A Philadelphia Fire Department paramedic is under fire for posting this picture with the caption: “Our real enemy.” The caption also said “Need 2 stop pointing guns at each other & at the ones that’s legally killing innocents.” Marcell Salters has also published highly antagonistic language toward police officers. He has since apologized but some have called for his punishment or termination. In the meantime, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is under attack after Ismaaiyl Brinsley effectively executed two police officers over his anger with the recent decisions by grand juries in Missouri and New York. police have been protesting what they view as de Blasio’s unfair portrayals of police after the decision, including turning their backs on the mayor when he came to give a press conference on the murders.
Salters
Marcell Salters has been denounced for his attack on officers who often protect paramedics at accident and crime scenes. In now deleted comments, Salters said that he “never did or will like police” and “[b]ecause of what i do i have to work with them but dont have to like them . . . There are numerous crooked & corrupted cops (mostly white) & mostly they harass, beat, or kill innocents (mostly blks).”
He has since apologized and posted the following: “I would like to deeply apologize to anyone i have offended. That post was out of anger of what is going on around the world (mike brown, eric garner & etc) & past experiences that i have had with the police. . . My intentions was not to slander or hurt anyone or my brothers in blue. Again i am sorry.”
I have previously written about concerns that public employees are increasingly being disciplined for actions in their private lives or views or associations outside of work. We have previously seen teachers (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here), here, here, students (here and here) and other public employees (here and here and here) fired for their private speech or conduct, including school employees fired for posing in magazines (here), appearing on television shows in bikinis (here), or having a career in the adult entertainment industry (here).
One different wrinkle is that Joseph Schulle, head of the firefighters’ union Local 22, said that Salters could be disciplined because he allegedly made a comment about the post while on duty. That creates a different context than many of the prior cases above where comments or postings were made entirely during off-hours or outside of public jobs. It is not clear what the comment was that is being isolated as a possible basis for discipline however.
I tend to view these cases from a first amendment perspective. I find Salters’ comments to be highly offensive and wrong. However, I do believe that he has a right to say them just as others have a right to denounced them. While such comments obviously make for tense working conditions, some of us believe that free speech requires bright-line rules of protection even for hateful speech like that of Marcell Salters.
The uproar of police in Philadelphia has joined an equal if not greater outcry of officers in New York.
Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, the killer of officers Wenjian Liu, 32, and Rafael Ramos, 40, had a history of violence and mental instability. He shot the officers as they sat in their patrol car in Brooklyn on Saturday before he ran to a subway station and shot himself. Only hours earlier, he shot and wounded his 29-year-old ex-girlfriend, Shaneka Thompson, at her home in Baltimore, Maryland. After shooting Thompson, Brinsley threatened on Instagram to kill police officers while referencing the New York and Missouri grand jury decisions: “They Take 1 of Ours… Let’s Take 2 of Theirs #ShootThePolice #RIPEricGarner #RIPMike Brown. This May Be My Final Post.”
Before the murders, Brinsley reportedly struck up a conversation with two men. According to the police, he asked the men “for their gang affiliation; he asked them to follow him on Instagram; and then he says: ‘Watch what I’m going to do.'” That is when he walked past the patrol car, circled it and then crossed the street to come up behind the car. That is when he fired four bullets through the front passenger window, killing the officers.
Police directed their anger in part at de Blasio who has been viewed as supporting the protests against police after the decision of the New York grand jury. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association even went as far as having officers to sign a petition calling for Mr de Blasio to be barred from attending their funerals if they were killed in the line of duty. There is also a growing racial rift over de Blasio’s policies. A poll last week found seventy percent of black people approved of the mayor’s performance while only 32 percent of white people supported him. Yet, he had received good polling numbers over his handling of protests following the decisions in New York and Missouri.
I think Bruce has a clear understanding of what some? many? cops think of black men.
“itchy trigger fingers” is pretty damning. And it’s a quote from a supporter!
And, po. You ignored the misrepresentation you made about me vis a vis cops. C’est la vie. We are miles apart, po. Let’s just leave it @ that.
po, I know you are black. But, the liberal whites here love black people in the abstract. I love them knowing them in reality. In some respects, I like them more than whites. They tend to be straightforward, candid, and bawdy. like myself. They can be loud, which turns me off. I have challenged folks here many times to discuss their black experience. Crickets. Aridog, as you know, lives in a black and Muslim neighborhood. Trooper lives in Brooklyn. I have invited people to talk about their experience w/ black folk in non contentious threads. SWM has a black friend in Texas. That’s it so far, in 2 plus years. We have had only a few black people comment here that I am aware. They got bored and left. Someone will sometimes chime in, “We’re anonymous, maybe there are black people here.” That was ususally Elaine who would say that. Well, by saying they’re black they don’t lose their anonymity. And like Trooper said, sell “white privilege” somewhere else, we free thinkers ain’t buying.
I wonder if Samuel L Jackson is singing a different tune Today? He should take a walk in New York $hit disturber. The police probably have itchy trigger fingers now as well they should
Once someone says “white privilege” you can turn off you TV right there.
Dust Bunny Queen
Says Po, the hypocrite, who just made a blanket statement about me. What do you know about my or my history or my family’s history? Nothing. Just as I know nothing about yours. Yet you want to judge my thoughts and judge my history.
——————————————
DBQ, I have no need to judge your history or your thoughts, I am only judging your comments,as you do mine. The facts are that if you are white in this country, you have benefited from white privilege.
It is expressed both through the benefits you get and the discrimination you are sparred. Studies have shown it, that being black, one discriminated in job search, housing rental, and even in your child is treated at school versus his white peers.
have you ever wondered whether the cop is stopping you because of your race?
Have you ever had to try to sound more white in order to be hired?
Have you ever had to be twice as hard working, polite, pleasant, law-abiding because of your skin color?
If not, then friend, you have benefited from white privilege.
The gulf between black and white families in terms of income/wealth is 18 fold. That says a great deal.
DBQ:
No one is forcing anyone to live in the inner cities. That is a choice. They made it and are still making it and they can UNmake it. Move. It isn’t my fault they can’t get over the past and look to the future. Many people of color, black, yellow, brown and white….since YOU insist on categorizing people by their skin…..have had horrible things happen to their ancestors. I don’t care because that is the past…….I treat people as they are i in the here and now. If they are whining d*cks, criminals, worthless, irresponsible non contributors to society, it doesn’t matter what color they are, they are all the same in my eyes.
——————————–
Wow, priceless!!!
Living in the inner city is a choice?!
WOW!
“Irresponsible non-contributors to society…” that says it all.
People react 2 ways when they have gone through a lot, they either become very caring for they learn from their own experience and use it to extend empathy to others, or they become were hardened and use their experience as the litmus test by which they judge everyone else.
Inga, you are so right. Empathy is a dying feeling, unfortunately.
You make a comment that is absolute in its nature. On what do you base the idea that only you here knows about black people? What do you know about them?
Says Po, the hypocrite, who just made a blanket statement about me. What do you know about my or my history or my family’s history? Nothing. Just as I know nothing about yours. Yet you want to judge my thoughts and judge my history.
Nick, comments like these are the problem:
That’s because it is painfully obvious to me people here know nothing about black people except what Al Sharpton, tells them. An Sharpton is just a racial pimp.
—————————————-
You make a comment that is absolute in its nature. On what do you base the idea that only you here knows about black people? What do you know about them?
Are they all the same that the ones you spoke to represent all of them?
I am a black person, and I suspect I know “black people” better than you do!
Also, you are giving too much credit to Al Sharpton. I have yet to meet any black person under 50 who likes/listens to Al Sharpton. One can demonize him as much as one want but he is a necessary evil. He plays a role in this society, perhaps self-serving role, but if he can make one company, one institution, one person dread hearing from Al as response to an action, then he has done his job.
I’ve observed that there are people, for whatever reasons, simply are unable to put themselves in another’s shoes, almost as if they are empathetically challenged.
Inga –
You might want to look in the mirror.
So get off your white horse of privilege and learn to walk in other people’s shoes. Unless your ancestors were owned as cattle and treated as such, their mates taken away from them and raped on a whim, their children taken away and sold off never to be seen again, were made to serve in an army that told them they are lesser,
My ancestors WERE owned as cattle and treated as such.
http://www.africaresource.com/rasta/sesostris-the-great-the-egyptian-hercules/the-irish-slave-trade-forgotten-white-slaves/
unless they were forced to live in the inner city because of white flight caused by racist governmental policies (again, follow the link, you too, Paul… especially you, paul), unless your ancestors experienced all of such, your urging to get over it sounds hollow and hypocritical.
No one is forcing anyone to live in the inner cities. That is a choice. They made it and are still making it and they can UNmake it. Move. It isn’t my fault they can’t get over the past and look to the future. Many people of color, black, yellow, brown and white….since YOU insist on categorizing people by their skin…..have had horrible things happen to their ancestors. I don’t care because that is the past…….I treat people as they are i in the here and now. If they are whining d*cks, criminals, worthless, irresponsible non contributors to society, it doesn’t matter what color they are, they are all the same in my eyes.
You have no idea what my life has been like and therefore you are just white noise in the background as far as I am concerned. Walk in my shoes, why don’t you?
I have no white guilt. Period.
po – what DBQ said!!!!
Paul C. Schulte
Inga – that is the kind of ‘attaboy’ that Nick was complaining about.
———————————————
And that, Paul, is another form of attaboy that Nick was complaining about.
DBQ, have you read the article I linked to?
That would answer many of the points you keep repeating.
Where have I asked for reparations?
Have I mentioned slavery? Or did i mention oppression? I do not need veiling anything, if i wanted to precise slavery, i would have. I am however hovering above it all, slavery, then all the institutional discrimination that is covered in depth in the article I linked to, jim crow of old, new jim crow, housing discrimination, property seizing, school segregation…)etc. The whole of it all constitutes oppression (yes, as I said before, 4000 years of it.)
So get off your white horse of privilege and learn to walk in other people’s shoes. Unless your ancestors were owned as cattle and treated as such, their mates taken away from them and raped on a whim, their children taken away and sold off never to be seen again, were made to serve in an army that told them they are lesser, and when they fought for their country then returned home were told they cannot buy or live where their fellow white soldiers bought and fought, unless they were forced to live in the inner city because of white flight caused by racist governmental policies (again, follow the link, you too, Paul… especially you, paul), unless your ancestors experienced all of such, your urging to get over it sounds hollow and hypocritical.
po –
My ancestors have experienced all of that and more. But thank you for asking.
De Blasio looked bad answering tough questions from a tough NY press. Then CNN cut to the assassination scene where there is a vigil. There are “protestors” SCREAMING @ cops standing silent calling them “murderers” and chanting “I can’t breathe.” This is the stuff cops deal w/ on a daily basis. Folks here are clueless.
po, I simply ask that you read my comments[plural] and then take back your saying @ 3:52p “nowhere is there present the awareness that cops are responsible for their actions.” I have said @ least 3 times in the last 2 days “I know cops, there are bad cops.” No one has said anything about my 8:57am comment. I KNOW black folks. I SOCIALIZE w/ black folks. I make a comment about a root cause that I have seen, and that black men speak passionately about w/ me, and it is ignored. That’s because it is painfully obvious to me people here know nothing about black people except what Al Sharpton, tells them. An Sharpton is just a racial pimp.
Relations between police and fire are going to be strained for a few months over this.
There are good and bad attorneys. The term “good attorney” is part of our vernacular because there are SO MANY bad attorneys. So, to try and dissect that oft used phrase and contort it into an “insult” is silly @ best, and tortured @ worst. I have NO IDEA what kind of attorney you are, rafflaw. I and others see you trying to make yourself a victim. I don’t do that, although there is a target on my back, and there has been since the first comment I have made here over 2 years ago. You are constantly scrutinizing every word I say trying to make yourself a victim. Stop it! It’s unseemly. I am eviscerating some of your arguments vis a vis Constitutional rights. You might want to focus on what you say, and stop obsessing on what I say. And, as my old man would say when any of his kids were whining, “Buck up, buttercup.”
Finally, if given the choice between saying something that hurts your case, or remaining silent, the smart thing to do is remain silent. My suggesting that you consider remaining silent is more tied to the 5th Amendment than the 1st. But, by all means barrister, speak as much as you wish. I now encourage you to share your vast love and respect for the 2nd Amendment! It is fascinating.
Nick, Are there efforts to control rogue psychopathic nurses? Is there a difference depending on their licensing?
By the way, DBQ is the one who brought up slavery,only to dismiss its legacies.
EXCUSE ME. but I was responding to your not so veiled remarks about the 500 years of abuse of blacks. And had to correct you about the time frame of the United States which wasn’t even settled by the people from Europe 500 years ago.
White privilege in action, ignore the 500 years oppression of blacks
Were you talking about something other than slavery? If so please express what it is that we are all supposed to be paying reparations for.
If you think that “trying to tie the current Democratic party to the sins of their fathers.” is wrong…….. Then what the H3ll do you think reparations/extorting more money from the working class is if not trying to tie people who have no responsibility for the past to the “sins of their fathers” .
You can’t have it both ways.
And I do dismiss the legacy of slavery because at some point, it has to be put into the past and people need to look forward. Clinging to the past is never ever going to do anyone any good. We are generations away from slavery for the blacks and from indentured servitude for the Irish. Get over it and deal with today.
I also dismiss it because the majority of the population of the US has nothing whatsoever to do with slavery in any way shape or form. Nor did they have ancestors who did have any connection either. I refuse to be blamed for actions of strangers and especially actions of strangers in the past who are all long dead and gone. I have no white guilt because I have nothing to be guilty about. Zero, nada, zip.
Also, Nick, NO ONE HERE HAS SAID ANYTHING ABOUT HATING COPS OR THAT COPS ARE THE BAD GUYS. Liberal or conservatives, we all know that being a cop is a hard job, no doubt about it, but they are also responsibilized beyond the measure of any other citizen, and as such, there is a higher moral and social burden on them to uphold the standards.
In other words they should be held to a higher standard, as for any of our leaders.
All that we are saying that we expect if they kill someone, that we subject them to the full scrutiny we put anyone else who kills someone. If not more, then certainly not less.
Po and Rafflaw, absolutely accurate observations.
Inga – that is the kind of ‘attaboy’ that Nick was complaining about.