Smearing the Dead
I grew up in an affluent community with a golf course practically in my backyard.
But I also grew up down the street from the projects because of the no zoning laws in Houston.
People from the upper middle class area grew up and went to school with those who did not have the same financial means.
That actually makes for the perfect upbringing because you can relate to people from all races and all socioeconomic backgrounds.
I grew up with people that went to Ivy League law schools and business schools like Harvard University.
But at the same time, I became friends with people who ended up selling drugs and doing other nefarious things.
I even went to college with people who sold drugs while earning their bachelor’s degree.
I’ve been around people getting high on heroin and crack cocaine.
But that does not mean that I ever did any hard drugs because I didn’t, even though I was in the same room with them, as they got high.
I say all of that to say if I am ever shot by the cops, I want to go on record as saying that just because I knew someone who participated in something illegal, does not mean that I was a part of their felonious capers.
Although a dead person cannot legally be defamed because they technically do not have a reputation to maintain, that is exactly what Louisville, Ky. investigators tried to do by getting Breonna Taylor’s ex-boyfriend to say that she was involved in his alleged drug dealing operation.
NPR reported, “A man charged with running a drug syndicate was offered a plea deal in July if he would name Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Black woman who had been killed by police in her Louisville, Ky. apartment, as a member of his alleged criminal gang, according to the man’s attorney.
“Taylor was shot dead March 13 by White Louisville Metro Police officers who had broken into her apartment at night using a ‘no-knock’ warrant. Her death has led to nationwide protests against police brutality.
“The purpose of the raid on Taylor’s home was to find evidence linking her to an ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, a convicted felon with a history of drug trafficking, according to the documents.
“Police didn’t find any.”
Louisville, Ky. police arrested Glover that same night at a dope house about 10 miles away.
During the raid on the dope house, officers found 4.2 ounces of cocaine and over 10 dosage units of opiates.
Glover refused to say that Breonna Taylor had anything to do with his alleged drug operation.
Breonna Taylor’s ex-boyfriend faces up to 10 years in prison.
However, if he took that plea deal, or other plea deals, he could have had his sentence reduced to probation.
The plea involving the inclusion of Breonna Taylor as a deceased co-defendant or co-conspirator was one of many plea deals mentioned during the back and forth negotiations.
Glover’s lawyer Scott Barton said that his client received about four or five plea deals during the negotiations.
Barton said, “It wasn’t like there was an incentive [to name Breonna Taylor as a co-defendant]. Like if Glover puts her name in there, then we’ll give you a better deal. It was the same deal regardless.”
However, Glover was offended that someone suggested that he include Breonna Taylor as a co-defendant or co-conspirator.
Glover’s lawyer said, “He felt terrible about the whole thing. That’s not a secret. And, you know, any type of plea that had her involved in any way was not going to be acceptable to him.”
Barton said in his 20 years, he has never seen a deceased person included as a co-defendant.
“I’ve not run across this before, Barton said. “I would not call it something that’s normal.”
That is why so many are accurately calling B.S. on the offer.
Since Breonna Taylor’s death, and the death of George Floyd, protests against police brutality have reached a fevered pitch throughout the country, with some protests becoming violent and deadly.
The pressure is on the Louisville, Ky. Attorney General Daniel Cameron to file charges against the officers involved in killing Breonna Taylor.
But instead of seeking justice for Breonna Taylor’s killing and restoring trust in the police department, the African-American attorney general would rather be a puppet for President Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection bid, speaking at the Republican National Convention.
Instead of seeking justice, he wanted to enjoy his wedding.
Instead of seeking justice, they want to smear the dead and link her to someone’s alleged criminal enterprise just because she knew someone that did something illegal.
It’s one thing to smear one’s reputation because of what they did.
But it’s totally unacceptable to smear someone’s name in death because of what someone else allegedly did.
Too many conservative media outlets, and frankly racists, try like hell to find anything that fits their negative stereotypes of African-Americans when police kill innocent and unarmed African-Americans.
Smearing someone’s reputation in death will allow racism and police brutality to continue with no accountability.
And it will allow them to remain racist with no accountability.
Just say the deceased African-American was involved in some type of criminal activity and the conversation will go away.
News flash.
The conversation will not go away because you use stereotypes to justify police brutality.
America is experiencing all of this unrest because stereotypes have allowed criminal cops to kill innocent African-Americans with impunity for centuries.
It stops now.
Period.
Point blank.
Glover might have been Breonna Taylor’s ex for a reason.
Maybe she out grew him.
Maybe she did not want to be around his alleged foolishness.
Maybe she did not live the type of life he wanted to live.
That’s why many people distance themselves from people from their past.
But what Louisville, Ky. police will not do is rewrite Breonna Taylor’s past to fit their racial stereotypes.
And what we will not allow is the cops to go unpunished because of what Breonna Taylor’s ex allegedly did.
No ex-cuses!
