Archbishop Gregory of Washington, DC: “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree,” Archbishop Wilton Gregory said in a statement.
“Saint Pope John Paul II was an ardent defender of the rights and dignity of human beings. His legacy bears vivid witness to that truth. He certainly would not condone the use of tear gas and other deterrents to silence, scatter or intimidate them for a photo opportunity in front of a place of worship and peace.” From the Guardian.
Good for Gregory (also from Chicago!).
Here you have it:
So was this the same place that was the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception? If so, I wasn't aware of the name change. Nothing against St. John Paul II, but doesn't seem quite appropriate for a pope's name to bump the Blessed Mother's.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, good for Archbishop Gregory.
DeleteNo....not the same, sorry mistook "national shrine." But how did we get a national shrine to JPII?
DeleteAh, yes, we remember how Pope John Paul II had the carabinieri shoot a bunch of pigeons so he could stand in front of the Coliseum holding a copy of Das Kapital (upside down) and scowling angrily for the cameras. Scared the damned commies right out of Poland, he did.
ReplyDeleteTom - that is hilarious!
DeleteThese are certainly trying times. The Episcopalians at St. John's were equally scandalized by Trump's actions.
ReplyDeleteIn the midst of all the bad news, I am watching Flint, Michigan, where Sheriff Chris Swanson marched with demonstrators. As someone who has worked in law enforcement there for many years and as an advocate of community policing, Swanson knew the march organizers. I am proud of him and proud of the people of Flint who welcomed Swanson and his deputies to the throng, and where, despite decades of hard times and racial injustice in that city, everything was peaceful.
Gov. Whitmer has shown restraint in dealing with stay-home order protesters and now those marching in Michigan to protest George Floyd's death, though, outside of Flint, Michigan metro areas had vandalism or looting.
I've never seen anyone look as uncomfortable and unnatural as Trump did holding that bible up in front of that church that didn't want him. And to think that the Secret Service tear-gassed marchers and bludgeoned an Australian film crew, just to get that shot.
DeleteBishop Budde made it quite clear that Trump was welcome at the church to pray, worship, or meet with staff. She was incensed that he merely used the church as a backdrop and the Bible as a prop for a photo after having the pigs violently disperse peaceful demonstrators to clear the short walk over to the building.
DeleteMaybe his discomfort with having a bible in his hand is the reason he held it upside down to show the photographers.
DeleteYes Episcopal bishop of DC, Marianne Budde issued a strong dissent to Trump's photo op. Last night a priest of St. John's who was with the demonstrators objected to the WH clearing and photo oping... Sheriff Swanson was on the Newhour last evening....pretty remarkable....
ReplyDeleteWill all the good people get swamped by the ne'er do wells in the WH?
Adding Bishop Budde's statement
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/06/01/us/ap-us-america-protests-trump-church.html
America article on Archbishop Gregory's statement
ReplyDeletehttps://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2020/06/02/washington-archbishop-wilton-gregory-calls-trumps-visit-john-paul-ii
The shrine is the thing built, supposedly, with the money Archbishop Adam Maida raised back in the day. We got a couple of letters from him every month. Well, who knows where that went? So the Knights of Columbus intervened, took it over. And welcomed the president, they say, to sign "important" religious liberty legislation today. Well that is what the Knights say now. Honesty has not been a very Catholic value in this mess since Maida got in over his head with it.
ReplyDeleteAs the honoree once said, It's a long way to Tipperary.
Jim P, your Cardinal Cupich gave a good statement also. We sort of claim him too, since he was born and raised in Omaha. Which had its own tragedy a couple of nights ago.
ReplyDeleteYeah, he's got a pretty good head on his shoulders.
DeleteMcCay Coppins in the Atlantic reports on how conservative evangelical Trump supporters parse the visit to St. Johns Episcopal, and, presumably, the JPII shrine.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/trumps-biblical-spectacle-outside-st-johns-church/612529/
FiveThirtyEight keeps a running tab on Trump's approval rating aggregated from several polls. He's doing pretty well right now. Will be interesting to see whether his church photo ops make a diff.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/
The images of all the mayhem can only help him, istm. Although, as he showed with the Episcopal church photo op debacle, he's more than capable of giving back any advantage that falls into his lap.
DeleteI am too upset to read your links right now but, surely, one can never go wrong appealing to white people's fear of out-of-control people of color. It cpuld get Trumpy te-elected. But out-of-control white people are ok. I understand some right wingers were shut down by FB because they want to quell the riots. Which means shooting lots of black people. This country was born racist. It may die racist.
DeleteIf you can't read these links, then don't go to Trump's Twitter feed. He's got this pinned at the top:
DeleteMy Admin has done more for the Black Community than any President since Abraham Lincoln. Passed Opportunity Zones with @SenatorTimScott, guaranteed funding for HBCU’s, School Choice, passed Criminal Justice Reform, lowest Black unemployment, poverty, and crime rates in history…
Somehow I doubt that the Black Community is buying his line. Meanwhile the lie counter is running like an electricity meter when the air conditioner is on.
DeleteI doubt that comment is aimed at African Americans. It's meant to soothe the nimrod racists who are mad because they're being accused of racism for supporting him. Translation: "Nobody can say we don't love our darkies. Lookit what all we've given them."
DeleteJim:The images of all the mayhem can only help him, istm.
DeleteMaybe, but.... That remains to be seen. His loyalists will be predictably outraged and support their "law n order" President, unconcerned about the years of abuse of black citizens that erupted in this moment of rage.
What I think may have changed since the civil rights strife of decades ago - equally violent with cities burning - is the understanding by African Americans that they will have to mobilize the troops in November. I think - hope - they will get a lot of help from whites also, especially younger whites who are already against Trump.
The dramatic changes in communications technology do two things - it makes everyone, everywhere aware of horrific crimes against African Americans. It also facilitates providing information for organizing the opposition.
I have been a great admirer of Gregory for decades, starting from when he was an auxiliary bishop in Chicago. But I am not exactly sure what it is that is "baffling and reprehensible". It seems fairly likely that what he found reprehensible were those marchers in front of the White House getting tear-gassed the previous day. Fair enough. What is "baffling" about it? I find it all to be very much in the president's character.
ReplyDeleteMichael J O'Loughlin's article in America gives a rundown of other prominent Catholic reactions, including a bishop in Kentucky who calls the president a Pharisee, and Sr. Simone Campbell, who says that he is using the Catholic faith to create a false dichotomy between the Church and protesters (or something like that - I guess I found her statement even less coherent than Gregory's).
Anyway, it reminds me of the time that Notre Dame conferred an award on President Obama. Remember that one? The Catholic conservative firmament was lined up foursquare against that one, with not a few of them issuing semi-coherent condemnations of their own. On that occasion, I think even the bishop of South Bend said something mean about Fr. Jenkins and Co. at Notre Dame. The parallel seems apt enough.
Don't push the parallel too far. Notre Dame invited Obama. Trump invited himself to St. John's. (Notre Dame collects presidents to honor like a girl collects charms or her bracelets. Gotta have a complete collection.) Also, no Australian film crews were roughed up in South Bend. But the underlying point is true: There is no such thing as a non-political presidential visit.
DeleteTom - I took it from news reports that the Knights of Columbus, who run the shrine, were in cahoots with Trump on this visit. Who invited whom, I'm not certain about, but I don't think Trump showed up unannounced.
Deletel thouht you were talking a out St. John's, not the shrine, where nobody seemed to know nothing last time I looked.
Delete"Don't push the parallel too far. Notre Dame invited Obama. Trump invited himself to St. John's."
DeleteSee, this is what I am not getting about Gregory's statement: which visit, the one to the Episcopal church or the one to the Catholic shrine, did he find "baffling and reprehensible"? The news items I've seen imply it is the latter, but I think his words make more sense if he is referring to the former.
Gregory quite clearly refers to a Catholic facility, not an Episcopal one. Does that help to clarify?
DeleteJim, Archbishop Gregory criticized both visits - to St. John's Episcopal Church and to the John Paul shrine because he believes both were blatant misuses of religious sites for Trump's political purposes.
DeleteI didn't even know that the JPII Cultural Center had been turned into a shrine. I haven't thought about it for years. Not much news out of it locally.
The KofC are as much in Trump's hip pocket as most of the bishops. Supposedly Trump had been invited there at some point (but I don't know for sure that it was for the same date) to sign some kind of a Declaration on international religious freedom.
He was not invited to St. John's church. A number of Episcopal clergy and church members were gathered there to provide practical support to the protestors - giving out water bottles, snacks etc. They were forcibly removed from the church and its grounds without notice - before the curfew, along with the crowd. At least one priest and one seminarian were in range of the tear gas substance.
Lafayette Square is directly across Pennsylvania Ave from the White House. That part of Penn Ave was closed to traffic after 9/11 and has stayed closed. Pedestrians only. Not a single day goes by that Lafayette Park does not have demonstrators of some kind, generally doing little beyond carrying signs and chanting slogans, with bigger crowds for bigger events. The church is an historic church, built in 1816. A lovely church. We were there once for some service - I don't remember when or why. I think it was a funeral.
The normal protocol is to inform the Rector that a President wants to make a visit to the church - usually for a service, not for a political grandstanding event. But if a spontaneous visit is wanted, the normal courtesy is to provide at least 30 minutes advanced notice. Trump's people failed to do this, of course.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John%27s_Episcopal_Church,_Lafayette_Square
For info on the shrine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_John_Paul_II_National_Shrine
"Gregory quite clearly refers to a Catholic facility, not an Episcopal one. Does that help to clarify?"
DeleteOk. He definitely refers to a "Catholic facility". I just don't know what he's objecting to. Here is the quote:
“I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree,”
So the first thing to note is that he's not chastising the president and his Catholic wife; he's chastising the facility, i.e. the shrine run by the Knights of Columbus.
So then, what did the facility do to earn this chastisement? It seems it "allow[ed] itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree,”
That's a fairly complex sentence fragment. So Gregory is claiming that those who run the facility allowed the facility to be "egregiously misused and manipulated." That only can be in reference to the visit from the president and the First Lady, right? What did the couple do that amounted to misuse and manipulation? I don't know. The only thing I can think of is that they showed up, presumably with posse and press corps in tow. Is that "reprehensible"? I dunno. "Reprehensible" seems a little strong to me. Being photographed and video recorded is ... what politicians do, as far as I know. I don't even know that Melania didn't get some prayer in while she was there. (Or even that he didn't, for that matter; one can hope).
Even the misuse and manipulation are further qualified: "... in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree". This is where I am completely lost:
1. What religious principle is being violated?
2. Which people do we disagree with, and what rights of theirs are being violated, presumably by the president and his wife?
Please understand: I'm not saying he's wrong. He may be making a brilliant and urgent point. I just don't know what it is.
"Jim, Archbishop Gregory criticized both visits - to St. John's Episcopal Church and to the John Paul shrine because he believes both were blatant misuses of religious sites for Trump's political purposes."
DeleteAnne, yes - I suppose that is where he is going. But you said it much more clearly than he did!
I agree completely with your other points. Really, it's quite a list he (and/or his flunkies) managed to compile:
* Trampled on the constitutional rights of protesters
* Trampled on freedom of the press
* (I guess we could add, "Trampled *on* the protesters, and trampled *on* the press")
* Trespassed on church property
* Drove people who were rightly on that private property off the property
* Didn't follow the established protocol for church visits
Jim...you can't see what principle Gregory refers to...I don't specifically know. But here is what clomped through my brain when I heard about the visit to the JPII shrine and then saw the photo: idolatry.
DeleteAs far as we know, and can know, Trump is not religious. He is using religious symbols, objects, traditions to advance his re-eletion. He has made idols of religious practices and objects. Idolatry!
Margaret, that is a very interesting way to look at it.
DeleteI doubt very much that Trump takes religion seriously. These photos with religious props on the heels of his jacked-up law-and-order comments seem to ask viewers to see his actions as sanctioned by Christian notions of God.
The fact that he said nothing and left it to his Christian supporters to supply the narrative and context was a very savvy move on his part.
With the demonstrations, I have to ask it. What could possibly go wrong? This is 2020 we're talking about. The year from hell, or at least purgatory. Everything that could go wrong, has. The only way this could have turned out is badly.
ReplyDeleteLots more things can go wrong. Right now I am looking at TS Cristobal, the third named storm of a three-day old hurricane season.
DeleteOh I realize that when we're talking about hitting the bottom, that there is no bottom.
DeleteWhat else can go wrong in 2020 Katherine?
DeleteTrump might get re-elected again.
Or maybe he won't, triggering a new crisis when he declares the election invalid due to election fraud and refuses to give up power until there is an "investigation". His heavily armed MAGA hat wearing supporters will back him up on this just in case the military doesn't go along.
Robin Givhan, WaPo style writer, usually offers a fascinating slant on what "fashion" reveals about news events. Her column, "Trump’s photo with his loyalists was a vulgar mess. And Ivanka brought a handbag," parses the images in the Trump church photo ops:
ReplyDelete"... he corralled members of his staff for a photograph that, in its nightmarish awkwardness, revealed all the ineptitude, cowardliness and pettiness for which the whole charade was a grotesque cover."
Google it. My links never work here.
I'm a big fan of Robin Givhan too..
DeleteRobin Givhan..WashPost
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/trumps-photo-with-his-loyalists-was-a-vulgar-mess-and-ivanka-brought-a-handbag/2020/06/02/af44d0ee-a4e8-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482_story.html
That is quite the awkward photo. Trump with his raised forefinger; is he signaling "shhh!" for quiet? picking his nose? or shaking it in admonition, "Fie upon you!"
DeleteThe photo at the Wash Post linked just above. That is from Monday night at St. John's Episcopal...
DeleteA picture is worth a thousand words. In this case it is sacrilegious.
ReplyDeleteObvious JP2ly is not blessing the Trumps. However it is obvious that it is a Catholic religious right agenda, appealing to Trump as the heir to JP2.
Of course only the liberal bishops will protest. Dolan has already signed on to the Trump agenda.
One of the problems with the Catholic right extolling JP2 is that Rocco has been hinting that news will be forthcoming that will not paint him in a good light in regard to the abuse issue. One respected European cardinal has already said that JP2 made a lot of bad decisions about bishops. He probably knows the inside story.
And today Pope Francis expressed his great concern about "...the disturbing social unrest in your nation tgese past days, following the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd."
ReplyDeleteFrom the perspective of an African American mother of a 3 year old son on why they won't raise him in the USA. Our son who wants to move to Spain has a black wife and a bi-racial son and daughter. This is one reason they wish to leave the US to raise their family. But the big fear is for their son.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/parenting/black-child-safety-america.html?action=click&algo=als_engaged1_desk_filter&block=editors_picks_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=504833644&impression_id=514935634&index=1&pgtype=Article
That's so sad!
DeleteIt is a shame, considering that interracial marriages can be a counter to racism. I sometimes think that Germany might have had its aggressiveness diluted had the pacifist sects remained. And survived. But I can't fault anyone in this situation in this time for fleeing to Egypt.
DeleteStanley it breaks my heart. But we will gladly help them escape to Egypt (aka Spain) with financial assistance if they can figure out a way to pull it off - they need some entity to sponsor at least one of them for a job. Not easy, that’s why I told them to take the courses needed for certification in teaching English as a foreign language. If they do that, they might be there by the time their son is 8.
DeleteOn the other hand things might be better here by the time their son is 8. A lot can happen in 5 years, good or bad. There have been turning points before. We can do our part in trying to ensure that this moment is one.
DeleteHonestly - it's a pretty good photo. It's miles better than his clutching the bible like he's holding onto the overhead strap on a subway.
ReplyDeleteJust think of the many times JPI concluded a private papal audience with a visiting dignitary with a blessing. It kind of looks like that (or what I imagine that would look like). Maybe, like the houses to which Jesus sent forth his disciples (Mt 10:13), if the recipient of this blessing isn't worthy, the blessing will return upon the blesser.
It's a great photo.
DeleteWhich is why it is so insidious. JPII gives his blessing to Trump and his wife. A tin statue is not a saint, a blessing is not approval, and Trump lacks the humility the photo implies, but that won't trouble the pastors who support the president and will enjoy captioning it to his benefit as they did his less photogenic appearance at St. John's.
And 60 percent of white Catholics voted for Trump. He's clearly sucking up to them.
Right.
DeleteI'm not nearly as outraged as a lot of folks are about the photo ops in and around churches. It's a pretty hoary American political tradition, and it is used today by candidates at all levels.
To be sure, using rubber bullets to clear the candidate's path to the church seems unprecedented ...
A lot of people are perhaps thinking of Sinclair Lewis's quote: “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying the cross.”
DeleteBeating the crap out of lawful demonstrators and journalists is part and parcel of that whole shebang.
Jim, trump had no right to take over St. John’s, forcing priests and seminarians off the property. This isn’t exactly a politician posing at a church with the permission of the religious authorities. I can’t believe you tie yourself in moral knots over canon law on the cleaning of the chalice after communion but are so unconcerned with trumps malicious co-opting of a church not only without permission, but driving those with a right to be there away so he could have his disgusting photo op. Many who care about respect for religion call his actions a desecration of a holy site.
Delete"I can’t believe you tie yourself in moral knots over canon law on the cleaning of the chalice after communion"
DeleteI'm reluctant to drink from a chalice that someone else has drunk from and which hasn't been disinfected. There is nothing about that which involves morality or knots.
You're quite right that, if he wished to visit the church, there is a right way to go about it, and he found the very worst possible way of going about it. A normal person would apologize. Don't hold your breath.
On the other hand, the visit to the Catholic shrine seems to have been done in the more traditional and courteous way. I don't have a problem with it. If Archbishop Gregory has a cogent objection, I'd like to understand what it is.
Perfect quote, Jean.
ReplyDeleteWell the Bishops Budde and Gregory were pushed over the edge by the blasphemous ( as a third bishop described the use of religious sites for partisan political purposes) actions of trump, General Mattis was pushed to his limits finally by trumps blasphemous desires to use the military in unconstitutional ways.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/06/james-mattis-denounces-trump-protests-militarization/612640/
Note to Jean - no N95 or KN95 masks at any pharmacy etc near us. But when I casually asked at the local Ace hardware store, they said they had KN95 masks. So now we have some too.
ReplyDeleteAnne, did you have any trouble with the fit on your KN95s? I had to alter the ear loops on mine and my husband's.
DeleteI haven’t tried them out yet. Will do. I have to alter the ear loops on the disposable surgical masks, but they fit my husband fine. Haven’t gone anywhere with the new masks. Are they washable? In the off chance we fly somewhere in December, I want to be sure we have good masks. We have cancelled all the rest of our planned travel for this year. Will wait to see what happens this summer and fall.
DeleteI don't think they're washable. Ours came in a package of 5. We never wear them for much more than an hour at a time, for groceries or an appointment, and now church. So if we use them we park them for 3 days. My husband had the idea of putting them out in the sunlight to get the UV rays on them. But I said you'd also get pollen, insects, and maybe bird poop doing that. At first I found them suffocating and could barely breathe. But I'm getting used to them. I think I was being a little claustrophobic.
DeleteWhile I slept, a lot of commenting went on here. I have only one wish to add. While he was trying to figure which end was up on the Bible, someone asked Trump if it was his Bible, and he replied, "It's a Bible," proving he had figured out that much. The Bible, which Ivanka produced from a $1,540 MaxMara bag, appeared to me to be a Gideon.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, I wish the follow-up question had been, "Sir, could you read us one of your favorite passages, Sir?"
Do they still put Gideon Bibles in hotels? If so we know where he got it.
DeleteYup, I have never stay anywhere without looking! KJV, though, and I can never get through those thees and thys and begots.
DeleteAfraid I skip over the "begots" and geneologies no matter what translation it is.
DeleteBut for sheer literary beauty you can't beat the KJV, or to an extent, the Douay Rheims, translations.
You are welcome to the KJV.
DeleteOne of our sons worked for Marriott for a while. We stayed at several of their properties at a special rate. Marriotts have bibles in their bedside tables. They also have copies of the Book of Mormon. The Marriott family is Mormon. They started in DC with a root beer stand. The international HQ is a few miles away from us and most of the Mormons you meet around here work there.
DeleteThat guy from Utah, Evan McMullen I think was his mame, who ran against Trump in '16 as an independent, was a Mormon. Too bad he didn't have a chance, he would hav been better than Trump.
Delete"mame" should be "name". I suppose it's too much to hope for that the new improved Blogger version included an edit option for comments.
DeleteThis whole police problem has been building for a while. Gov. Murphy has been having daily COVID press conferences. He was appearing at these press conferences in a State Police shirt. Why? My friend, the COVID nurse mother, tweeted into the conference a complaint about this, given that her daughter was in danger more than the cops. Murphy then stopped wearing the shirt until an interview on national TV. What is this cop wannabe crap? They are public servants, not a class set above us. It is only natural that after all this fawning lionization, overmilitarization, permission-giving and legal special treatment to the level of immunity, that the repercussions would fall on the poorest and most discriminated against portions of society. Add to this the weightlifting and steroids and you have a real perfect storm.
ReplyDeleteNJ Governor Murphy.
DeleteDon't know why Governor Murphy was wearing a State Police shirt....
DeleteBUT, Newark has been a bright spot in the demonstration business compared to past times. Reportedly the demonstrations have been peaceful. The demonstrators should be congratulated. Do we think the Newark police were part of the peaceful outcome. I think so.
Re: the police and covid-19: In NYC, every night at 7, New Yorkers grab a noisemaker and/or clap their hands for the first responders; These include doctors, nurses, hospital workers, EMTs, firemen (they are men) and the police (women, men, black, brown, white, etc.). So if someone's daughter is danger of Covid-19, maybe she's a cop!!
I don't know how the politics align in Pennsylvania, but is it possible that police unions are a political ally of the governor? They wield clout in Illinois and Wisconsin.
DeleteJim, it's my neighboring State NJ that has daily briefings from the governor. Pa only has a COVID website and weekly emails. Of course, the police do have powerful unions. How many unions can protect their members' sanction to kill?
DeleteI still see the function of cops in present day America as being one of an occupying force in capitalist sacrifice zones. In NJ, the cop salary and benefits are much higher in cities like Patterson. And, of course, they can be mobilized to suppress demonstrations when required. They are smart enough to stay their hand for the present peaceful demonstrations. But, if anything jeopardizes the economic status quo, it will be crushed.
By the way, the main reason for the founding of the PA State Police was to break miners' strikes.
I have seen, many times over the last week or two, calls for "systemic change". How would that work for police departments? Maybe some of it would be dull, administrative (but possibly effective) things like more training for police officers, and more emphasis on recruiting for police candidates in minority communities.
ReplyDeleteBut I think what is primarily meant is illustrated by the Laquan McDonald case in Chicago. Here is a recap of that case, from a blog post from a couple of years back:
"[Jason] Van Dyke is the white Chicago cop who shot African American teen Laquan McDonald 16 times in the middle of the street in October 2014. The shooting took place a few months before the 2015 mayoral election, in which [Mayor Rahm] Emanuel was locked in a surprisingly close race for re-election with Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. The police reports described the shooting as self-defense. Unbeknownst to the public, the shooting had been captured on video, but the video was not released to the public until November 2015, well after Emanuel's re-election. The video cast grave doubt on the official account, and it appears that the existence of the video was known to city officials prior to the 2015 election."
We have at least three (at least!) levels of corruption in play here beyond the brutal slaying of the African American teen:
* The official police reports, the primary documentation of the incident, sought to whitewash the fellow police officer
* The top brass at the police department did little or nothing on its own to look squarely at the incident
* Politicians, including the mayor or his administration, apparently suppressed the damning video until after the election.
Since that case blew up, many changes have been made which we might deem "systemic". In light of the burgeoning scandal, Emmanuel chose not to run for re-election; a new mayor, Lori Lightfoot, was elected on a reform platform; the Chicago PD's version of the civilian accountability board was blown up and replaced; and Chicago cops now have cameras on their vests and their vehicles.
These measures aren't unique to Chicago, and maybe we could even argue that they are having a good effect. Contrast George Floyd's killing with Laquan McDonald's. Within ten days or so, all four officers have been charged, and the charges against Derek Chauvin have been upgraded. It seems likely that justice will prevail. This sort of accountability was MIA in Chicago, at least until after the 2015 mayoral election. So while it's too early to start high-fiving, maybe democracy does actually work sometimes.
Jim, did that murder cause mass protests? Violence?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that anything would have changed in Minneapolis regarding the charges against the four involved cops without the extreme pressure from the protests and the media coverage of the protests.
Anne, yes, there were protests. There wasn't looting or violence that I recall. But it was sort of a different dynamic, in that Laquan's murder didn't hit everyone right away like a hard slap on the face, because it was successfully covered up at the time it happened. There was no video available to the public for quite a while - I think for a year. So it was one of those simmering-on-low controversies that stretched on over many months -- until the video was released. Then people were shocked. But even then, the media coverage tended to focus on the political implications as much as the rawness of the crime. Maybe we're seeing that in these days as well.
Delete