Terror in California, and abuse of power in Alabama.

     We have had an entire day to process the horrific killing of 14 people in So Cal by this Muslim version of Bonnie & Clyde yesterday.

Authorities still can't figure out exactly how this went down. Although they are now saying that the male shooter was "radicalized". (I am still not sure what that means. ) Dude was actually born in America, but somewhere along the line it would appear that he developed some bad feelings about his country and its culture.

Anyway, the hand- wringing will now start in earnest. We will hear that we have to be more vigilant, that we have to do something about guns, and that we have to stem the flow of immigrants into our country. Muslims in America will be subject to extra scrutiny. (Been there done that. Black folks enjoy the break. )

There was another shooting in California this week, and this one, like others of late, brings into question how justice is administered in this country.

"In the video, a semi-circle of police officers surround a man backed up against the wall of a building. When he starts to walk away from them, a volley of shots ring out.

The footage, which appears to have been filmed by a passenger on a bus next to the scene, was posted to Instagram Wednesday night and quickly lit up the internet. But San Francisco police say the man had a knife and that they first fired beanbags and shot the ground in front of him with another less lethal weapon.

“We have since recovered or found some video, they appear to show the officers encircle him and they appear to show the suspect moving toward the officer before the shots were fired,” Police Chief Greg Suhr told the San Francisco Examiner. The police say the man was in the same area where someone got stabbed about 45 minutes earlier.

The man’s identity has not been released yet." [Source]

His identity is irrelevant. He was young, black, and most likely poor. Unfortunately for him, that was not a good look for San Francisco's gentrified face.

Finally, speaking of young and black, if you were in that group and you have been living in and around Dothan, Alabama, you should think about calling a civil rights lawyer.

"A newly-leaked report has just proven what many African Americans in Alabama have been saying for years: that police officers in the City of Dothan had been planting evidence on African American men they didn’t like, for many years.

The shocking new report from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama Justice Project reveals that police officers in Dothan, Alabama, planted drugs and weapons on thousands of African Americans – of which hundreds are still in prison on false charges.

The proof of these claims has been revealed by none other than police officers themselves, who say that “the public has a right to know that the Dothan Police Department, and District Attorney Doug Valeska, targeted young black men by planting drugs and weapons on them over a decade.
Most of the young men were prosecuted, many sentenced to prison, and some are still in prison. Many of the officers involved were subsequently promoted and are in leadership positions in law enforcement.

 They hope the mood of the country is one that demands action and that the US Department of Justice will intervene.”

Their revelation tells that a narcotics investigation squad for the police department in Dothan planted drugs and weapons on young African American men since the mid-1990s.

All of this has happened with the knowledge and approval of their supervisors. One of them has even ascended to the position of the state’s Assistant Director of Homeland Security.

According to the Henry County Report, Andy Hughes had been a sergeant in the department during the time when he was overseeing the unit in question.

During that time, he was also a leader in a neo-Confederate group that was largely made up of police officers and fellow supervisor Steve Parrish.
Now Parrish, who was at the time a lieutenant, is the city’s police chief.

Both Parrish and Hughes have been frequently mentioned in an internal affairs investigation. But the then-Police Chief John White and District Attorney Doug Valeska never notified federal or state officials about the probe. "[Story and report here.]

So a bunch of racists infiltrate an entire police department and abuse the civil rights of citizens of color.

Nothing to see here folks; move along.

This story took place in Dothan, Alabama, but it might as well have been [insert city here], USA. 

*Pics from cnn.com and forwardprogressives.com