By Omar Simpson, Esq.
Special to The Dagger
INTRO:
Here we go again… Different day, same ol’ bull stuff. White officer kills unarmed black man, claims it was the victims fault, and after much gnashing of teeth and soul searching by a predominantly white jury, the cop is set free to police the same community and live happily ever after. All seems right with the world! Except…another black man lies dead…another black woman mourns her dead son … another black father mourns his dead son. How many times must we hear this same old sad story? Black men, isn’t it apparent by now that we are on our own? We are despised by the community at large and the police, our sworn protectors, are our persecutors. We have no protectors…not from the police, not from criminals…from no one.
It has been made abundantly clear that black men must be our own protectors. We must police our selves. We must protect our own communities from all enemies, internal and external.
EXTERNAL THREATS
Based on what we’ve seen in Ferguson and many other places, black men cannot expect fair treatment from authorities. Every black male needs to know how to act when dealing with authorities. Don’t fight unjust cops in the streets. You’ll lose because they have “lethal” authority.
Instead, fight them using your legal authority. Ask if you are under arrest, if not tell the cop you want to leave. If he says you are under arrest, immediately demand an attorney and state you choose to remain silent. Then shut up.
Don’t fight unjust cops in the streets. Instead, fight them using your Electronic authority. Use your electronic devices to record abuse. Immediately send it via email, iCloud or file storage and sharing site. Amazon.com has shades that are video cameras for under $50. Get a pair and keep it in your car or on you when you are out. Use your videos in Court, Facebook, Twitter, online and in every venue to get fair and just treatment.
INTERNAL THREATS
Black men can be our own worst enemy. We kill each other, rob each other…U.S. Census Stats don’t lie. What they also say is that most violent crimes in the black community are committed by a small group of repeat offenders against a much larger group of black law abiding people. So the question becomes, “How can a small group of black criminals get away with committing crimes against a much larger group of law abiding black men?” The smaller criminal group can only exist if the much larger black community allows them to exist. There really is no other way. If we are unwilling to stand up for our community, who is going to?
We will burn down our own communities, but won’t chase away the violent offenders in our own back yard?! That makes no sense! Some will argue that chasing violent offenders out is too dangerous, but the violent offenders are already killing us! Chase away violent offenders, but leave nonviolent, low level dealers alone. I could care less if someone smokes weed or other things as long as they are nonviolent in our community. Violence is what all sane people fear and despise.
Let’s focus on removing violent offenders from our neighborhoods. How? By reminding them that there are A LOT more of us than there are of them and we will protect our loved ones by any means necessary.
VOTE!
Voting is the surest way to protect yourself. Money and Votes are the only things politicians and police respect. A black life only has significance if it votes. If you don’t vote, you don’t matter. Why? Simple, votes are how everyone gets paid. Whoever wins controls congress, congress controls who gets contracts and money. Its not rocket science. If black men are sick of the Fergusons, sick of the brutality against unarmed black men and others, get off your asses and vote! Its that simple. Voting gives you the power to stop police brutality and harassment. Voting gives you the power to promote and punish the politicians and police that rule over you. Voting changes how people look at you. Voting makes you matter to people that otherwise wouldn’t give a damn about you! If you give a damn about you, Vote.
FINALLY
Anyone who really knows me, knows that I am quiet, but friendly; that I love family and children. (I still kick myself for not having more when I was young); And that I despite violence because I Love people. That is why current race relations pain me to my very soul. I can’t change what I am. I wouldn’t if I could. I am a proud black man; A strong black man. God put me here and I, like you, have every right to be here. I’m not going anywhere. Black men aren’t going anywhere. We need to learn how to better get along.
Omar J. Simpson, Esq.
Saw a black woman wearing a shirt that said “I love black people”. I am quite sure she wasn’t being racist in her own ghetto mind just as Michael Brown was protecting his right to be a thug, steal and threaten a community store clerk. Too bad he’s dead but that’s what happens when you try to take the gun from the officer and cause physical harm. Black men need to behave not steal and act like they are the victims. I would defend anyone whose rights are being denied but as far as I am concerned, if you break the law, disobey police orders and attack a police officer then you get what you got coming. I am certain that no cop wants to shoot anyone and rather end their shift, go home and hug their family instead of being prosecuted for defending the public good and ultimately lose their ability to do their job because the community just doesn’t support the police but will scream when police don’t want to patrol their drug infested neighborhoods. If you want to defend the defenseless and stand up for victims, then I am with you but if you insist that public safety should take a back seat to criminal rights then you are completely nuts. I don’t think MLK would be too proud right now of the looting, destruction or protests over the attacks of young black criminals. That isn’t what civil rights movement was about nor do I think Michael Brown’s civil rights were violated either As long as black folks just blame everyone else for their lack of work ethic, lack of family structure and dependency on government assistance this country will keep going backwards not towards any solutions. Even illegal aliens at least for the most part go to work and don’t attack the police..
“Illegal aliens go to work and don’t attack the police.” – They do get drunk and murder nuns with their cars.
Major cities have black elected officials and this has changed nothing. Demand specific changes not just a certain race or party to represent you.
In Maryland demand that all police start wearing body cameras. That is a change that will have a positive effect on all who come in contact with an officer.
I feel that body cameras only bring us one step closer to being a true surveillance state. People clamoring for use of body cameras on law enforcement really should step back and think about the unintended side effects of such actions.
Businesses have them for their protection. Why can’t these cameras on the officers protect the citizens and help prevent a police state.
Funny, most all of those flimsy ‘resisting’ charges (and accompanied beatings) disappear where the cameras are worn as well as those trigger happy ‘good shoots’ seem to be eliminated.
I say a police state is one where the police continue to have no accountability, given that prosecutors virtually refuse to charge an officer for their actions. They can get an indictment against a ham sandwich but there is either a confusing ‘data dump’ as in Ferguson or a muddled rationale as in the New York choking death. Wear the camera. It will save a few.
Cameras will also help to remove the word, “discretion ”
Be careful what you wish for.
It doesn’t remove that at all. It isn’t like the camera is reviewed every day for every little thing. It gets reviewed when there is a legal challenge to one’s actions.
Look, the statistics show that almost 90% of the historic levels of resisting charges are eliminated and claims of police brutality virtually disappear… and so do the claims of excessive use of lethal force.
I will take the trade off.
You are correct. No discretion or anything like that will be in jeopardy here. The only people that will have an issue with body camera’s on Police Officers are the people that want to scream police brutality to get some kind of gain from that. I.E. the thugs, criminals and blacks. Everyone else has absolutely no issue with body cameras, because they actually will be a protection of the public since IF a police officers commits any kind of illegal action it will be plainly visible on the camera. Most police officers are doing their jobs to the best of their ability and honor… there are always a few whose actions might be questionable and that can then also be seen on the cameras and they can be prosecuted or weeded out.
I’ll be happy to wear a body camera when Harford County eventually gets them (and it’s a “when”, not an “if), but you people better be ready to pay some significant costs for us to have them. It’ll be great to have these dirtbags filing bs complaints against police to get shut down right away when the video from the body cam is shown (it’d be even better if they were also charged with filing a false report, but that’s not going to happen.)
The actual equipment isn’t all that cost prohibitive relatively speaking. The real costs come in the storage. The required server space to store thousands of hours of just average quality video quickly gets extremely expensive. Go for higher quality video and it’s even more expensive.
Then you can also run into a lot of privacy concerns with when exactly they should be activated, how long video gets stored, who has access, etc.
Like I said, I’m not against them and will actually welcome one when they come here, but it’s easy to say “Yes, every cop should be wearing one.” It’s a lot harder when budget time rolls around and people see how much they truly cost.
If you are in fact a law school graduate then I would expect that you read the documents of actual evidence from the trial and didn’t base this wild call for marshall law within black communities on what you saw on television. If that is not the case then you should do the world a favor and tear up your own degree. However, even if you examine the factual evidence and testimony of witness (white and black) and still came to this ridiculous conclusion, then you should probably still tear up your law degree. Many agencies have gone to wearing body cams and guess what the results have been?? In poverty stricken minority neighborhoods that dislike the police, the body cams have shown that the eye witnesses were skewing facts and outright lying because the footage supported the officers version of events.
The body cameras show quite a bit more than what you claim. But, let’s accept what you say…. fine. Get the cameras. Why wouldn’t every officer want one to back up his legal behavior.
Why would there be any resistance to using them? Could it be the same reason that officers attempt to intimidate those people who currently film them with their smartphones, claiming that the person is interfering with the performance of their duty?
There appears to be several of those intimidation videos going up on the net every week.
I have absolutely no problem with wearing a body camera. In the end it will be those who are shouting now about having them that will, in the end, want them done away with. The camera will take away the loudmouths thunder.
Omar still thinks OJ is innocent. Brown was a thug and caused his own demise. Case closed!
You are policing yourselves, by continually killing each other with black on black crimes. ..or is that whiteys fault as well? The guy in Ferguson was a thug, and had just committed battery and a theft, but I guess that is okay because he is black? Valid, proven points our media conveniently leaves out.
Where are all of you “law abiding” citizens standing up and making noise with black on white crime?
Namely:
Benjamin Davis (black) shot and killed a white pizza delivery driver for the pizza and money.
Adrian Mcgee (black) who stripped, raped and killed an 18 year old white girl by stabbing her in the neck.
Didn’t see Sharpton out there whining about anything when a group of black teenagers beat a white guy to death with hammers, in St. Louis.
Where was your beloved Jesse J when Cedric Hobbs shot and killed Calvin Harris? Wanna guess the race of the attacker?
People, no…bigots like YOU are the problem. Seizing opportunistic moments to spread your own brand of hate based on a profession or skin color.
You, sir…are a douchebag.
I agree.
(And no, I am NOT a racist–but Omar Simpson, Esquire, sure sounds like a Racist). Oh, I forgot, it is totally okay for black folks to despise/loathe white folks. That is A-O-K.
Its easy don’t strong arm rob a store clerk. Then stay out of the street, then don’t attack a police officer who asks you to get out of the street after you strong arm robbed a store clerk. Is that simple enough for you Omar???
Where was Sharpton and Jackson when O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of butchering Nicole Brown and the Goldman kid, I know where they were, they were partying and celebrating with the rest of the black community. could you imagine if the tables were turned and the white community celebrated a well known white person butchering two black people?
An important fact that you left out is that Darren Wilson had no idea of the robbery. This has been corroborated by two of his fellow officers at the scene of Brown’s death. Apparently the crime had not been reported or dispatched yet……..Doesn’t really matter tho, Brown is dead and Wilson will never be a Police Officer again. Ferguson will never be the same. I gotta a great idea! Why don’t you guys get your newly elected Sheriff to offer Darren Wilson a job with the HCSO? That would be the ultimate showing of respect and support to a man that killed an unarmed man with his .40 cal, wouldn’t it. Shot 12 of his 13 rounds at the perp and hit 50% of his shots too, is that the standard accuracy rating of most Police Officers? You are aware of the “one shot stop percentage” of a .40 cal, its pretty high. The first 5 shots should’ve done the trick, but that last one to the head really took care of business, huh. You guys really are out there.
“one stop” percentage is a myth. Do a simply google search for FBI statistics and you’ll see on average how many rounds it takes to “stop” a threat. A motivated, dedicated person ignoring non-fatal, painful wounds often fight for minutes after the fact. Look at the FBI shootout in Miami back in the 1980’s, where one of the guys was hit with a fatal wound (destroyed the heart) and he kept fighting and killed two agents several MINUTED after being hit with a so-called “fatal” round. One stop, incapacitating shots are rare with handguns unless the person chooses to stop fighting.
FBI statistics also show that the average hit rate, in police involved shootings, drops to around 50% based on training. Also,, the coroners report showed that 4 of the 6 rounds struck Brown in the arm and were deemed non-incapacitating. A fifth hit him in the face but the EVIDENCE showed he continued aggressively forward, head down charging the officer who fired a sixth round, the only round deemed to be incapacitating based on medical evidence.
Well, like you said, the “Evidence” shows that Brown was in the wrong. However, in most legal circles the rule of thumb is if the prosecutor says the “Ham Sandwich” is rotten then he gets the same “Ham Sandwich” indicted by the grand jury. An Indictment process is usually to determine if there is enough evidence for a trial and normally very little favorable evidence is submitted on the accused’s behalf. The process in Missouri was off kilter and I question the true motives of the prosecutions office for seeking an indictment that they really didn’t want in the first place. As for the wounds on Brown, I’m surprised if he even had use of his right arm when he was killed. A .40 cal makes a pretty big hole, especially when it exits the body. I find it incredible that the chest shot, neck shot and the face shot, did not stop Brown. Like I said before that head shot did the trick. Like you said, the Grand Jury has spoken………..http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28841715
I encourage you to read more on ballistics as it is a fascinating topic filled with myths and misinformation. Such as:
– did you know that out west a suspect was shot 32+ times with pistol and shotgun rounds in separate vollies, after continuing to shoot at police and still fought being handcuffed?
– down south a barricaded subject took a 308 sniper round through the chest, destroyed his heart and he continued firing and even set up an ambush for the officers entering the residence, only to bleed out in the ambush position almost 5 full minutes after being shot?
– handgun rounds generally are very poor at stopping anything that doesn’t choose to be stopped. Short of stopping the computer (brain) the body will continue to function until it runs out of gas (blood) Again, look at the Miami FBI shootout, the North Hollywood Bank Shootout (rounds that were not defeated by the suspects body armor including pistol and rifle fire) and others are just a few. Big holes (temporary wound cavities) are nothing as skin stretches and resets in a short amount of time.
Omar Simpson does not come up in the Maryland Bar Association’s web site. The initials of the writer are O.J. Simpson. Is this like a prank article or something?
Only thing I could find listed about Omar is independent lawyer with a edgewood address, no other contact info, no idea what kind of attorney does not list a phone number, a little weird to me.
Soulcrusher, you checked the wrong site. Not every person who is bar admitted is a member of the Bar Association. Sounds like it is the same thing, but it is different. The best way to check if someone is an active member of the bar and allowed to appear in court is to check the MD Judiciary website. He is listed as admitted to practice and has an address in Edgewood.
I stand corrected, he is an attorney. I still like his name, O.J. Simpson……
Me too, it fits.
Go figure the guy is from Edgewood and hates whitey.
He must be making a killing serving the criminals from Grempler…
Actually, he has virtually no criminal cases in his resume. They all seem to be insurance related cases for an insurance company he represents on a regular basis. Not many cases for an attorney of 9 years, he must have an additional job or does a lot of civil work involving non court related documents. Probably does wills and offers advice on civil matters……
Probably stuck manning the Lewis Law Line. There is no fee, unless they win!
To Omar and all of the other people that defend thugs like Brown and then go ahead and burn down the very place they live…….
You can’t fix stupid
I hoped the businesses that were destroyed don’t rebuild and move elsewhere, I hope it becomes a ghost town, no stores to buy food, clothes, cash checks, etc,. They did it, they can live it.
No way, they will rebuild the beauty supply for weaves, do-rags, curl relaxer and hair mayonnaise.
The liquor store will restock Hennessey and a supply of ‘fowties’. Alize, grape soda and orange drink will be sold too.
I guess you can’t have your “Hands Up” when your holding your “Pants Up”……
This Omar is most likely a fake OR he is a racist riot inciter that is trying his hand here at the Dagger to see what kind of reactions he will get. He is no more than an idiot without a brain. Even if he actually would be an attorney, he would be a brainless nutcase to think that any intelligent person, be it black, white or other race person, would consider his asinine points. He is totally bypassing that MB was a thug, a proven thug with a criminal record that attacked a police officer because he wanted to avoid going to jail for the crime that he had just committed a few minutes earlier.
Omar is conveniently forgetting that his thug friends looted and burnt down places in a city that most likely has most inhabitants being horrified by the thugs that did this. There is a big portion of the black American citizen population that is law abiding and decent, moral and hardworking and they deserve all the respect they deserve. But, there is also a ghetto thug population that has no respect for the laws of this country, for law enforcement and for their own community. And that is the population that this Omar seems to want to rise up to defy the laws. This man is an idiot and anyone that would even listen to such dribble written here, be it black, white or other races, would have to have a screw loose of fall into the same category as this scum.
Enough said.
Omar, some of your advice makes sense IE don’t fight w/police. As far as Mike Brown goes he was a punk, a thug and a criminal. If he wasn’t shot by the cop he would probably have been killed sooner or later anyway. Anyone who would allow themselves to be in the same room with Jesse and Al are brain dead. The protesters in Ferguson had one thing on their minds, loot the nearest liquor or electronics store.Hundreds of black men die in Balto. city every year and no one in the black community protests. I guess they can’t get on TV,
The ‘black community’ sure does have a difficult time picking their martyrs. Both Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown were street thugs who messed with the wrong guy and paid the consequences. They got what they deserved. And yet, they are portrayed as poor innocent teenagers who are just the sweetest, kindest little darlings. If Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown are the best you got for martyrdom, then it sure is a sad state of affairs for the ‘black community’.
Sam,
Great comments! It seems that all too many in the black community pick and choose the points they want to crusade on. They are failing to even consider the “total picture” in recent events. What did Michael Brown and Eric Garner have in common. They both chose to violate the law and not cooperate with he police. Both thought that they were above the law and entitled to to do anything they pleased. The outcome resulted in the senseless loss of life which they both contributed to. I am quite sure that Neither Officer Wilson nor the members of NYPD had any desire to kill anyone. The black community doesn’t look at it that way and fail to acknowledge that both Brown or Garner contributed to what turned out to be two very tragic situations.
I am surprised that President Obama, Eric Holder, and Rev. Sharpton have not pushed to create a police crime enforcement matrix for encounters with people of color. Persons of color would be allowed to commit certain lesser crimes with complete impunity. When they refuse to be arrested the police should just walk away.
The concerns of the black community would be far better received if they acknowledged that all too many of their members contribute to their negative perception in this country. Instead of rallying behind thugs like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown the black community should acknowledge that some black people are doing the wrong things. Every race has good and bad people. Another poster in another article made an interesting point. They suggested that members of the black community ask business owners in urban areas who they distrust the most from their encounters and see what they say. The poster suggested to leave white people out of the equation and ask Asian, Hispanic, and even Black merchants who they felt were responsible for most problems. The black community might learn something from the answer that could subsequently help their cause and increase their credibility when addressing future incidents..
I disagree on the Trayvon Martin thing. I think that guy should’ve went to jail. The Missouri thing involved a struggle with a police officer over his gun. Anytime you try to take a weapon from a police officer, you probably should consider that you might end up shot or dead. I’m not totally convinced of what happened away from the car, but what happened in the car was enough to get shot at. Its not like Brown just punched Wilson in the face and walked away. There was a struggle at the car and in all likelihood was over Wilson’s weapon. That’s a no no…….
The people crying for Police to wear cameras on their person are going to be the ones crying for them to remove it.
There will be many more instances where Police won’t use discretion and arrest/charge or issue citations because the video camera is rolling.
Of you’re doing nothing wrong them you have nothing to worry about, right?
Why not let the .gov install cameras and monitor you in your home?
There’s a big question about whether the police should use discrection or just enforce the law as written.
Obama is trying to use his discrection to stop deporting illegal aliens. Will a police officer’s use of their discretion be influenced by race, gender, attractiveness? Is it their job to determine who gets to be charged or is it the prosecutors?
There is a big difference between filming interactions in public spaces and putting cameras in people’s homes.
We need to remember it’s the police officers that are the ones objecting to their actions being filmed whether it’s on the side of the road being filmed by the perpetrator, or on the streets of New York.
Actually, the few times I’ve seen video where an officer whips out a smartphone and starts filming the guy filming the officers, all of a sudden the other guy doesn’t like it, walks away, or tries to claim that the officer is violating his rights by filming him without his consent.
Most of us really don’t care much if someone films us so long as they aren’t in the middle of whatever we’re dealing with. Sure, you get the occasional officer who acts like an idiot and tries to make an issue of it (which at this point is stupid since the court have repeatedly ruled it’s legal to film the police in public so long as you aren’t interfering with their duties.)
Also, if something does happen don’t be surprised if a search warrant gets issued for your phone to recover the video of the incident from it. Not trying to scare or intimidate anyone into not filming us, but you record evidence of a criminal incident then we would not be doing a proper investigation if we didn’t obtain a copy of that video (unedited, not after you decide to edit it down to just the “juicy bits” to post to youtube.)
Well, daddy, apparently you might be one that wants “discretion” used when you do something illegal, meaning you don’t want a ticket or you don’t want to be arrested, so you are apparently against body cameras. NO surprise here. There should be NO discretion or treatment different for ANYONE, regardless of color, race, gender or whatever the charge might be. It you do something illegal you need to be written up, so don’t give me the silly notion that people will be sorry. They should not be because it is protection for both parties, law enforcement and citizen. And if the citizen is a thug and commits a crime, he needs to be arrested and not be able to attack a cop. If the citizens is upstanding etc. and commits a crime, whatever the crime is, NO discretion needs to be used, he needs to be ticketed or charged just like the thug was.
So, stop with all the BS. A law is a law and it does not matter if you are a first time offender or a 100 time offender, if you break the damn law you need to be charged.
It is people like your highness that overthinks all of this, because they think they are better than other people and need to be excused of they drive too fast, or whatever else the he… ll you are doing.
I can tell you like to ASSume.
Search the name Channon Christian and get back to me on how we need to get along.
Remember all the white people rioting over that?
White people don’t riot, they diet……
All I have to say to all the protesters in Ferguson and New York is
HANDS DOWN AND GET A JOB!!!!!
Omar,
While you make a few good points about how the black community treats itself you are way off the mark on everything else. First, every community black or white should police itself, WITHIN THE LAW. this means reporting suspicions behavior and activity. becoming more involved with your neighbors and gain a feeling of inclusion and belonging, not just a place to live. Second, your statement about voting is true in that to the victor goes the spoils. Voting is a noble thing and everyone should do regardless of race. However, people in black communities tend to vote for the same career politicians (many of whom are black) that promise to fight for black community while lining their own pockets with your hard earned money. Just getting more black people to vote will not change anything. If you really want to change things, educate people, especially the youth in the community. Teach them that self reliance and accountability are the ways to a better community. teach them that gaining an education will provide them with opportunities they would otherwise not have, that and education will allow them to be independent not dependent. Teach them that reliance on the government will only allow them to be to controlled by the government. Show them that there are better role models than the ball players and the rappers. that having a job is what you are supposed to do. that raising and being responsible for their children is what they are supposed do.
I know my vies are skewed and that it’s not the easiest way, but, Rome wasn’t built i a day and if you are a God fearing man like you suggest in you letter you know i am write and that by placing in blame on others (whites the government, you pick). you are not living up to God’s expectations.
No mother should have to fear for her son’s life every time he robs a store.
Yeah, it is all someone else’s fault.
Always is
Solution. Put Omar and the rest of his bunch on boats back to West Africa or Brazil. Al Sharpton can be the captain and he can take his bitches Obama and Holder with.
I think the real problem is that communities have lost their faith and trust in the police. Figure out how to restore the relationship between the two and you will see magic. Degrade the relationship any further and you will see more tragedy. Because of my own personal situations, I’ve lost all faith in the entire system, from the Police, to the prosecutors, all the way to the Courts. But that is my problem. The communities and the police should work towards a better future that everyone can live with. Not die with……
“No mother should have to fear for her son’s life every time he robs a store.”
Do you believe that unarmed petty criminals deserve summary execution at the hands of the police, or anyone else?
No policeman’s or store owner’s mother should have to fear for her son’s life A CRIMINAL robs a store OR
ATTACKS A POLICE OFFICER.
and if you believed that photoshopped meme was real you are an idiot!
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com
Need I say more..police kill unarmed defenseless citizens, if we started killing them just maybe they would think twice. they are not as scary with a cap on their head and in their head?