Tuesday, September 02, 2014

St. Paul Skyway Arrest

Why is this getting so much attention? It was turned into a racial thing and maybe even calculated to do so. The guy was waiting in a place where he wasn't supposed to be. He refused to leave when security officers confronted him. Then when police arrived, he refused to show identification and cooperate. Then when they arrested him, he recorded it on his cell phone and created a racial incident. He was black and says he was waiting for his kids. I argue if he was white, or blue or any color and he (mis)behaved the same way, he would have been arrested. But of course if he was white, this would never have made the news. Likewise, if he would have behaved reasonably and cooperated with either the security or the police he would have never been arrested.

The St. Paul police made one mistake here. They should have sent an African-American police officer to arrest him. Why is this even being debated? Being black does not permit you to defy authority and get away with it. Sure it probably works a lot of the time; but that doesn't mean it is right.

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