the time trial comes around, and that would impact things overall also.

All we can do is "wait and see".

[Ashlyn Voir]

I won’t even put my true and honest opinions on here for the simple fact I know I’ll piss a certain group of people off. But, I think these series of events really brings out the true colors in certain groups and all the more of a reason to protest more or to just simply avoid those people. It also highlights how this country was never truly integrated even though teachers and history books say otherwise.