It’s easy to assume racism when watching the video footage of Sandra Bland’s arrest. Admittedly, the first question that entered this writer’s mind when watching it was, “Would a white woman have been treated this way during a routine traffic stop?”
I believe the answer is “yes,” if the white woman committed the cardinal sin Sandra Bland committed. It wasn’t her being black that started the tragic chain of events. It was refusing to follow a police officer’s orders.
At some point between ratification of the Fourth Amendment and the death of Sandra Bland, the entire principle underpinning that constitutional protection has been lost. The Fourth Amendment assumes armed agents of the state can’t be trusted to issue their own orders. That’s why we have warrants in the first place. They are permitted only to enforce the orders of an impartial judge, who authorizes them to apprehend suspects upon the judge’s determination of probable cause.
That’s not to say many or most officers aren’t well-intentioned or trustworthy. But their job is to use force. That role must be separated from the issuance of orders.
Read the rest at the Huffington Post…
Tom Mullen is the author of A Return to Common Sense: Reawakening Liberty in the Inhabitants of America.
Tom, thank you for your insightful article on the true issue about the Bland arrest. I am a retired cop, and what you are referring to was once called an “attitude arrest”. And you are also correct in that it has to do simply with not doing something the officer asks you to do. I always hated when officers did that because it was almost always, as in the Bland case, over something trivial and childish. Some people are just going to be contrary for the fun of it, or because they’re having a bad day, or because of underlying mental issues. Whenever I encountered someone like that on what was a simple traffic stop, I would quickly tell them I had simply wanted to inform them of their violation and ask that they be more careful when driving. I would then say thank you, have a good day, and get back in my car and leave. Cops aren’t trained to be defensive about people not doing what they say, it’s just some officers will develop that for whatever reason. I figured it was always part of their makeup all along, and only seemed more noticeable because they were in uniform. You have to be a certain kind of person BEFORE you put the uniform on and I think some guys thought the uniform would just make them that person, like Batman putting on the outfit. If you’re not the right type, the uniform isn’t going to help. When some of the officers in the news do what they’ve done I sometimes think they’re not really breaking any law, but they sure don’t need to be a cop. Good example, the overreaction of the McKinney, Tx cop at that pool party awhile back. Totally inappropriate reaction to what was basically a civil matter, and by his actions he tries to make it criminal. Anyway, just wanted to write and confirm your opinion, I saw it dozens of times, and it is why she ended up in jail. Thanks again, take care.
This article was absolutely ridiculous. Leave it up to white people and white privilege to believe that there is something much worse than racism. People like you are part of the problem.
Yes! This article is trash. HuffPo is trash for publishing it. Tom Mullen is a racist! Why? Because he’s perpetuating racist thought. He is part of the problem. I was incredulous upon reading this article’s title and incesed when I read the article itself.
Tom yo ASS NEED TO STOP BLOGGING!!!! YO ASS SOUND STUPID!!!! ALL THOUGH THE DEVIL’S CHILDREN DOSE THE SAME THINGS THE DEVIL DO !!!!ALL WHITE PEOPLE ARE NOT EVIL!!! LIKE ANY OTHER RACE!!! YOU CAN NOT JUSTIFY THE DEVIL!!!! IWE THE PEOPLE WILL NEVER SEE THAT BOY DO A WHITE PERSON LIKE HE DID OUR BLACK SISTER’S!!!! THAT IS RACISM!!! DUMB ASS!!!EVIL!!!!
Have you ever had a person put out a cigarette on your hand or flick it at your face?
Did you ask any police officers if its common practice to tell people to put out lit cigarettes?
Friends, I’ve written a follow-up to this article here: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-mullen/a-practical-solution-run-police-departments-like-fire-departments_b_7871434.html