[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by OptimalTates

Buddy no. I do not know where you’re getting your information as it’s not based on any reality but please just watch this interview with Jacob Blake between 4:00 and 5:00.

That is new and I had never seen that before. Sorry, not a Good Morning America viewer. Thank you for the information. It does add something to discussion, and some new facts. Doesn't change anything seeing as that video was released in the middle of January 2021, and all of the charges against Blake were adjudicated in September of 2020. But it does provide some clarity and clear up some of the confusion around the events.

Blake has always said the knife fell out of his pocket during the initial struggle, picked it up and was going to place it in his vehicle. Which is why you have multiple cops yell “drop the knife”. Blake acknowledges he was shot while holding the knife.

You had ONE cop yell "knife" and six others refuse to confirm the existence of the knife. You talk about misinformation then keep jumping to that point of multiple officers making the claim, which they did NOT. If there was a second cop who would have backed up Shesky's claim, there would have been a weapons charge and a different outcome. Again, you can lean into this post adjudication interview all you want, but the facts of the case and what led to the adjudication are the facts that matter. The supposition did not amount to enough evidence that could be pursued.

And I’m sure once you watch you’ll move the goalposts but at least we can have a discussion about the facts, and not misinformation that was corrected over ten months ago.

And months after the adjudication, when the vast majority of people and media had moved on. You can claim this as goalpost moving, which I'm sure you will, but even with the existence of the knife - which from the GMA video you presented - Blake does not use it in a menacing way. He's walking away from the officers and Shesky pursues then puts seven (7!) rounds into the back of Blake. That's as many rounds as there were officers on the scene. And that's where the outrage and criticism still comes from.

Also why are Blake’s most public staunchest supporters always the ones who can’t be bothered to even watch an interview with him? Is it all just for some weird clout?

Supporter? Not at all. Blake is a dirtbag deadbeat dad and his actions are inexcusable. He was resisting arrest and the use of non-lethal force should have been applied. Not once, not twice, but multiple times until the individual is controlled. There were seven officers on the scene and they couldn't control a small skinny dude like Blake and then de-escalate this matter? That's a condemnation of the procedures and the performance of every single one of those officers. They let this escalate when it should have been easy to control, just based on their numbers alone. And that's where the problems have always been.

For the most part this is not about Blake, or Floyd, or anyone else. It's about malfeasance within the police service in America. I know this is really hard for those who are color motivated to understand, but there is a major problem in America with institutionalized racism and bias within the thin blue line. The police are supposed to be peace keepers and they have been turned into weapons of oppression against predominantly black and brown communities. Look at the outcomes. They continually make mistakes because they are trained to be unthnking brute force instruments instead of the trusted pillars of the community they once were. From the never ending stream of violence against minority communities, to the allowing a white kid to shoot three people with a high powered rifle, and casually walk away with the murder weapon hanging around his neck. The inconsistency is striking and disturbing.

This is what the issue is here. This is what the issue has always been. Not defending those who may be breaking the law, but instead trying to make sure that law enforcement are held to a much higher standard, and they treat the community they serve with the dignity and respect they should be afforded, regardless of who law enforcement is interacting with. I'm pro cop, but only so far as them maintaining a peace keeper role. The second they become that militarized weapon of oppression against ANY community, I turn my back on the thin blue line. That ain't what I signed up to support and why I got out if it. Our police need to be better, and they need to remember they are there to serve the community, not be feared.