Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers didn’t want to wait for details. He didn’t need to hold off until an investigation could be carried out. Oh no, he knew all and saw all, at least in his mind. As a result, he knew without a doubt that the shooting of a black man in Kenosha, WI was a vile act born out of all kinds of wickedness.
As a result of that keen insight born out of his proctology-port, he’s making a call for legislative action.
Sparked by the police shooting of a 29-year-old Black man in Kenosha on Sunday, Gov. Tony Evers has called for the Legislature to meet in special session to take up a package of police reform bills introduced more than two months ago.
Evers and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes first introduced the nine bills — that would ban the use of chokeholds by Wisconsin police officers, as well as limit other uses of force — in June, following the death of another Black man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minnesota police officers. GOP leaders in the Assembly and Senate have not convened on the proposed legislation.
“We cannot wait for Republican leadership to show up for work because clearly they intend to keep us waiting,” Evers said on a Monday video address. “That’s not going to cut it.”
On Sunday, Kenosha police shot 29-year-old Jacob Blake multiple times in front of his three children as he attempted to enter his SUV. Blake was hospitalized in serious condition.“This is familiar violence to too many of us, especially those of us who are on the receiving end,” said Barnes, who is Black.
Of course, there’s absolutely nothing in there that would force the legislature to do diddly, and that’s a good thing.
What transpired in Kenosha was, from outward appearances, a good, clean shoot. It’s tragic that the man’s kids were in the vehicle, but you don’t just reach into a vehicle when having an altercation with police. You just don’t. That’s a good way to acquire some extra holes in your person that are not part of your body’s original design.
Especially since indications are that Blake faced a number of charges already, many of which were tied to violence.
Using a good shoot to try and hamstring law enforcement–particularly since legislators rarely have any law enforcement experience to speak of–is beyond ridiculous, but what do you expect from someone like Evers?
While reform isn’t necessarily a bad thing, the problem is that Evers and his Democrat buddies in the legislature are looking to restrict police procedures without even understanding why those procedures exist in the first place. No chokeholds? OK, then give me the specifics on how many chokeholds are applied every day and then tell me how many result in injury or death.
I’ll wait.
Now, I’m not saying that it’s not something we should look at, but law enforcement has to be part of this conversation. Can they do the job without chokeholds? Can they do the job correctly and effectively with all these other limits Evers wants? Will these limits actually do anything at all other than satisfy the mob?
Honestly, considering how Evers managed to jump feet-first into this mess, I’m not likely to look at his proposals as anything but talking points that have no relationship with reality. Then again, he has little relationship with reality, so why should his proposals be any different?
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