Op-Ed by Carey Wedler

July 15, 2015

(ANTIMEDIA) Police apologists eternally scratch their heads at the ungrateful, unpatriotic, malicious morons who categorically disapprove of police. They chronically condemn police-hating goons for their dangerously ignorant allegations of abuse, brutality and corruption.

A newly released video, however, may solve police loyalists’ frustrating conundrum, illustrating exactly why anti-cop sentiment has reached record highs in the United States and why increasing numbers doubt the moral legitimacy of the institution itself.

In June of 2013, unarmed Gardena, California resident Diaz Zeferino was suspected of stealing a bike. He and two other unarmed men were told to put their hands up by three police officers. They complied. When Zeferino appeared to hesitate, lowering and raising his hands and apparently removing his cap, the three officers opened fire on him, killing him and injuring one of the others. According to the Los Angeles Times, the District Attorney declined to file charges.

Gardena police attempted to keep the damning dash cam footage of the incident secret, but following the conclusion of a settlement for Zeferino’s mother—finalized this week—the judge ordered the video to be released. The video, released by the Los Angeles Times, quickly went viral, attracting millions of views in less than a day.

Many police enthusiasts will say that because Zeferino moved his hands, officers had every right to shoot him. But the brutal, inhumane shooting of a man who moved the wrong way while making no threats is exactly why police detractors label America a police state. It is exactly why they believe American police smashed their moral compasses years ago.

The sick reality is that this incident occurred over two years ago and no one knew but the officers, the department that covered it up, and those participating in the settlement case. The lack of awareness of this incident suggests that things like this happen all the time. There is no official record of how many citizens are killed by police, yet the numbers keep rising. They have surpassed 600 this year alone.

Events like these are rarely remedied. The lone retribution for grieving families often consist of million dollar settlements which rob taxpayers while failing to bring back the victims. While many police supporters can acknowledge the drain on tax dollars and the gruesomeness of some incidents—such as the Walter Scott shooting, where even the police department acknowledged wrongdoing—many fail to see the contradiction of claiming police are brave while defending them for massacring unarmed citizens.

The are courageous police who would never commit such cold-blooded acts. There are officers who try to serve the people and who have spent their entire careers doing so. Their noble efforts amid a sea of corruption and violence do not go unnoticed. But even if they are good officers and they are outraged—they do not speak up. They do not speak up because of rampant bullying and retaliation from police establishments that would rather see state-sanctioned crimes swept under the rug than justice served. This is evidence enough that law enforcement institutions have become murderer-harboring, criminal enterprises themselves.

The notion that American police are upstanding officers who courageously defend freedom, principle, and rule of law, should not provide an exemption for crimes committed by police. If American police are to be revered as courageous (in spite of the fact that their jobs are hardly the most dangerous), their bravery must extend to voicing opposition to wrongdoing—wherever they see it.

As Mohammad Mosaddeq (the democratically-elected Iranian leader ousted by the CIA and replaced by the vicious, former Shah in 1953 to preserve American and British oil interests), once said, “If I sit silently I have sinned.” Stories like Zeferino’s are why people are vocal about police brutality. If “good officers” within departments are content to sit silently, concerned and moral citizens will not.

“But these are isolated incidents blown up by the liberal media!” cry cop apologists. Why, then, do American police kill more people in days than other countries’ officers kill in decades? They ignore rape kits and seemingly more often, commit rape. Sometimes they sexually abuse children. Other times they brutalize elderly veterans. They kill and maim unarmed people and animals for sport around the country—clocking a particularly high rate among the mentally ill and further establishing a disturbing pattern of bullying the weakest members of society.

The fact that police forces across the country allow this to happen and are complicit in covering it up demonstrates to countless jaded citizens that there are no good cops—and when there are, they are chased out of departments (if you believe police dishonesty and cover ups are rare occurrences, click here, here, here, and here. And here and here. And here).

“But police must kill to defend themselves when criminals attack,” say the defenders who cannot find a way to justify the killing of unarmed, non-violent “suspects.” That may be. But if police are gallivanting around, shooting people at rates exponentially higher than other counties—and are consistently caught lying and committing unspeakable, inhumane acts—it is painfully possible that the people police kill because they are “aggressive” or “moving to attack” are not dangerous whatsoever. Take the case of the mentally ill man killed for wielding a terrifying, spooky spoon. Or the man shot for reaching for his threatening wallet—and then try to make the case that police are selfless, valiant heroes.

The Zeferino case illustrates over-arching, deeply-rooted degrees of corruption— that even in cases of indisputable injustice and police abuse, “good” officers who would never commit such acts remain silent. Whether this complicity and inaction is out of loyalty, fear, or apathy, the reasoning no longer matters. The deafening silence of “good cops” not only allows violent cops to get away with murder—it invites sociopaths intent on hurting others to join the force because, as the vast majority of cases show, there are rarely repercussions for murder and misconduct.

Court Orders Video Released Showing Cops Executing Unnarmed Man A young man was gunned down by police execution style after being suspected of stealing a bike, court ordered dash-cam footage shows. Full story: http://theantimedia.org/why-bluelivesmatter-cop-apologists-fcking-joke/ Posted by The Anti-Media on Wednesday, July 15, 2015

As Desmond Tutu famously said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” If you are a silent American cop, you have indisputably become that oppressor.

This article (Viral Video Shows Exactly Why People Hate Cops) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TheAntiMedia.org. Tune in! The Anti-Media radio show airs Monday through Friday @ 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Help us fix our typos: edits@theantimedia.org.