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Jaida Veiga

Mrs. Tubbs

English 1301-054

August 6, 2020

Police Brutality

For the past few months, there have been protests internationally dealing with police

brutality and the deaths of innocent, unarmed individuals in the black community. It all started

with the death of George Floyd; a black American man killed over a twenty-dollar counterfeit

bill. A white police officer named Derek Chauvin kneeled on Mr. Floyd’s neck, compressing it

for over eight minutes until he became unconscious and eventually passed away. After his death

was spread all over social media, a movement called “Black Lives Matter” demanded justice for

Floyd and as well as all people of color who are innocent of their crimes. Police brutality does

not only happen with black Americans in the nation but has recently become a problem while

people are protesting the movement. Peaceful protestors have now become victims of this

brutality in the form of beatings, weapons used against them, and arrests. Leading with these

points, it is clear to say that police brutality is unethical, unnecessary, and has a negative effect

on the black community.

Police brutality has been a problem in the United States since the 1800s when labor was

high in demand. By definition, it is the use of excessive force where police officers exercise their

power against someone or something that can be in forms of needless arrests, physiological

intimidation, bullying, physical or verbal harassment, property damage, and sadly even death. In

today’s age, police brutality is becoming more and more popular during protests and even

normal everyday events like running in your neighborhood. Although this brutality can happen to
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anyone, it is more likely to happen to a person of color simply because they are dark complected.

In the results section of “Racially biased policing: determinants of citizen perception” authors

Ronald Weitzer and Steven A. Tuch statistically mention that in an academic research project

conducted by government officials, African American men are 2.5 percent more likely to be

killed by a police officer in their lifetime. By using this data as evidence, people, especially

officers, should be more aware to act responsibly and not threatening when people of color are

living comfortably in their communities. In another study by agencies in California, Weitzer and

Tuch found out that police officers in those areas began to use force out of proportion, or

excessively, against the black community compared to other racial groups in 2018. One fact that

should be taken into consideration is that the data provided to form these statistics, is given

voluntarily by officers. This means that there could be more cases dealing with harassment and

abuse towards citizens that the media and public are unaware of.

For decades people of color, specifically the black community, in this case, have been

suffering at the hands of government officials. This has been a problem since early American

history and has not stopped despite laws and rules being set in place. From slavery to modern

issues, black Americans have ached due to these issues. In the beginning of “Narrative agency in

hashtag activism: the case of #BlackLivesMatter” Guobin Yang informs the reader that the term

“Black Lives Matter” first originated in February of 2012 when a young African American man

named Trayvon Martin was shot to death in Sanford, Florida. He was out with his father who

was visiting his fiancée at her apartment when he got into a physical altercation with a

neighborhood watchman named George Zimmerman. Zimmerman then shot Martin, who was

unarmed, and claimed he was defending himself against him. He was later charged with second-

degree murder of a minor. In support of his charge, the State of Florida filed an affidavit against

Zimmerman stating that he profiled Martian incorrectly and decided to confront and eventually
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shoot him to death while he committed no crimes. This act of brutality was clearly uncalled for

and ultimately lead to the creation of the term “Black Lives Matter”. In another article named

“Preface to "How Can Police Brutality Be Stopped?"” Michael Ruth stresses that when people of

color are wrongly accused by Caucasian officers, their communities become extremely angry

and demand justice for their losses. As they should, people all over the world have now become

more aware and informed about this brutality and have been acting out in the form of protests.
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According to the Constitution, all Americans have the right to protest under the first

amendment. This means that people in the United States can peacefully protest, no matter what

they are fighting for or what color their skin is. My question now is, “Why did no protesters get

arrested or harassed when they protested for their right not to wear a mask or go out in public

when the coronavirus became a nationwide problem?” As claimed by Firmin DeBrabander, a

professor in philosophy, in “The Great Irony of America’s Armed Anti-Lockdown Protesters” he

states that a lot of white men at the protest brought their assault rifles and got in officers’ faces

when they were told they had a mandatory curfew and lockdown. Yet no policemen used

excessive force against them, even though the protesters used the slightest bit of violence. It may

be because most of the protesters were people with a white complexion or maybe because they

were protesting something that the President did not see as a threat. The protesters were

declaring that they had the right to freedom of speech and gun ownership, which they do, and

that they were not breaking any laws while being in public during the pandemic. However, when

other communities gather to protest justice for those who were wrongly killed in the form of

police brutality, they believe that crosses the line. In a photograph taken by UPI Photo Collection

titled “Anti-Lockdown Rally Held at City Hall in Los Angeles” it shows white protesters

bundled together, disregarding the CDC’s six feet rule and not wearing masks, on the steps of the

Los Angeles city hall steps holding signs saying “Say no to Tyranny!” and “Trump 2020”. You

can see a few police officers in the crowd having no problem with what is going around them but

having a huge problem with what is going on in the photo titled “Pepper-Sprayed Man Writhes

in Pain at George Floyd Protest”. It shows a white police officer in a bullet proof vest putting

away his pepper spray moments after he sprayed a Hispanic male, leaving him on the floor

screaming in pain. Some also believe that those who have died in such ways were “accidents”

and that the officers were merely “protecting themselves” or “following protocol”. To back that
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up, there have been cases about officers jumping innocent protesters simply for being at the

protests. The innocent protesters were later arrested without knowing who grabbed them and

charged with idiotic crimes. Another case included a military veteran who was assaulted when he

approached a group of officers, simply trying to have a conversation, and was then beat with a

baton.

In conclusion, police brutality has not just been a recent issue, but a problem in the

United States since the rise of slavery within the black community. Police brutality has recently

become more popular when the movement named “Black Lives Matter” started these mass

protests when a black man names George Floyd was brutality murdered at the hands of a white

police officer. The people finally have finally had enough of this and began protesting,

demanding justice for all the innocent people of color killed. During protests, some policemen

believe that using excessive force against the people, usually of color, is necessary because they

think they are either threatened in the situation or because they are unambiguously racist.

Hopefully your eyes have been opened to the reality of brutality caused by law enforcement. God

willing you, as well as the community around you, protect your brothers and sisters of color,

because we are the only ones who can keep each other safe from the police.

Citations
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"Anti-Lockdown Rally Held at City Hall in Los Angeles." UPI Photo Collection, 2020. Gale in

Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-

com.aclibproxy.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/FAEYYZ192801068/OVIC?u=txshracd2904&sid=

OVIC&xid=c5d88bc3. Accessed 10 Aug. 2020.

DeBrabander, Firmin. “The Great Irony of America's Armed Anti-Lockdown Protesters.” The

Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 13 May 2020,

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/guns-protesters/611560/. Accessed 8 Aug.

2020.

"Pepper-Sprayed Man Writhes in Pain at George Floyd Protest." Gale Opposing Viewpoints

Online Collection, Gale, 2020. Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-

com.aclibproxy.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/FTYUYF180122394/OVIC?u=txshracd2904&sid=

OVIC&xid=7a454cdf. Accessed 10 Aug. 2020.

"Preface to 'How Can Police Brutality Be Stopped?'." Police Brutality, edited by Michael Ruth,

Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link-gale-

com.aclibproxy.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/EJ3010156154/OVIC?u=txshracd2904&sid=OVIC

&xid=7e89a050. Accessed 5 Aug. 2020.

Weitzer, Ronald, and Steven A. Tuch. "Racially biased policing: determinants of citizen

perceptions *." Social Forces, vol. 83, no. 3, 2005, p. 1009+. Gale in Context: Opposing

Viewpoints, https://link-gale-

com.aclibproxy.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A132872697/OVIC?u=txshracd2904&sid=OVIC&

xid=95f22d5b. Accessed 9 Aug. 2020.

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Yang, Guobin. "Narrative agency in hashtag activism: the case of #BlackLivesMatter." Media

and Communication, vol. 4, no. 4, 2016, p. 13+. Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link-gale-

com.aclibproxy.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A463634621/OVIC?u=txshracd2904&sid=OVIC&

xid=ae8161ec. Accessed 8 Aug. 2020.