In 2015 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a white cop killed a 44-year-old unarmed black man by shooting him with his gun. The cop thought he was using his taser. The cop was 73 years old so he probably had some experience but you would think a rank amateur would be able to tell the difference between a Smith & Wesson 357 Magnum weighing about three pounds fully loaded and a Model X26 taser weighing about eight ounces. Here’s another fun fact: While the cop was shooting Harris, another cop was kneeling on his head.

You would think professional police wouldn’t confuse guns with tasers. Whether it’s a 357 magnum, or a nine millimeter Glock, which is plastic, guns are still heavier than tasers. If you force cops to take the Coke and Pepsi challenge blind folded with guns and tasers, they’ll pick Coke every time.

On Sunday, a cop with 26 years of experience shot a 20-year-old unarmed black man during a routine traffic stop. She even yelled, “Taser” as she shot the young man. Daunte Wright was killed in Minnesota, which is already struggling from the police killing of George Floyd. The trial is currently in its third week.

The police are calling the cause of Daunte Wright’s death an “accidental discharge.” Did the cop intend to pull the trigger? That’s not an accident. She has probably picked up a gun every day of her life for the last 26 years, and she wouldn’t tell the difference between one and a taser?

Guns are typically carried on the dominant hand side of a cop’s waist. Their tasers are carried on the other side. If the cop is right-handed, the gun is on his right side. Some cops carry their tasers on their chest. Also, GUNS DON’T LOOK LIKE TASERS!!!!

Tasers usually have bright yellow on them. Guns are usually all black. In the video clip released from the shooting cop’s body cam, you immediately notice, even if you’re not a cop with 26 years of experience and never held a nine millimeter pistol in your life, that the cop is holding a gun, not a taser.

Here in Virginia, cops pulled over a black man because they couldn’t see he had temporary tags. The driver of the vehicle, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, found a well-lit place to pull over and wouldn’t exit his vehicle until the police would tell him why he was pulled over. They refused to tell him that. They had their guns drawn and were screaming at him to exit. Finally, one of the cops pepper-sprayed the vet. They later said he was slapping at their arms and hands when they were trying to open his door. Video footage fails to prove that. What it does prove is that cops are racist assholes.

You would think as the cops got out of their car, they would have seen the temporary tag in the rear window (if they hadn’t already seen it), and then apologized to the driver and let him go. They could have said, “Sir, we pulled you over because we couldn’t see your temporary tag, which we do see now. Please, accept our apology and have a good night. Sorry for the inconvenience.” Nope. Instead, they charged his vehicle with guns drawn while screaming at him.

Second Lieutenant Caron Nazario had both his hands outside his window the entire time of the incident. He told the cops he was “honestly afraid” to get out of the car with one replying, “Yeah, you should be.” The cop told him, “What’s going on is you’re fixing to ride the lightning, son.” Not that it should matter, but Nazario was wearing his uniform at the time. Fortunately, after being pepper-sprayed, Nazario did not “ride the lightening” or even have to “feel the thunder.”

After the pepper spraying, the officer, Joe Gutierrez, told Lieutenant Nazario that the police chief had given him the discretion to let him go so long as the lieutenant did not “fight and argue.” He also said he would write a summons if Lieutenant Nazario did not “chill” about the traffic stop, and that the Army would be alerted if a summons were written.

What that mean is Gutierrez knew he messed up and was trying to intimidate Nazario into not complaining about it. He literally threatened to write a summons if the guy did not “chill.” He warned that the Army would know if he received a summons, as though it would hurt his career. Oddly enough, Narazio was the only one who wasn’t screaming and cursing during the incident. Also, it was really nice the police chief had given the officer the “discretion” to let Lt. Nazario go after he didn’t do anything illegal.

Officer Gutierrez told Nazario that whether he arrested him, wrote a summons, or let him go, it wouldn’t “change his life.” Guitierrez has now been fired. I do believe his life has been changed.

But firing this cop isn’t cleaning the system by getting rid of one “bad apple.” It’s a racist and corrupt system. It gives credibility to the Defund The Police movement. If nothing else, we seriously need police reform. It’s not just a few racist cops here and there. It’s a racist system that’s nationwide.

A few years ago, my best friend and I were out playing pool on a week night. My friend had one beer and went home. A cop pulled him over. The cop tested him for drunk driving and my friend passed with flying colors. But the cop would not let him drive himself home, which was about a mile from where he was pulled over. My friend, who is also an Army veteran, is black. He called me to come out and drive him home. Of course, I needed to find another friend to go with me so we could take my car and not leave his vehicle on the side of the road. This meant I had to find another white friend who was up at midnight.

When you make a mistake, you might go to jail. When cops make a mistake, they might kill you….especially if you’re black. Anyone who refuses to see there is a serious race discrepancy problem with the police in this nation is racist. How can a cop confuse a black gun with a yellow taser when we know cops are not color blind?

Seriously, police need to chill.

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