US policemen threaten to shoot black mother dead

[Erythronium]

This is one of the most distressing things I have ever seen on Twitter. Policemen threaten to shoot a mother because she can't put her baby down and put her hands up.

twitter.com/SJPeace/status/1139533347280039937

Racism and misogyny in their full horror. The KKK has obviously been recruiting in US police forces.

Awful video.

The kids' father was just as badly treated though. Those police officers were just... I mean seriously, yelling abuse at a family and pointing guns at them because a kid walked out of a store with a doll?

What in the hell? Absolutely shameful.

Policing in the US is crazy. It's not uncommon for them to have very little training, an eight week course isn't unheard of, and there are so many guns carried that they tend to be very reactive.
It doesn't create a good mental disposition for the job.

This isn’t being reactive. This is being abusive racist cunts from hell. They’d NEVER do it to a pregnant white lady with a baby. Evil. That’s what it is, pure evil.

Think what that child is going to grow up thinking about police. I feel sick.

Jesus the US police force really does have a systemic racism issue doesn't it, at every level, that poor family! Any news on whether the officers will face action?

I seen this today and it's horrendous.

I have family who are US police officers so I generally supportive of the police. The interaction was a little unprofessional and heavy handed. But the officer had no idea if there was a weapon being concealed, or if there was one in the car.

I have been stopped a couple of times my first words were good evening sir I would like to tell you that I hold a concealed weapons permit, and I have a weapon on my person, please tell me how to comply.

What's with all the swearing? Is that normal with american police?

Horrible video of a police state - definitely not the land of the free.

That is horrendous.

A racist, misogynistic, fear- and hate-mongering response to a situation that could - should - easily be solved with a polite conversation.

I'm glad someone managed to film it and expose this practice. When the policeman was yelling at the man that he wasn't complying and the man clearly was and was nothing except polite when he spoke. What exactly about this situation justified that amount of force and pointing guns at a mother and her child?

Shocking

Shocking!

It looked like they were leading the woman past the car where the man was being restrained at the end. Had she put the baby down to allow that to happen?

But the officer had no idea if there was a weapon being concealed, or if there was one in the car.

So every time police talk to people over there they react like this do they? Just in case they have a gun? Of course they don’t. Don’t make excuses for abuse. Maybe if they didn’t have mental gun laws the police wouldn’t need to be so fucking paranoid about every pregnant black woman they see. Jfc

This isn’t being reactive.

It's exactly being reactive. Once people get into that way of thinking, or not thinking really, every situation becomes abnormal. It's like a sort of institutional PTSD, it happens in police forces or military situations where there isn't adequate training and there isn't adequate leadership and the culture becomes tainted.

Over here there are a lot of police forces and a lot of different training requirements. My police force (5 officers) have to do 16 weeks training

Why did they think she had a weapon? Why the level of aggressive swearing? Just so wrong-those police officers need re training & serious disciplining.

What jessicawakefield said

Why did they think she had a weapon?

They think everybody has a weapon. It's not even unreasonable for them to think that in a lot of places, many people carry concealed weapons in the US and they could be anyone. They are supposed to assume that there could be a gun in every interaction.

Absolutely disgusting. Awful racist bullies.

@Backwoodsgirl I'm actually horrified that you've described this as 'a little heavy handed' they were yanking on a 1 year old babies neck and arm, trying to drag her from her mother, and have injured her shoulder.

@Gingerkittykat there's another video from a different angle which shows a woman coming to the mothers aid and taking the baby from her. The baby couldn't walk and the ground was too hot to put her down.

Fucking hell, who'd live in America? Utterly terrifying.

That is absolutely terrifying

I remember my dd carried out two teddy bears from a shoe shop. They were beanie boo bears so not even cheap bears.

I never noticed a thing but as I left the shop and started to walk away I spotted them and quickly took them back.

It’s so easy for a child to take something without a parent realise.

There is never any excuse for this behaviour

So aggressive, just look at the cop jabbing his finger inches from her face. Why didn’t one of them just open the bloody door and help her out, they could see she had the baby? They were scared of a cop with an itchy trigger finger getting carried away and shooting, and I’m sure they were more scared for the child than anything. @Backwoodsgirl if that’s what passes for a little unprofessional then the standards are pretty bloody low.

interesting document here