The MPD runs a unit there dubbed “Powershift.” Its logo features a grim reaper. In place of the standard letter “o” in the name, the logo uses the Celtic Cross, a piece of iconography frequently used by white supremacists.
The Powershift unit became a lightning rod for criticisms of police racism here just this past summer, after local activists uncovered social media posts from members that were indicative of a predatory, paramilitary attitude among officers — and also, depending who is evaluating the images, a bias against non-white people.
The logo has already caused one judge to dismiss a felony gun case after an officer involved was photographed wearing a shirt with the Powershift logo. The unit, logo, and social media postings are now the subject of an internal department investigation.
The white supremacist version of the Celtic Cross, which consists of a square cross interlocking with or surrounded by a circle, is one of the most important and commonly used white supremacist symbols. Although usually called a Celtic Cross by white supremacists, its origins date to the pre-Christian “sun cross” or “wheel cross” in ancient Europe. Norwegian Nazis used a version of the symbol in the 1930s and 1940s. After World War II, a variety of white supremacist groups and movements adopted the symbol. Today, this verson of the Celtic Cross is used by neo-Nazis, racist skinheads, Ku Klux Klan members and virtually every other type of white supremacist. It has also achieved notoriety as part of the logo of Stormfront, the oldest and largest white supremacist website in the world.
Slager was charged in South Carolina with murder and pleaded not guilty. During the murder trial, Slager’s attorney said his client shot Scott because he was in fear for his life. In 2016, the case ended in a mistrial. The state retrial and federal trial were expected to take place this year, but instead, in May Slager pleaded guilty to violating Scott’s civil rights in federal court, ending the federal case against him and also resolving the state charges that were pending after the mistrial.
How do you liberals expect the police to do their job if they can’t shoot or rape anyone they want? There would be no one to protect us from the other murderers and rapists.
This is horrifying. Shame on the media for not bringing more attention to it.
Bad Cops is not is not just about race, although racists cops and terrible, which doesn’t seem like a strong enough word, murderous cops has been an issue for decades in certain communities… known issue.
Municipal police (not federal police like the FBI, let’s make a distinction) are the dumbest profession. The are provably dumber than garbagemen, or drywall guys, or carnies, or construction workers, or small town councilpeople, or any other profession you care to name. How do we know this? Because smart people can get those jobs. They may be bored, but they can do those jobs for a living. Cops though, are different. Almost every municipality in America disqualifies applicants for their police force of they score too high on aptitude tests. It’s the only profession that does this.
No wonder we have so many dumb ass cops. They filter by intelligence. Police officers are the dumbest profession in America.
MANY PEOPLE WERE UNARMED. Twenty percent of the people police shot were unarmed. That’s quadruple the unarmed rate the Washington Post found for the country as a whole in fatal incidents.
In roughly 8 percent of cases, departments didn’t say whether the subject was armed. About half of shootings occurred when officers encountered a subject with a gun. Another 20 percent of subjects were armed with a knife or something else.
BLACK PEOPLE WERE SHOT MORE OFTEN AND AT HIGHER RATES THAN PEOPLE OF ANY OTHER RACE. Police shot at least 1,664 black people from 2010 through 2016, 55 percent of the total and more than double the share of the black population in these communities. That’s a 28 percent higher rate than what the Washington Post found for fatal shootings in the same communities.
Black subjects shot by police were more likely to be shot during incidents that began with routine traffic or pedestrian stops. They were more likely than whites to be armed with a gun but less likely to be armed with a weapon overall.
