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.
trooperyork
I agree with you lee. We will never agree. You will excuse criminals and I will not. You will side with the criminal and I will side with the cop. Especially in the two cases that are in issue which are pretty clear cut in my view.
When have I excused criminals? When have I sided with criminals? In fact if you bother to read what I posted way upthread probably yesterday I spoke about how I feel about police and firefighters. They run towards when the rest of us run away. That is astounding. But that does not mean that I embrace bad cops anymore then I do bad doctors, bad lawyers etc. If one is critical of those bad apples it does not follow that they are critical of all but to say that I am is to try and continue your false narrative and misrepresentation of what others who disagree with you may have said.
It reminds me of Nick saying yesterday that those of us who do not follow his belief never lived in the city, never used the subways so don’t know what we’re talking about. I replied in fact I have lived in NYC for 14 years used the subways all the time, as well as Phila subways, but that was ignored because it did not follow his narrative.
If you giys have legit positions that you could back up you would not need to ignore or distort what those of us who disagree with you have written.
De Blasio is answered by the people he defended
December 23, 2014
Over a thousand anti-cop activists tried to shut down Fifth Avenue on Tuesday as people tried to do last-minute Christmas shopping — defying Mayor de Blasio’s call for a moratorium on the demonstrations after two Brooklyn police officers were slain.
Many of the activists took shots at the mayor.
“The mayor says stop that, we say f— that!” yelled activists, while jumping in place. They started on 59th Street and 5th Avenue, went down to 53rd Street, and then marched up the Upper East Side.
Tarik Grand, 25, of Brooklyn said he was out there because of de Blasio’s words on Monday. “We’re protesting tonight, because the mayor specifically said not to,” he said. “They asked for a moment of silence for the cops, but not for Garner.”
Most of the agitators chanted angrily at the police. “How do you spell murderers? N-Y-P-D!” said the agitators.
“NYPD, KKK, how many kids did you kill today?” other protesters chanted, who started on the sidewalk before moving onto the streets of Fifth and Madison Avenue.
The activists choked the traffic– and left an ambulance from New York Presbyterian stranded on 54th Street and 5th Avenue.
They moving downtown on 5th Avenue from 59th Street about 5:30 p.m. The demonstration has been organized by the Act Now To End War & Stop Racism Coalition, which has blasted de Blasio’s words as an effort to “chill the expression of free speech rights.”
The activists are using the hashtags “jailkillercops” and “winter of resistance” to organize their activities.
Two heroic Brooklyn police officers were executed Saturday — after weeks of protests following a grand jury’s decision not to indict a cop who fatally choked Staten Island man Eric Garner while taking him into police custody.
“Personally, I feel it was horrible what happened to the police officers,” said Frangy Pozo, 21, a student at Rutgers University. “We’re not saying we’re against them. [But] just because they died shouldn’t slow us down.”
Do you truly think that Obama and de Blasio support the cops in their heart of hearts? When they are talking with their inner circle of Al Sharpton, Rachel Noerdlinger, Valarie Jarret and Eric Holder that they talk about being “fair” and looking at both sides. That perhaps the cops did the right thing? That maybe it was a volatile situation with career criminals where bad things were almost certain to happen?
Do really think that happened?
I agree with you lee. We will never agree. You will excuse criminals and I will not. You will side with the criminal and I will side with the cop. Especially in the two cases that are in issue which are pretty clear cut in my view.
So we can agree to disagree. It is still America. You can still express your opinion on the internet.
Obama hasn’t changed that yet. But give him time.
Trooperyork wrote: I support the cops, the law, Israel and protecting our country from Muslim terrorists. I have lived through Crown Heights, the Black Liberation Army and 911. That has informed my thinking.
There are indeed two sides. Right and wrong.
I also lived through Crown Heights, the BLA and 9/11 They have informed my thinking and you and I are not of the same mindset.
Just because you or I think something is right or wrong does not mean everyone else does.
Blame the president but facts show he never said hostile things about the police, just as one example.
Even officers say they get stopped for beig Black:
Off duty black officers in New York say they fear fellow cops
John Jay professor Delores Jones-Brown cited a 2010 New York State Task Force report on police-on-police shootings – the first such inquiry of its kind – that found that in the previous 15 years, officers of color had suffered the highest fatalities in encounters with police officers who mistook them for criminals.
There’s evidence that aggressive policing in the NYPD is intensifying, according to data from the New York City Comptroller.
Police misconduct claims – including lawsuits against police for using the kind of excessive force that killed Garner – have risen 214 percent since 2000, while the amount the city paid out has risen 75 percent in the same period, to $64.4 million in fiscal year 2012, the last year for which data is available
http://www.aol.com/article/2014/12/23/off-duty-black-officers-in-new-york-say-they-fear-fellow-cops/21120634/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D588182
Paul C. Schulte you wrote: leejcaroll – these are the same people that gave four Pinocchios to a statement that was true. To say that the Washington Post was in the bag for the Obama administration would be to understate it.
It was to you I was responding: “Paul and what statement was that that was true or is your just saying it supposed to be accepted as true because you say it’s so?”
(Thanks for pointing out the name issue)
leejcaroll – it is their Lie of the Year. I have gone past the article, but I think you can find it.
We will agree to disagree po.
I support the cops, the law, Israel and protecting our country from Muslim terrorists. I have lived through Crown Heights, the Black Liberation Army and 911. That has informed my thinking.
There are indeed two sides. Right and wrong.
I know where I stand. I am sure you know where you stand.
Let that suffice.
Trooperyork, the problem with being so overtly biased and unreasonable, is that you end undermining your own argument and thereby talking only to yourself.
Every issue has two sides, your inability to assign blame but to one side is a reflection of your unreasonability.
If we get to decide where our tax dollars go, I say let’s cut the defense budget. By 90%. Let’s use that money to create and protect more national parks.
I hate that my money goes to Israel to help oppress the Palestinians, let’s stop that.
I demand none of my $ goes to the fossil industry.
What would Bill de Blasio tell his children about Ismaaiyl Brinsley?
“If only he had lived he could have been the commencement speaker when you graduate.”
Ok herewegoagain.
Federal Government temporary shut down: I would keep and fund the military, airport and transportation departments. Some State Department personnel to deal with foreign powers. Any Federal facilities that generate energy or transport energy. Forestry firefighting personnel only. Screw the docents and park rangers. VA hospitals and medical treatment facilities. Courts, prisons and the justice system.Things that keep us safe and maintain infrastructure are really among the few powers that were given to the Federal Government. Telling us what to eat for lunch, or what words might be icky to hear on the television……are not those powers. Intruding nanny government needs to go.
There is no need to staff national parks or monuments. I don’t need an official person with me to help me look at trees, mountains, to camp, hike, or hunt. You can’t really close a National Park anyway. There are so many back roads that it would be impossible to keep people out if they wanted to get in. God knows they can’t keep out the Mexican drug cartels. Open air monuments and parks…..it was ridiculous that the Obama Administration tried to shut those down. Don’t look at the trees or buffalo!!!!! Closing buildings for a while for safety because personnel have been put on furlough….big deal it would be temporary. They just tried to make it as inconvenient as possible for no good reason.
Many departments could be shut completely or cut by 2/3 for months without affecting much of anything. EPA. FDA. FCC, Agriculture. Education. Housing. Labor. When they come back on line, they should be leaner and more efficient. Why do we even HAVE a federal education department, when that is properly a States rights issue.
Welfare, cash payments, should likely be continued because there are many who are very dependent upon it and would suffer greatly if cut off. It would be too hard to just get people to go cold turkey. HOWEVER, there are many scammers as well who should be cut off even IF we don’t have a government shut down. Forget the food stamps EBT program which is rife with corruption. Give people actual food and commodities.
Fiscally, we could cut the budget of every single department across the board, by 5% each year for 10 years. There is that much waste and duplication of services. Many of the services are also duplicated at the State level which is where they should be and not from a top down overweening Federal Government.
“And now we can’t even acknowledge this plain truth?”
The reason these tragedies came about is because we can’t even acknowledge some plain truths.
The reason why African-Americans are disproportionately shot by police is because in relationship to their numbers they commit a disproportionate amount of crime. It was not always so. When the Irish were committing a disproportionate amount of the crimes they were the ones arrested, incarcerated and even killed by the police. The name “Paddy Wagon” came about because the police would round up and arrest the Irish by the truckload all the way up until the 1920’s. The Italian crime way lead to the creation of the Italian Squad led by Lieutenant Joe Petrosino was eventually assinated by Italian criminals. Although it took more than 100 years both the Italians and Irish and Jews have managed to fully assimilate into society and no longer provide the criminal element that degrades and destroys our society. The current criminal element is the one in danger of arrest and fatal encounters with the police. That is a plain truth.
Another plain truth is that these violent protests and riots were based on a lie promulgated and repeated over and over again by the left wing media, Al Sharpton and others of their ilk. Michael Brown was not an innocent college student with his hands in the air shot down by a racist policeman. He was a thug and career criminal with many violent arrests on his record. He punched a cop and tried to take his gun. No doubt to kill him. But he became a progressive martyr and cause celeb like so many other thugs and criminals like Che, Mao, Mumia Abu-Jamal and JoAnne Chesimard who is back in the news these days. So businesses were burned, people put out of work, racial hatred was whipped up for political advantage and cops were murdered because of a lie.
This is nothing new. I remember the 1970’s in New York. I was here. I remember the Black Liberation Army. I bet Bill De Blasio does too. He probably raised money for them. He probably protested to support them. Those are his “people.” Mumia Abu-Jamal. JoAnne Chesimard. Ismaaiyl Brinsley.
I know who is not now and has never been Bill de Blasio’s “people.” Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini. Rocco Laurie and Gregory Foster. Wenjian Liu and Raphael Ramos. Working class family men who lost their lives protecting society and the law. Not elitist professors, college radicals and racial rabble rousers.
No amount of mealy mouthed back peddling will ever obviate that plain truth.
http://gawker.com/slimy-baltimore-fox-affiliate-caught-faking-kill-a-cop-1674040381
What you are hearing there is a protester in Washington, D.C. shout the following chant:
We can’t stop!
We won’t stop!
’til killer cops are in cell blocks
Not a particularly provocative chant, all things considered: protesters are announcing their intention to continue organizing until murderous police officers are put in jail. Fair enough!
That is, until Baltimore’s local FOX affiliate got their hands on this video. Here’s their interpretation of it:
We can’t stop!
We won’t stop!
So kill a cop!
By cutting away from the video mid-chant, FOX’s segment paints protestors as explicitly calling for the murder of police. They’ve depicted a non-violent protest about accountability for police brutality as a bloodthirsty mob.
Both videos are at the click. You can clearly hear what the chanters are saying and they equally clearly what the Fox did, broke off the chant at til killer cops which sounds like kill a cop and is stopped by the Fox channel in mid chant.
(don’t know how to embed videos here)
This is one reason the protests happened, and continue:
Ferguson prosecutor Bob McCulloch admitted that he presented evidence he knew to be false to the grand jury considering charges against Darren Wilson. In an interview with radio station KTRS on Friday, McCulloch said that he decided to present witnesses that were “clearly not telling the truth” to the grand jury. Specifically, McCulloch acknowledged he permitted a woman who “clearly wasn’t present when this occurred” to testify as an eyewitness to the grand jury for several hours. The woman, Sandra McElroy, testified that Michael Brown charged at Wilson “like a football player, head down,” supporting Wilson’s claim that he killed Brown in self-defense
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/12/21/3606084/how-a-startling-admission-from-the-ferguson-prosector-could-restart-the-case-against-darren-wilson/
full radio transcript at link. So Pal et al, you may not like Thinkprogress but this is McCullough in his own words.
At 9:05 for instance says decided to put witnesses on even though “knew their stories were not accurate”
and at 10:25 present everybody and anybody even though soe were “clearly not presenting the truth”
Paul and what statement was that that was true or is your just saying it supposed to be accepted as true because you say it’s so?
Inga, true that ):
leejcaroll – there are two Pauls on here now, so you have to clarify which one you are referring to.
correction. *when your sources are NOT*
LeeJ, you know when your sources are or Breitbart, FOX, The Blaze or WND they won’t believe it.
Be clearer, Paul., less we misunderstand what you are saying.
I suggest we ask DBQ to specify just exactly what portions of the government she does NOT want shut down lest she scream bloody murder when the national parks close a beloved monument. We want to be sure to close down down JUST those portions that offend her.
My negative sentiments are based on the entire government past present and likely future. “This” president just happens to be the current clown in office.