Americans May Be Ready For Real Change-- And We're Stuck Choosing Between Two Status Quo Stiffs

What? by Chip Proser

It's been about 2 weeks since several officers from the Minneapolis police department brutally and virtually routinely murdered George Floyd and then lied about it, not knowing they would be exposed by a cell phone tape. Those officers are responsible for a "Defund the Police" movement and more. Yesterday, Axios reported that the ugliness that has been nearly routine for Black America is now being exposed for everyone else in the country. And-- except for hard core Trump fanatics, no one likes it. A brand new poll of Michigan likely voters asked "Are deaths of black individuals isolated incidents, or signs of a bigger problem?" 68% said it was part of a bigger problem. Asked if policing practices need reform, 76% said yes and only 15% said no. When asked if demonstrators should be permitted to carry guns inside the state Capitol, 80% said no and just 13% said yes.

It's no longer the word of a police officer vs. the suspect. Now it's the police officer vs. video cameras, often held by members of the communities they patrol. At least three big police departments have been caught in the act in just the past few weeks because of video footage, AP notes.

• Minneapolis police initially told the public that George Floyd resisted arrest and that he died after a "medical incident during a police interaction." But George Floyd didn't resist arrest, and the Minneapolis police omitted the knee that a former officer placed on his neck for almost 9 minutes.
• Buffalo police said a protester "tripped and fell." Protester Martin Gugino, 75, was pushed by Buffalo police officers and suffered brain damage. President Trump tweeted a conspiracy theory about Gugino today, but you can watch the tape for yourself. The man was shoved to the ground by cops, and no one stopped to help. Even a handful of Republican senators recognize Trump's response as a potential catastrophe for the GOP and are trying to distance themselves from it.
• Philadelphia police alleged that a college student who suffered a serious head wound had assaulted an officer. The Philadelphia officer was seen on video striking a 21-year-old Temple University student in the head and neck with a metal baton. That student was released after prosecutors saw the video and decided to pursue the officer instead.

Civil rights lawyer Michael Avery, who is the board president of the National Police Accountability Project, told the AP that false claims by the police had long been known to inner-city communities. "But what is happening now with video, this is getting out into the larger world, into the media, into white communities, suburban communities, and people outside the affected communities are becoming more aware of what’s going on," he said. "It’s a completely different situation."

A Washington Post poll also found that most people are not all that sympathetic with the police. Dan Balz and Scott Clement wrote that "Americans overwhelmingly support the nationwide protests that have taken place since the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis, and they say police forces have not done enough to ensure that blacks are treated equally to whites... Trump receives negative marks for his handling of the protests, with 61 percent saying they disapprove and 35 percent saying they approve. Much of the opposition to Trump is vehement, as 47 percent of Americans say they strongly disapprove of the way the president has responded to the protests."

The poll highlights how attitudes about police treatment of black Americans are changing dramatically. More than 2 in 3 Americans (69 percent) say the killing of Floyd represents a broader problem within law enforcement, compared with fewer than 1 in 3 (29 percent) who say the Minneapolis killing is an isolated incident.

That finding marks a significant shift when compared with the reactions in 2014 to police killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York. Six years ago, 43 percent described those deaths as indicative of broader problems in policing while 51 percent saw them as isolated incidents.

Overall, 74 percent of Americans say they support the protests that have been carried out in cities and towns across the country since the May 25 killing of Floyd, which occurred after police held him on the ground and one officer pressed his knee to the victim’s neck for nearly nine minutes. “I can’t breathe,” Floyd said as he died.

The recent demonstrations have bipartisan appeal, with 87 percent of Democrats saying they support them, along with 76 percent of independents. Among Republicans, the majority-- 53 percent-- also back the protests.

The widespread support for the protests comes amid mixed views of whether those events have been mostly peaceful or mostly violent. On that question, Americans are evenly divided, with 43 percent saying the protests have been mostly peaceful and an identical percentage describing them as mostly violent. Thirteen percent say the protests have been equally peaceful and violent.

Views on this split along ideological and partisan lines: Most liberals (70 percent) and Democrats (56 percent) say the protests were mostly peaceful, while most conservatives (60 percent) and Republicans (65 percent) say they were largely violent. Independents are split similarly to the country overall, with 44 percent saying the protests were mostly peaceful, 42 percent mostly violent.

But support for the protests is evident regardless of whether they are seen as mostly violent or mainly peaceful.

...Casting ahead to the November election, which pits Trump against former vice president Joe Biden, half of all Americans (50 percent) say they prefer a president who can address the nation’s racial divisions, compared with 37 percent who say they want a president who can restore security by enforcing the law.

...Republicans generally agree with views of the protests expressed by Trump. Last week he called himself “your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters” in a Rose Garden statement, made as police and military troops forcibly cleared a demonstration near the White House. He also said the country was in the grip of “professional anarchists, violent mobs, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters, antifa and others.” He told mayors and governors that they needed to dominate the streets to restore order.

More than 7 in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the protests, a view shared by just over one-third (35 percent) of the overall population. Republicans also have a more negative view of the protests; while 43 percent of the public says the protests have been “mostly violent,” 65 percent of Republicans hold this view.

Almost half of all Americans (47 percent) say police have not used enough force in responding to episodes of looting and vandalism, a figure that rises to 72 percent among Republicans. And 63 percent of Republicans say they prefer a president who would restore security, when 50 percent of the overall population instead prefers someone who could deal with the country’s racial divisions.

Yesterday, the AFL-CIO's General Board endorsed what they claim is "a sweeping set of policing reforms" proposed by the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, expressed support and solidarity with the Minnesota AFL-CIO's call for the resignation of the President of the Minneapolis Police Union (not affiliated with the AFL-CIO), expressed support for the King County Labor Council (Seattle)'s demands on the Seattle police union that they renounce racist practices of face expulsion, and committed the AFL-CIO to an accelerated and intensified process of internal dialogue and change around race in our own institutions. "The scourge of police violence against black people in America has reached a tipping point," get said in their statement, "and it is critical that we take comprehensive action to end this injustice once and for all. Union members live and work in every state and every community, so when police brutality occurs, it happens in our backyards and to our families. As such, we feel a special responsibility in the wake of George Floyd’s murder to support our civil rights allies and play a leading role in making sure this time is different. Whether it’s banning chokeholds, expanding use of body cameras, ending racial profiling, demilitiarizing our police forces or limiting no-knock warrants, the LCCHR’s recommendations on police reform have the potential to create a fairer, more community-centric policing culture."