Quote :

"Officer Twiddy ran to and grabbed Mr. Denkins, in an effort to take him into custody. While the two struggled, Officer Twiddy felt Mr. Denkins reaching for an object in the front of his waistband. As the struggle continued, Officer Twiddy observed Mr. Denkins start to pull a handgun from the front of his waistband and begin to move it toward Officer Twiddy. While still struggling with Mr. Denkins, Officer Twiddy drew his duty weapon and fired multiple shots as Mr. Denkins continued to move the firearm in his direction. After the first shots were fired, Officer Twiddy felt Mr. Denkins’ hand or arm make contact with his duty weapon. Officer Twiddy, fearing that Mr. Denkins was either going to shoot him or attempt to take his duty weapon, stepped back and fired additional shots at Mr. Denkins, who still had the firearm in his hand. Mr. Denkins collapsed to the ground, dropping the firearm in the process. Officer Twiddy then used his police radio to call for assistance. Additional police units arrived on the scene as well as Emergency Medical Services personnel, who pronounced Mr. Denkins deceased."

I don't believe it

3/3/2016 8:41:01 PM

Of course you don't. What's the point of even releasing a report? The public has already formed their opinion. They could release a video of Denkins choking the officer, and you people would call it fabricated.

If it isn't what you want to hear, you aren't going to believe it.

3/3/2016 8:51:58 PM

[sarcasm][/sarcasm]

3/3/2016 9:01:22 PM

Quote :

"I don't believe it"

So what do you believe?

Do you think it's more likely that the LEO fell and just opened fire shooting that guy 7 times right in the back. Personally I find the police account much more plausible simply because it's hard to hit a moving target especially in that moment after a foot chase having jumped fences. Also the ME seemed to conclude he was shot in the front.

3/3/2016 9:04:14 PM

Quote :

"They could release a video of Denkins choking the officer, and you people would call it fabricated"

Well there is recent precedent for having video of someone being choked to death and that murder being found innocent...

3/3/2016 9:14:05 PM

Quote :

"Was she an unarmed person that got shot by a cop? "

hey man it was the white man's fault she flipped out and blew cigarette smoke in the cops face. The oppression she faced against the white establishment that forced her to suicide. #Racism #AllCopsRacist #Oppression #AllCigarettesMatter

3/4/2016 12:50:37 AM

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article63861842.html

Quote :

"Joe Jabari, who owns the building that houses PJ’s Grill & Groceries, said he heard from a lot of people that Twiddy shot Denkins in the back. Jabari said he was “absolutely shocked” to hear about Deck-Brown’s report. “This kid came to me many times, saying, ‘I wish I didn’t have a felony charge because I need to change,’ ” he said. “He was trying, honest to God he was trying. That day, I don’t know what happened. I’m not defending nobody, but some of these kids feel like they have no choice.” "

So he was trying to change & was worried about the felony charge despite the 9 times he was arrested in 2015? Yeah, ok.

When did we as a society start defending habitual felons & those that did something wrong? I just do not understand. Where is the riots & outrage when a gang member kills another gang member...I don't see any movements to stop that from happening.

Quote :

"According to a February 29, 2016 report by ABC11 Eyewitness News, Denkins had been arrested 18 times for weapon and drug-related crimes, 9 times in 2015 alone."

3/4/2016 8:49:45 AM

Quote :

"When did we as a society start defending habitual felons & those that did something wrong?"

That's really not what it's about, it's about citizens being roughed up and/or killed by police when it's not necessary. That may not be the case in this situation, we don't know, but according to the autopsy it's not.

Quote :

" Where is the riots & outrage when a gang member kills another gang member Where is the riots & outrage when a gang member kills another gang member"

People continually say this, but who would be rioting against who in that situation???? Actually, it kinda does happen. When one gang kills a member of another gang, they're outraged and riot against each other. (and there are plenty of good organizations that focus on and try to stop gang violence. if you don't see it, you simply aren't looking,)

3/4/2016 9:22:56 AM

also, people do actually demonstrate against gang violence, it's not like its ignored

3/4/2016 9:25:12 AM

Quote :

"Cool so you're a social anarchist."

No, I left out the obvious part that we need laws. As far as our rights go, there should be as few restrictions as possible so I don't agree with our new voter ID law.

Quote :

"I think that past is the only cause of present..."

There is more than one cause for economic disparity and I attribute people's life choices as the number one cause.

3/4/2016 10:33:47 AM

So... you're saying that black people collectively make worse choices than white people?


I believe that most people don't make any choices at all. Just because you're acting or doing a certain thing doesn't really mean that you have chosen it at all. Do poor black kids choose to be sold some BS fantasy of the potentiality of becoming an NFL player? Who makes all the money in the NFL? Who pays for that fantasy to exist? Who is paying for the shitty 2nd grade reading level rap? Its definitely not the 12% of the population who is mostly in jail.

3/4/2016 10:41:33 AM

There are a lot of poor white people as well.

If a kid does poorly in school because someone tells them they will make tons of money in the NFL, then whoever told them that is lying to the kid.

When people lied about Mike Brown surrendering with his hands up, who made them do that? Or witnesses saying Denkins was shot in the back last week because the officer couldn't jump the fence so he just started firing. When people choose to lie, who's fault is that?

Are individuals never held responsible for their own actions in your mind?

3/4/2016 10:49:15 AM

Quote :

"“This kid came to me many times, saying, ‘I wish I didn’t have a felony charge because I need to change,’ ” he said. “He was trying, honest to God he was trying. That day, I don’t know what happened. I’m not defending nobody, but some of these kids feel like they have no choice"

Don't forget he had a good heart and was trying to go to college lol!

Quote :

"elony charge despite the 9 times he was arrested in 2015? Yeah, ok. "

How are you not in jail after 9 arrests that include felony charges?

So much for the moron and E Man false narratives that the racist white establishment conspires
to imprison African-Americans while letting Caucasian Americans go....

Quote :

"you're saying that black people collectively make worse choices than white people? "

So it would seem #TheTruthIsRacist
Though it has nothing to do with skin color but socio-economics and self-perpetuating cultural behaviors.

Quote :

"Do poor black kids choose to be sold some BS fantasy of the potentiality of becoming an NFL player? "

Is this really any different than the liberal arts major or MBA student that has the fantasy of being CEO of a company, only to be waiting tables?

3/4/2016 11:31:44 AM

Quote :

"There are a lot of poor white people as well. "

The ratio of poor white people to poor brown people on this planet is not even remotely close... Its only your limited perspective that looks at the world and only thinks about America. In the same way its my limited perspective to see the world from the point of view of a 'black' person. Everything is connected with infinite lines of causality. Words are just methods of filtering infinity into specific categories.

Quote :

"When people choose to lie, who's fault is that?"

The person who chooses to agree to the lie. I don't know what happened there and I don't believe either side or really care about it. What I do believe is that whatever I've read about Mike Brown on the media (pro or con) is almost certainly NOT true. What I'm trying to say I guess is that most people in the world agree with the lies they are told from birth.

Quote :

"Are individuals never held responsible for their own actions in your mind?"

I don't necessarily believe in 'individuals'. This is one of the first lies we are told at birth. By being an individual you are implicitly NOT everything else. There can't be an inside without an outside. So then where is the line? Is it my skin? Is it my actions? Is it my thoughts? I don't think about beating my heart, so who is doing that? We do not come out of the world, we are the world. You are the entire world. This teeters on solipsism but whatever. To answer your question, I've decided to only be responsible for how I respond to the way that I feel in the present moment. To quote from The Four Agreements "Humans are the only animals that are punished more than once for the same mistake"

Quote :

"Is this really any different than the liberal arts major or MBA student that has the fantasy of being CEO of a company, only to be waiting tables?"

This is EXACTLY what I'm saying.

[Edited on March 4, 2016 at 11:54 AM. Reason : ]

3/4/2016 11:50:27 AM

I'm talking about in the US, not the planet. If Bernie Sander's logic was applied to the entire planet, we would have to give up 90% of our wealth to developing or third world countries.

I was arguing this whole time based on the idea that people have and make individual choices. If you don't think that is the case then I would have rather spent this time bashing Clinton or Trump.

3/4/2016 12:03:13 PM

Quote :

"I was arguing this whole time based on the idea that people have and make individual choices."

The idea that personal responsibility is item #1 on the list of influence is predicated on all choices being available to all individuals of a certain status. That simply isn't true in real life.

3/4/2016 12:49:26 PM

Who decides to have a kid before graduating high school?

3/4/2016 12:59:31 PM

usually the under-educated

3/4/2016 1:05:41 PM

North Carolina is a state that does not provide comprehensive sexual education.

Such a person, raised in a religious household & actively discouraged from both birth control and abortion, might find themselves pregnant in high school and compelled to not terminate the pregnancy.

3/4/2016 1:06:56 PM

So it's the governments job to tell young people that if they have unprotected sex, then they will probably get pregnant?

Parents have no role, no responsibility and young people are like the kids from the blue lagoon and just have no clue as to what they are doing?

3/4/2016 1:11:41 PM

Saw a stat yesterday that unwanted pregnancies are at a 30 year low.

Nothing really to do with the race talk but shows the effect of actual sex education as it becomes more mainstream. Once the Neanderthals in the Deep South allow it too it should help.

[Edited on March 4, 2016 at 1:14 PM. Reason : ^ don't be that type of person. of course sex ed helps prevent pregnancies. the sky is blue too.]

3/4/2016 1:13:02 PM

Quote :

"So it's the governments job to tell young people that if they have unprotected sex, then they will probably get pregnant? Parents have no role, no responsibility and young people are like the kids from the blue lagoon and just have no clue as to what they are doing?"

So if a kid has shitty parents, the child deserves those consequences? Lots of kids have shitty parents. Lots of kids have good parents who are still uneducated.

The American Dream is to transcend one's limitations. We're not supposed to educate people, damning the uneducated to unwanted fates that could be easily avoided?

Comprehensive sex education is just that: education. "Here's what happens when you have sex, and here's how to prevent unwanted outcomes." It's not an advocate for anything. The current NC system's official stance is, "What happens when you have sex? No idea."

3/4/2016 1:18:15 PM

I'm not arguing against sex ed. If the kids are hearing it for the first time from the government then their parents aren't doing their job. I'm arguing that if someone drops out of high school because they are pregnant, it is not the governments fault or some wide ranging conspiracy.

The more you tell young people that the consequences they face for their own actions are not their fault, the worse their lives will become.

3/4/2016 1:24:52 PM

^ haven't followed this whole discussion but regarding sex Ed, it's been shown multiple times in different cases to cause a significant reduction in teen pregnancy and abortions (probably disease too). Regardless of your personal beliefs, it's having comprehensive sex Ed is the best policy.

3/4/2016 1:32:09 PM

Quote :

"I'm talking about in the US, not the planet. If Bernie Sander's logic was applied to the entire planet, we would have to give up 90% of our wealth to developing or third world countries."

There are no countries. The concept of nationstates is only a couple centuries old. The concept of 'the people' has only been around since the printing press. Do you really think that the people that you see every day and call Americans are inherently better than people that you have never met? We're all the same. The only reason for any country to have more wealth than another is greed. Or do you want to say that we earned this wealth? The unfortunate thing about this '90% of our wealth' that you're so proud of is that most of it is old sugar cane money in disguise.

[Edited on March 4, 2016 at 1:37 PM. Reason : ]

3/4/2016 1:37:20 PM

My personal beliefs are not against sex ed. If public education wants to supplement knowledge then great. But if people make stupid decisions then don't blame sex ed.

3/4/2016 1:42:47 PM

It kinda sounds like you're blaming kids for having shitty parents that don't teach them well or lead by example. .

3/4/2016 1:45:33 PM

Too bad all that wealth goes to nuking kids in afganistan rather than using something as expensive as a website to teach kids about the world they live in.

3/4/2016 1:45:55 PM

I would blame the parents for being shitty. The kids who ignore every other adult in the world that says to "stay in school" can share the blame as well as they get older.

I won't blame some imaginary monster in the closet for everyone's problems.

3/4/2016 1:57:36 PM

Quote :

" But if people make stupid decisions then don't blame sex ed."

So if a toddler sticks his finger in a socket because no one told him it was dangerous, it's his fault for getting shocked?

3/4/2016 2:03:11 PM

As a side note... in 6th grade I stuck a metal fork in a live outlet and nothing happened.

[Edited on March 4, 2016 at 2:09 PM. Reason : Sorry it was 6th grade]

3/4/2016 2:09:34 PM

Try it again

3/4/2016 2:10:14 PM

Responsible adults should ensure the safety of their toddlers. Children have accidents, but parents can be charged for gross neglect.

3/4/2016 2:10:30 PM

so I'm going to assume that you're a proponent for home schooling?

since parents are the ones who should be doing the teaching?

3/4/2016 2:14:23 PM

Let's not forget that children were considered a resource until the end of the industrial revolution. We take for granted that every child should go to 'school' for 16+ years. The idea is really is only around a century old. We (americans) still treat 'school' like we did 50 or so years ago, this is why every other developed country in the world out performs us in education.

Build a damn sex ed website and stop arguing about this. We could finish entire project in a week if we really wanted to use our resources effectively.

Implying football doesn't run our shit country
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl-news/4634800-more-people-watched-super-bowl-xlix-than-voted-in-presidential-election
More people are interested in sitting on their ass, watching Pepsi Ads and seeing a bunch of overweight dudes run into each other than organizing the fight against extinction. Rome never fell and we are all still in the coliseum.

[Edited on March 4, 2016 at 2:35 PM. Reason : ]

3/4/2016 2:18:02 PM

Quote :

"Rolanda Byrd the mother of 20 year old Akiel Denkins who was murdered by North Carolina police received the body of her son yesterday. No answers or explanation has she received from police concerning this shooting. Police have told the media the young man was wanted on a drug warrant and in earlier reports police claimed to have found a gun. But witnesses to the shooting say he was unarmed and running away from police when he was fired upon 7 times! Several people claim to have video of this shooting and the authorities are asking that the videos be turned in immediately. People are angry and marching through the streets alongside Black Lives Matters protestors while services are held in churches asking for peace. The NAACP is asking for transparency concerning the investigation but authorities say it would compromise their investigation."

https://m.facebook.com/NationalActionAgainstPoliceBrutality/

3/4/2016 3:54:26 PM

Again. The police aren't being brutal. Its our society that is brutal to itself as evident by all the obvious hate in this thread. The police are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. They're latching our attention and keeping us divided when really there is no division.

3/4/2016 4:00:04 PM

Quote :

"Responsible adults should ensure the safety of their toddlers. Children have accidents, but parents can be charged for gross neglect."

You continue to approach this from a place of extreme idealism. Plenty of parents are irresponsible, incapable, or absent for a multitude of reasons. These children should not suffer due to the shortcomings of their families.

As a responsible citizen, I feel compelled to advocate policies that provide all young people with advantages for success, so that those in less fortunate domestic situations aren't left with disadvantages that no amount of hard work can overcome.

Personally, I think comprehensive sex ed is far more useful for adult life than trigonometry, but you never hear anyone question if the government should be teaching our kids about advanced math. A position on any subject of "that's for the parents to teach" is one that's anti-public schooling.

3/4/2016 4:44:06 PM

NPR lady just said "a report released supports officer twiddy's version of the events" instead of "a report released *was* twiddy's version of the events.

3/4/2016 5:07:23 PM

A sex ed website is not a bad idea if it is supplemental to a decent curriculum, but kids should learn this from their parents before high school. I'm actually not a fan of home school. Public school is a great way to build social skills and the extra curricular stuff is important as well. Of course out state sucks at providing for public school but it's still a viable vehicle to some kind of college.

3/4/2016 9:08:20 PM

Quote :

"but kids should learn this from their parents before high school"

You have failed to address the kids whose parents are absent, and those whose parents are poorly educated. What happens to those kids?

3/5/2016 3:14:29 AM

Those kids should've chosen 'Responsible Adults' as parents.

[Edited on March 5, 2016 at 9:13 AM. Reason : duh]

3/5/2016 9:12:59 AM

No I haven't. I said I place blame on parents for being bad parents, but when children go to school and ignore every teacher, every year from K-12, then they shoulder their own responsibility. You don't have to go to a nice private school to graduate and be eligible for college. If you'd rather place blame on a law struck down 60 years ago that's fine but you can't strike the law down again and again. At some point people are going to have to start being more responsible and stop blaming their failures on bullshit like "white privilege."

Children will never succeed in an environment where their parents are horrible at being parents and no one blames the parents. No one blames a criminal for their own demise under these imaginary constraints. If you say this policy or that company is racist with evidence then I will agree with you to fight that policy or company. But what I'm reading here from ya'll is that even if a parent is a horrible parent, it's not their fault. Of if a drug dealer gets arrested, it's not his/her fault.

If a white kid is raised to be racist by their parents, is it not that kids fault for not growing up in a society that collectively rejects racism and realizing that it's wrong?

3/5/2016 10:22:14 AM

your rant basically typifies white privilege. You fail to comprehend why people for whom a system was built do better in that system than other people. "Why don't you people make the same choices I did? Clearly yall are just stupid."

3/5/2016 1:05:42 PM

Not sure who you are quoting since I don't remember reading that, anywhere. Again, if the system is racist and there is a racist law then I will agree and protest that law.

3/5/2016 2:15:18 PM

The system can be racist, and there can be no "racist" law. You should have learned this in school... It's what a "grandfather" clause originally was, it's where the term "disproportionate impact" comes from, it's why several republican political leaders have admitted voter ID laws help republicans.


When a law is intended to have a disproportionate impact, it's not always obvious, but this usually isn't an explicitly racist law. Nor are all laws with disproportionate impacts "racist".

If you're waiting for racists to start waving flags and announcing their racist intentions to denounce and fight racism, you'll always be waiting. People like that, trump excepted, don't normally want to announce their intentions. You have to use your critical and analytical thinking skills.

3/5/2016 4:37:58 PM

Quote :

"You have to use your critical and analytical thinking skills."

3/5/2016 4:40:55 PM

Quote :

"You should have learned this in school..."

Sounds like something I would say to people who ruin their own lives. Think this might be a double standard?

3/5/2016 5:17:02 PM

^ only if you don't allow for the outcome that someone didn't learn it for whatever reason.

If you didn't learn it, the reaction shouldn't be "tough shit, you're a screwed now" it should be to understand why it wasn't taught to you, why you forgot it, and how to teach it better to people like you in the future.

There's no steady state of society where laws and rules are perfect and you can stop trying to change things or make them better. We'll always, perpetually be doing this, it just changes for whom and how we do this. We should just embrace this reality, stop arguing about IF something needs to change (because it's pretty obvious from the stats that something does) and start figuring out what needs to change.

3/5/2016 6:21:49 PM

Quote :

"Several people claim to have video of this shooting and the authorities are asking that the videos be turned in immediately."

Why the fuck would anyone do that? Give it to a journalist. Hell, put that shit on youtube before handing it to the cops. In the NY Eric Garner incident, the only person to ever be arrested was the guy who filmed the incident.

3/5/2016 8:09:16 PM