Why are officers allowed to use non-deadly force on peaceful protesters, but not on everyday black m

On Monday evening, I was sitting on a structure that had been burned to a crisp by rioters a couple nights before in Lafayette Park. To my right there were gates separating protesters from ‘Military Police’ armed with batons and riot gear. To my left there was an open street slowly filling up with more and more people by the minute.

Out of no-where, I heard a boo. A small gathering of men in suits walked through Lafayette park.

In the middle of them was Attorney General, William Barr.

There were thousands of peaceful protesters out there and I would not expect anything less, it is the nation’s capital where at least one protest is held a month.

Attorney General Barr just walked around. Shortly after he came, he left.

I already made it up in my mind that a 7pm curfew was ridiculous, but I was going to comply. Yet here it is not even 6:30 and I hear the screams.

I came to record, and that’s what I did but not long enough before I realized there were police behind me advancing, just like the ones I chose to record coming from my left side.

I looked back to see a line of military police not even one foot away from me. One officer looked me in my eye and yelled “Move”, at the same time something powerful hit my right arm.

My phone dropped and shortly after I realized I got hit directly with gas.

The effect was immediate. It was clear that I couldn’t see and was stumbling. A few protesters from the recently drawn back crowd came and grabbed me, one gave me a bottle of water and another a t-shirt to wipe my face. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t stop choking, and coughing, and pouring water on my face, repeatedly. Yet everyone around me is still running and screaming as officers advance.

I was pissed.

As soon as I got my sight back through red eyes, I looked at my phone to see the time; 6:30pm exactly. I found the nearest barricade of officers and went right back to filming.

During this protest the officers had rubber bullets, tear gas, batons, and a plethora of other tools to carry out their non-deadly force. They used this on innocent people, peaceful people, some people with potty mouths and water bottle throwing tendencies, but even that couldn’t hurt anything except maybe somebody’s feelings.

Monday, conflicting autopsy results came out, saying that the pre-liminary autopsy reports original findings were wrong. The preliminary autopsy was criticized for being irresponsible by cardiac doctor Ali Haider, who tweeted that the body of George Floyd was not strangled so the asphyxiation (the cutting off of air) would not have been traumatic but positional, and there was no tox report but yet an assumption of substances included. The original pre-liminary report cited “no physical findings" to "support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.” It essentially blamed heart disease for Floyd’s death. The independent autopsy has reported it was pressure on top of a blocked airway that resulted in Floyd’s death.

"George died because he needed a breath," said Ben Crump, one of the lawyers for Floyd's family. "He needed a breath of air."

All I could think about as I watched protesters get repeatedly moved back is why couldn’t they use all of these non- deadly force tactics on the hundreds of men and women they kill each year, black and white, but disproportionately black. Why are police trained to shoot to kill as if their weapon should be their last resort when video after video shows us that it's many officers' first choice?

I do not believe every police officer is corrupt. I do not believe that every police officer is racist. I do believe that it's unacceptable to fear someone’s skin so much that you react before you reason. I do believe that it's intolerable to hate someone’s skin so much you get to commit legal murder due to your badge number and buddies willing to help you clean up your mess. I do know that every year video evidence of crime is enough information for police to have a man arrested and thrown in jail immediately and even denied bond up until their court date. Yet video of murder repeatedly by the hands of police with unarmed black man, retired or active, continuously result in policeman at their homes with their families waiting for investigations to end.

This is the first international #blacklivesmatter protest that I’ve witnessed where in every city I have seen white protesters be the majority and yet it is still the black CNN reporter getting arrested.

By 7:02pm I am on a train ride back home, a 45-minute commute now due to CoVid-19 regulations.

I am still coughing and suprisingly so are some people around me. I realize the dust of the gas is still on my clothes, it's in my mask. I get a new one out of my tripod bag and ride home only to get there before 8pm to see that I got hit with gas because the President of the United States wanted to take a picture by a church.

I am pissed.

But what can I do with this anger other than write about it, other than vote about it, other than pray about it? I guess I can just ask others to do the same.