Protestors in Boston. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons.)
It was an emotional scene: a Louisville police officer embracing a woman. You probably saw it on your newsfeed, spurred on by network news channels or feel-good content aggregators.
The very same night that touching moment of solidarity went viral, Louisville Police killed David McAtee, a Black man who owned a BBQ joint in the city. You didn’t see McAtee’s death on your timeline, because the police officers who killed him had their body cameras off. And, after Louisville Police killed the man who fed them for free, his body remained in the streets for 12 hours.
The exact circumstances of McAtee’s death are unclear. Eyewitnesses said McAtee was trying to protect his niece; police said he fired at officers.
But had police had their body cameras on, as is standard procedure in Louisville, we might be able to ascertain some form of justice. Had Louisville attempted to prosecute the police who killed Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black EMT shot in her own home during a botched raid in March, it may have discouraged officers from killing McAtee.
And had the city of Louisville diverted some of its police budget — 27 percent of the $675 million the city had on hand during the 2020 fiscal year — to its public health and wellness division (3 percent of the budget) or its community service office (responsible for fighting poverty; 1.4 percent of the budget), maybe both McAtee and Taylor would still be alive today, serving food and saving lives, respectively.
Instead, they are dead. And all the Louisville Police department has to offer is a hug.
While the circumstances differ nationwide, the sentiment remains the same; scared communities, begging peacefully for some empathy from those assigned to “protect and serve” them, met with outright hostility.
In Fort Worth, Texas, a Black officer kneeled in solidarity with protestors Monday, before cops tear-gassed them. (The use of tear gas is a war crime.) In San Luis Obispo, California, officers kneeled with protestors, then gassed them hours later. In Brooklyn, cops kneeled with protestors before going into “attack mode.” In Asheville, North Carolina, the chief of police kneeled before his officers destroyed a medical station. (Also a war crime.) In Hampton Roads, Virginia, Washington, D.C., In Detroit, they innovated, arresting legal protestors before kneeling.
All of this is to say: nationwide, the pattern is clear. Police officers will make lip service to changing their ways, but take no action toward doing so.
To quote Baltimore Beat’s Lisa Snowden-McCray: “Professional public relations professionals are paid very well…don’t work for [them] for free.” Your local police department will not pay you. But they will take your free advertising. And, if protestors settle for kneeling rather than tangible change, they will keep taking your resources — and your neighbors’ lives.
Politics and Prozac is a sporadically-updated newsletter about journalism, elections, and their consequences. The author, Arya Hodjat, is a recent graduate of the University of Maryland. You can reach him at aryahodjat11@gmail.com, or on Twitter @arya_kidding_me. Until next time!