Brent Marks Series 4-6 by Kenneth Eade - Today, Talking about Unreasonable Force!

No matter how many times I have seen, heard about, or thought of those men who have been, "seemingly", murdered by police, I immediately, first, think of Eric Gardner, who died in 2014--the first video I have ever seen of extreme, in my opinion, police action against an individual--after being held down by so many men that he could not even get up...and definitely could not breathe, due to a choke hold... What was he doing? Selling cigarettes--one at a time! My mind still cannot comprehend how this could be the only way for police to have handled the issue. Yes, he was a big man, but why was force even needed for such a minor crime... Surely, surely, what we saw could never be justified...or could it? NOT IN MY MIND!

This has been marked Age-appropriate... Do you think this is a correct decision?

Eades  provides an Afterword to his book Unreasonable Force that I felt was important enough to share first... This is today's reality in America...

AFTERWORD 

This is a fictional story, but it strikes at the heart of something which is tearing our country apart.  We have become desensitized to violence  and we have never been able to come to terms with our racist past.  We have objectified people.  We classify them and see them as objects instead of human beings.  Our police forces are paramilitary forces that are in constant search of an enemy, and we have become too willing to accept war and violence as part of our existence as a country.  The prologue in this book is based on a true, real life story.  The only difference is that the two boys were not black.  If they had been, it could have been a completely different outcome. This is not what this country is all about.  This is not the country that I grew up in, where war was a bad thing and tolerance a good thing.  We are a country of immigrants.  We all belong here.  The jury in the case depicted in this novel came to the right conclusion, but it could have just as easily gone the other way.  If we speak out against the abuses in our government and educate our children to be blind to skin color and tolerant of our neighbors, perhaps we can rise above our checkered past and we will not have to worry that the police will abuse their power.

The boys dropped to their knees, ignoring the pain of the asphalt grinding into their skin. They saw the silhouette of an approaching officer, which was eclipsed by a blinding light from his baton flashlight, fixed directly at their eyes. 

“That hurts!” said William. 

“Shut up!” said the officer. They didn’t even see the other cop approach. He snuck up on them from behind like an alley cat after a mouse and slapped their wrists in handcuffs.
“Man, what’s this about? We didn’t do anything!” William protested, as the Officer picked him off the ground by the collar and slammed his body against the police car. 

“I told you to shut up. You been stealin'?” he asked as he patted William down. “No.” 

“Do you realize you could have been shot?” 

“Shot?” William recoiled in fear. He turned to face the Officer, who slammed him back into the car. He felt like crying, but he was a man and he knew that a man had to be brave, so he forged an expression of hardened steel. “Your buddy knows you did wrong. Look, he’s pissed his pants.” 

William looked over at TJ, who was also against the car, being searched, his head bent in shame. “You got any drugs?” asked the Officer. 

“No, I don’t do drugs.”
“Don’t mouth off. I’m asking you a question,” the officer said, as he emptied William’s pockets. 

“No, I don’t have any drugs.” 

“I found a weapon!” he called to his fellow officer.
“That’s no weapon. It’s my pocket knife.” The officer slipped William’s Swiss Army Knife into his shirt pocket. “My dad gave me that.”
“He should have known better,” said the cop, his smiling eyes betraying the stern look on his face as he pocketed the knife...
In an instant, the cop smacked William in the knee with the baton in a rage. William felt a fire in his knee as he heard it crack, lost his balance, and fell. The cop kicked William in his balls and then his stomach, which made him heave. “You barfed on my shoe, nigger!” There was nothing after that, only bits and pieces. The only thing William could remember was the deafening pop as the gun went off, and the cop’s partner hitting the ground like a fallen bowling pin.

~~~

A routine event--friends want to go out for an evening, knowing it would probably lead to some drinks. So, William, who happens to be a lawyer himself, accepts the role of "designated driver." I applaud this decision and, if it wasn't for what happened when the police came along and saw them, it would have ended with all of the friends safely arriving home... 

Eade decided to make it even more dramatic when he places the cops in a location where there wasn't a reason for them to be... And, further, that there might be questionable actions as well. Of course, this made is more complex and intriguing for readers, but, rarely, even in today's world, do we know whether or not the police involved are "good guys" or "bad guys." What we see, primarily, is... unfortunately... prejudice. And, if not prejudice... a stereotyping of Black people which is totally unacceptable for the majority of us!

William, upon the police approaching, explained that he was the designated driver. Yes, even acknowledging that his friends had been drinking, excessively. However, an open can was noticed in the car and the police immediately assumed... Do you know what assumed usually means? William was asked to get out of the car so that he could go through the normal tests for sobriety. But, the police officer immediately started using "unreasonable force" and William wound up in the hospital after having been badly beaten by the officer's with his baton. Based on his injuries...for because of the traumatic stress, William was unable to remember what happened...

Brent and William had worked on a case many years ago. William was a good lawyer and they had become friends. Although Brent was not taking too many criminal cases these days, he knew he wanted to help William if at all possible, even knowing that the case would be stacked against the Black man...

“It’s Jim Crow, all over again.”      

“Brent, that policeman stopped me for nothing.  And even after he stopped me, he should have seen who I was.  But he didn’t see a human being.  He didn’t see a man with hopes and dreams, with disappointments and accomplishments.  All he saw in front of him was just another nigger.” 

Brent knew that William’s case emphasized the black and white line that had been drawn between police and people of color in the United States.  Police organizations followed a paramilitary structure and protocol, and their members had all been trained in a military fashion.  Through years of desensitization, the public had come to accept the “us” or “them” mentality, and had looked the other way to violence on its own soil in the name of “safety,” especially after the war on terror was announced after

September 11, 2001.  Just as the military in war objectify and dehumanize the enemy, the enemy in the war on the streets of America had a face, and it was not white...

~~~

Have you noticed on the news that those officers who stood around, while George Floyd was murdered, are now also being convicted? I certainly applaud those actions. However, given just how many times, since then, that there have been questionable events that we've all seen reported, it is still a known fact that America has gained a climate of violence that is, so often, based upon the years where we watched as those in right-wing groups were incited over and over to hate, to be biased against those who are different--in any way.

Yesterday, we listened as the Attorney General spoke about ensuring that ALL involved in the January 6th Insurrection would be acted upon by his Office. One thing that I just had not thought of, which was so understandable to anybody who has worked in America, was that his unit, although very large, does not have the resources necessary to act any faster than they are doing... Wow, So Simple an answer for all of us who have been, somewhat impatiently, waiting and wondering just when those we all know that are involved (and those, especially, who have been identified through the January 6 Bipartisan hearings, including by many republicans who worked and testified about the day in which the first-ever attack on the United States Capitol took place.) I hope that, if at all possible, that additional staff are added to the Attorney General's office to handle the thousands of individual cases that must be investigated and acted upon to legally bring those individuals before the courts! We must be patient, but we must also do our own analysis and act accordingly to vote to ensure individuals who support a culture of violence are NOT in Congress!

We now know details of just who, how, when, and, of course why, planning was happening... Many of those have come forward on their own initiative to share what--and how they felt--about what took place during that heinous event... And many have shared just how they were persecuted by doing so by members of those promulgating "The Big Lie..." 

We MUST work to ensure that this never happens again! By voting OUT anybody that supports lies, conspiracy theories...and anything that results in the loss of rights now given to all Americans. Only we can speak for those who are constantly attacked for...just...being...a little...different...than...white, supposed, christians...

When we do not acknowledge that all individuals are due the same rights as anybody else, we are complicit in that violation of those rights provided to ALL through the Constitution. And we NOW know what happens when we don't personally get involved to fight AGAINST SUCH HATE, LIES, AND ACTS AGAINST ALL AMERICANS... IT IS OUR AMERICA THAT WE MUST PROTECT FROM ANYBODY WHO INCITES VIOLENCE WHERE IT IS NOT NEEDED! 

And that includes voting against anybody who refuses to support the ban of military-style guns that are being used to kill Americans! Every vote is Important!

During this series book, Brent was involved in another issue that is creating problems in America! Anonymous Lies! Posted online! Let me point out that Kenneth G. Eade, continues to prove to me JUST WHY HE IS MY FAVORITE LEGAL FICTION AUTHOR. He takes today's important issues and brings them into a setting where we all learn, as well as understand and support the actions to ensure that those who are being abused, in any way, receive justice! If you want to learn more, including indepth research and background on issues happening NOW, I recommend you start with the entire Brent Marks Series!

What is the simple definition of justice?

b(1) : the principle or ideal of just dealing or right action. (2) : conformity to this principle or ideal : righteousness the justice of their cause. c : the quality of conforming to law. 3 : conformity to truth, fact, or reason : correctness admitted that there was much justice in these observations— T. L. Peacock.

Does the First Amendment protect lying?  Depending upon the context, the answer is either "no," "yes," or "maybe."  It is an interesting question which the Supreme Court is almost certain to revisit.