Late 2015 to 2016 saw two more black men dead at the hands of police in Minnesota. At this point, a tragically familiar, but no less shocking, outcome of systematic racism and a militarized police force. Both were not all that different in age from myself. In such cases, it's impossible to not try and put yourself in their shoes. Both just trying to live their lives, but both living in a very different world than myself, largely due to something as seemingly benign as the color of their skin. One is claimed to have resisted arrest, a crime certainly not punishable by death in any state or jurisdiction in this country. The other, according to currently available information, followed every possible rule in his interaction with law enforcement, and still wound up dead. Some will blindly claim, no matter what, that the officers were justified in their actions. Any claims otherwise are sometimes targeted as "anti-cop".
I would argue exactly the opposite. Demanding justice for improper or unjustified use of force is decidedly pro-law enforcement. Law enforcement officials themselves should strive to bring "bad cops" to justice. Proliferation of bad cops and improper use of force makes work harder and more dangerous for the officers who are just, unbiased, and trying to protect and serve. Those actions, and inactions on the part of prosecutors and district attorneys, only breed and foster mistrust and a justified view that the justice system is anything but just for people of color. While some officers continue to treat all people of color like thugs or criminals who only make up a small portion of that population, it is hard to justify not judging all officers in the same way. That a "bad cop" can be completely exonerated and resume their job speaks ill of the entire force, and broader system, leading to citizen doubt over the role and integrity of law enforcement. If a system cannot regulate itself and grows too powerful, we must do what we can to push back and fight for tougher regulation and expect more from those we entrust to protect us.
With all this in mind however, if you're a white person in the US, you have likely never encountered the kind of harassment, mistreatment, and systematic racism people of color are exposed to every single day around this country. If you make statements or have thoughts that had they should "pull up their pants and follow the laws", you are buying into stereotypes. You've grown up with privilege so ingrained in our society that you can't pretend to know what it's like to fear the police, to not see them as either helpful at best, or at worst, a benign, annoying force who gave you a speeding ticket. You don't have to worry that an officer will shoot you during that stop. But for people of color, it's a very real concern. A concern that is amplified by thoroughly proven racial profiling that exists nearly everywhere. You're more likely to be pulled over as a person of color, and those interactions are more likely to involve use of force.
These people, and don't forget for a second that these are people who are now dead, will never see justice. Their fate was decided by officers who deemed themselves judge, jury, and executioner in a split second. They didn't have the benefit of a jury of their peers, representation by an attorney, or the other aspects of the justice system (ignoring the fact that often justice is perverted even within this system). That isn't the code and beliefs professed by our society and it can't continue.
