Summer of Police Shootings Can’t End Well

I’m starting to think we’re about due for a large-scale riot.

Let’s just throw out for a minute that it’s been a brutally hot and rain-deprived summer. And that the economy here is as bad as anywhere in the country not called Detroit, and we apparently have the worst job market to boot. Let’s just forget about those things that make people generally pissed off in Miami and focus for a minute on something that has gotten surprisingly little press: This summer’s rash of fatal police shootings.

BLACK HOT AMERICAN SUMMER

It’s been three in the last seven weeks, people. THREE. That’s a citizen getting killed by law enforcement once every 2 weeks. Which is high, even for a large city like Miami.

Now I’m certainly not saying these shootings were not justified. The most recent involved a man in Little Haiti who started firing on police when they responded to a domestic dispute. The one before it involved a 16-year-old who pointed a gun at an undercover cop posing as a Chinese food delivery driver. And when the guy delivering my Chicken LoMein is fearing for his life when he’s making deliveries, drastic action must be taken.

LESSON #1: NEVER HAVE ALUMINUM FOIL IN YOUR FRONT SEAT

But what about DeCarlos Moore? Haven’t heard of him? Mr. Moore, who- as many people in Overtown are - was Black, was driving a Honda Accord in Overtown back in July when police ran his plates and his car came back as “Possibly Stolen.” Not “Definitely Stolen.” Not “This is clearly not his car.” No, “Possibly, maybe,-if-this-car-was-blue-and-the-license-plate-was-two-numbers-different Stolen.” But I guess since the crack trade is not what it once was in Overtown, the cops needed something to do.

So they pull Moore over, and the guy gets out of the car walking towards the police. They tell him to put his hands on the vehicle, but instead he heads back towards the car and reaches in. And comes out brandishing that most fearsome of killing tools, a roll of aluminum foil. And unless DeCarlos’ real last name was MacGyver, I’m not sure what kind of damage these cops felt he could do with a roll of aluminum foil. No matter, Officer Joseph Marin felt it a good time to put a slug in Mr. Moore, and as such the civilian died on the scene.

THIS IS STARTING TO SOUND A LITTLE TOO FAMILIAR

Police shootings are complicated matters, and I’m not gonna sit here and rip the cops who have a harder job than any of us could ever imagine. But I am going to say that this sounds eerily familiar. Remember that one time, in the 80s, when some cops stopped an unarmed Black guy and then proceeded to kill him for no apparent reason? I’ll give you a hint; it was the last large-scale race riot on the East Coast, and we wrote an article on it here. Arthur MacDuffie. And if you haven’t learned about this little piece of Miami history, you are doomed to repeat it.

The people are pissed. And if Marin is acquitted, you may not want to leave your houses for a few days. The subsequent attempted violence on Police after the DeCarlos Moore incident is evidence that the people are not happy with the police. And when you combine this boiling resentment and anger with a clearing of a cop who shot an unarmed Black man, that, my friends, is a recipe for civil destruction. Throw in the heat and anger over a bad economy, and all the LeBron James signings in the world won’t appease the local population. I’d just make sure you plan a vacation for the week MPD announced the findings of its investigation.

Related Links: The Arthur MacDuffie Riots of 1980 Related Categories: About the Author: Matt Meltzer is a featured columnist at Miami Beach 411. See more articles by Matt Meltzer. See more articles by Matt Meltzer Was This Post Helpful? Please Share It With Others! Tweet

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"Summer of Police Shootings Can’t End Well"

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