Dead Cops

According to PBA President Patrick Lynch, who seems to be auditioning to take over Rush Limbaugh's job after the fat man finally kills himself with prescription pain killers, Bill DeBlasio has "blood on his hands" because the mayor supported non-violent protest in the streets of New York City, and wants to put limits on "stop and frisk — the easiest way for patrolmen to build impressive "arrest records" and move up in the ranks.

Ismaaiyl Brinsley, the shooter, started his day in Baltimore, where he shot his girfriend.  She is not a cop.  Then he rode the bus to New York and took the subway to Brooklyn, where he found Ramos and Liu sitting in their squad car, and shot them.  They were cops.  Then Brinsley shot himself.  He was not a cop.

Given his criminal history, we can be sure he didn't like cops.  How much did the Garner and Brown deaths influence his actions?  My guess is, not much, if at all.  He was ready to kill himself, maybe because he knew he'd be screwed after shooting his girlfriend.  He wasn't using Garner and Brown to justify shooting Ramos and Liu, he was using Ramos and Liu to justify shooting himself.  Killing the cops let him go out thinking he would look like a "hero."

Nobody thinks he's a hero.  Everybody knows he was just nuts.

Eric Garner

Maybe you didn't read my post about Michael Brown, because it was buried in a pretty long post, and my daughter tells me nobody reads anything long.  Anyway, what I said, essentially, was that an ADA with about half an hour's experience can get a murder indictment against a moldy prune if she really wants to get it.  Whatever ADA did the Garner grand jury, pretty clearly, didn't want an indictment.

Reverend Al says District Attorney's offices are too closely tied to police departments.  Well, Reverend Al is right, this time, and a lot of other times too.  He's not always right, but he's a hell of a lot better than a stopped clock.