Cincinnati police officer Kevin Brown’s decision to fire a Taser at an 11-year-old girl suspected of shoplifting from a grocery store in August immediately drew criticism from city officials and advocates.
But Ohio state Representative John Becker had a different take. Had it been his daughter, he announced in an August newsletter, “I’d be ashamed and embarrassed that she did something stupid enough to get herself tased.”
This is even worse than the police union’s take on the incident, which referred to the completely expected backlash as “kneejerk.” But, hey, I guess deciding to tase an 11-year-old in the back — one who reportedly was all of 4’11” and 90 pounds — couldn’t possibly be portrayed as a kneejerk reaction by a law enforcement officer. When force isn’t truly needed, we can be sure some cops will deploy it anyway.
But Rep. John Becker’s take is the hottest take of all. Anyone tased by a cop — even an 11-year-old — is a person who brought that crackling, barbed punishment down on themselves. There’s no reason to question the wisdom or necessity of the Taser deployment. Rather, we should question ourselves. And perhaps society. But mostly ourselves.
Becker also addressed police shootings in his newsletter. If his child were shot by police, he wrote, “rather than blaming the cop, I’d be blaming myself and endlessly soul searching to figure out how I failed as a parent and why my kid grew up to be a punk.” He added, “Based on the evidence of what I see on television, it often times appears to me that justice was delivered to the dead punk.”
“Based on the evidence of what I see on television…” Holy shit. This is an elected representative. And he thinks the TV is giving him the “evidence” he needs to make snap judgments on tased kids. Blame the victim. And blame the victim’s parents.
The police chief — in a surprisingly reasonable statement — said the Taser deployment was “unnecessary.”
Back to Becker:
Becker also told The Appeal that if police tase a child, “it could be an indication of a parenting problem.” He added, “If I were to do research, I would expect to find that kids that come from two parent in-tact [sic] supportive families are less likely to get in trouble with the authorities than kids that came from tougher environments.”
“If I were to do the research…” Would this be research beyond the television watching that’s given Becker such keen insight into officer-involved shootings? Who knows? Becker’s certainly not going to do the research. He’s just going to stick by his electro-guns and blame victims of cop violence for being raised badly or otherwise being harmed by the disintegration of the nuclear family unit — the 2.5 children born to married heterosexuals who have managed to weather an escalating divorce rate, porn, video games, movies, television, the internet, social media, Satanism, multiple pagan-based holidays, postal rate hikes, alternate sexual orientations, public school indoctrination, Daylight Savings Time, mandatory vaccinations, HAARP projects (known and unknown), President Obama, Brown v. Board of Education, morning-after pills, weird Twitter, the removal of prayer from schools, the Simpsons, artistic expression in general, and whatever else has reduced the American way of life to a hideous nightmare where punk kids manage to live their whole lives without being deservedly tased by blameless, saintly police officers.
Becker is an idiot, but let’s pretend the research he didn’t do actually says what he thinks it will say. Even if a majority of kids tased/killed by cops are raised by single and/or inattentive parents, that doesn’t justify force deployments that far exceed the danger presented by the developing situation. This 11-year-old was tased in the back by an officer who was taller, weighed more, and had the ability to summon any number of additional officers if it appeared this preteen was going to, I don’t know, grow a foot, add 100 pounds of weight, and produce an arsenal of weapons before the officer got the mild shoplifting situation under control.
If you agree with John Becker, you’re probably John Becker. Or a cop who hates using force reasonably or responsibly. But you’re definitely not the sort of person who can be trusted with government power.
” Representative John Becker had a different take. Had it been his daughter, he announced in an August newsletter, “I’d be ashamed and embarrassed that she did something stupid enough to get herself tased.” ”
HAD IT BEEN MY DAUGHTER THE DAMNED COP WOULD BE, WELL…………… “DAMNED”
ON ANOTHER NOTE,
WELL WRITTEN MR. CUSHING!!!!
“….I’d be ashamed and embarrassed that she did something stupid enough to get herself tased…..”
What’s important to note here is the mentality (of a congressman, no less) that assumes cops should be allowed to tase little kids for shoplifting, because his statement also implies that the any behavior a cop disapproves of should warrant 50,000 volts being shot through our body.
If this isn’t proof that our “elected representatives” see us as nothing more than herded cattle, I don’t know what is. And it doesn’t matter if the congressman loses the next election, because the same mentality will exist in his replacement, as it also exists in all of our politicians, most of whom are better at hiding it
You’re NOT going to vote this mindset out of office, because it extends far beyond any individual. It’s not just politicians or cops, either. I’d bet that everyone in our society whose life is protected by their wealth (meaning it’s also protected by cops) feels the same way about us “little people” who mar their scenery with our useless lives getting in the way of their privileged ones.
Things may get ugly in this country, and if they don’t, we, and all of our offspring are screwed. It just scares me that many ordinary Americans are “okay with this”, or at least take that stance because they’re too scared of the only alternative we’ve been left with.
Here you have it folks. Justifying an 11yr old being tased. Let that sink in. 11 yrs old. I remember when I said eventually because of our support for israel, that we would be the new Palestinians. And make no mistake, this justification Wil gain momentum and support. Maybe not right away, but more and more it will become the norm.
I wonder what Mr.Ohio state Representative John Becker deserves?
maybe someone local should find this out ….
oh and Mr Becker in case you forgot , those parents that you think “suck” are your dam boss, you boot licking POS!
It seems the police are rapidly losing their abilities to distinguish among kids, adults, older people, women and men, and dogs.
Keep it up because this is not going to end well for any of you or your families.
Let that sink in your FAMILIES are going to suffer because of your actions or lack their of.
I don’t have to lift a finger there are some out there who are willing to do this again let that sink in.
Behind every blade of grass.
I concur. They have shown US NO consideration or differentiation of any status of any kind and deserve the same. The suffering they have inflicted upon US can only be appreciated and amended by experiencing the same. No hesitation? US too! All is fair in love and war. This IS war!