Three people shot and a fourth person killed. The recently-deceased had not threatened or used coercion. He caused no harm. Yet, he was killed. And those who took his life were rewarded with a paid vacation from their employer.
“I trust their judgment” said their boss. Huh? Kill someone when at work and get a paycheck and praise?
That’s the Statist Quo of policing today. It has to change.
The trigger-people, all employed by Woodbury Police Department were Anthony Ofsted, Stacey Krech, and Natalie Martin. The 19-year-old they gunned-down was Mark Eric Henderson. More: St. Paul Man Killed by Police Was Mistaken for Hotel Gunman
Anthony Ofstead, one of the three who slaughtered Henderson
Feel free to contact Ofsted, Krech or Martin to inquire about their actions.
Woodbury Police Department
http://www.ci.woodbury.mn.us/police-department2100 Radio Drive
Woodbury, MN 55125
651-714-3600
police@ci.woodbury.mn.us
http://www.ci.woodbury.mn.us/police-department2100 Radio Drive
Woodbury, MN 55125
651-714-3600
police@ci.woodbury.mn.us
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident.
As Alex Katz noted recently on usahitman.com:
A police officer [a still unidentified "police officer" as thus far his/her name has been kept on the DL] shot and killed a convenience store worker [Reynaldo Cuevas] who plowed into him on a sidewalk while frantically fleeing an armed robbery on September 7, a sudden encounter that the police department called a tragic accident.The shooters boss, Raymond Kelly had this to say: “The tragedy here of course was that Mr. Cuevas was shot, but I see nothing wrong with the procedure.”
Apparently, accidentally running into someone and winding-up dead is not a big deal?
When individual actors are not held accountable for their actions, it allows for some bad things to happen, and continue to happen.
Inae Oh
last month pointed-out in HuffingtonPost.com: “New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said all nine bystanders wounded in Friday’s Empire State Building shooting had been hit with police gunfire“.Yet another nonsensical example of these ventures into the absurd happened in Minneapolis four years ago.
A crew of eight prepared to go out. They felt superior – part of a special unit. They went through their rituals. Peppered their speech with their own lingo. Loaded their guns. They decided to break into a house. They wanted to steal property [persons and/or physical items].
They arrived at a house and broke open the door. Homeowner Vang Khang woke and fired at the intruders from the second floor. The posse fired back. Soon the shooting stopped – the invaders had identified their place of employment, the local police department, and stated that they were in the wrong house.
The eight aggressors were not held accountable for their *accident*. They wore patches that said “Minneapolis Police Dept. SWAT”. They were given medals, which their boss – Tim Dolan – attributed to “bravery in action under fire.”
This clear absence of repercussions will happen as long as people buy into the bad idea that someone can claim “sovereign immunity” and have a free pass.
The important thing never to loose sight of is that it is individuals who act. An individual – not some text scribbled on paper – acts. A decision is made which causes an action. The actor’s mind, their conscience, their responsibility, is not vacant when they’re “just doing their job.”
If an action is wrong for you to do – if you know it’s wrong in your core per your internal compass (whatever that happens to be) – it can’t become right when you don a certain outfit.
The claim that some individuals are not personally responsible for their actions due to their place of employment is ludicrous. No one has the right to initiate force – not me, not you, not someone who has a thin blue line tattoo or vehicle sticker. [Note that this still allows room for the defensive use of force].
Like schoolyard bullies, police do not want their victims to stand up for themselves, or to support other victims
Connect with a group in your area or start one copblock.org/groups
- Share your write-up about a relevant incident. Cop Block is decentralized as it means more ideas are shared and because we can together have a bigger impact copblock.org/submit
- If you have your own police interaction let others know – think of it as filing a complaint, but this one doesn’t get ignored. cop-reports.com/submi
