Las Vegas Police Union Fire Off Whining, Flag-Dripping Request To The NFL To 'Investigate' Michael Bennett For Saying Things
from the 'merica dept
If you have even a passing interest in American sports, you will likely already be aware that Seattle Seahawks player Michael Bennett has been in the news of late due to an incident that occurred in Las Vegas during the Mayweather v. McGregor fight. Police responded to reports of shots being fired in a casino where Bennett also happened to be and, in the chaos that ensued afterwards, officers put Bennett on the ground and cuffed him as he ran away from the shooting. For his part, Bennett claims the officer pointed his gun at him and threatened to "blow his fucking head off" and that the entire detainment was done without any reason other than his being a large black man. He was quite vocal about the incident on Twitter and during press interviews.
The Las Vegas police, not surprisingly, aren't loving how Bennett is characterizing what occurred. During a press conference of their own, LVPD representatives couldn't answer as to why Bennett was detained at all during the incident, nor could they explain why the detaining officer's body camera was off during the incident. Despite these shrugs at fairly apropos questions, the union representing the police officers, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association Metro, did manage to fire off one of the whiniest letters to the NFL asking them to "investigate" Bennett for... saying things?
There's a great deal there to unpack. The first thing that struck me was how badly the letter attempts to wrap Las Vegas police officers in the American flag. The NFL is currently going through a series of kneeling protests during the national anthem, an expression of rights that has some people quite upset. I'll leave that debate to the side for this post, but by calling the league out for that in the letter before saying it hopes the league won't ignore Bennett's comments about the LVPD, it sure sounds like Las Vegas police seem to think it deserves more respect than the American flag. Which is sort of a weird argument to make.
But the crux of the silliness here is that this is a letter from a police union asking a person's employer to investigate an employee for speech it claims is "false and defamatory." It should be obvious that there are legal relief avenues for the police if they feel they have been defamed. It rings as strange for the same police that detained Bennett to be whining to his employer, begging it to then investigate Bennett's conduct, which consists entirely of speech. The NFL has built a name for itself for its heavy-handed, top-down, overtly political approach to investigating its players. It seems pretty clear that this was a petty attempt by the police to then harass Bennett through his employer as a result of his choosing to speak out about his perspective on the incident for which the LVPD itself could not provide the relevant answers to pointed questions.
To be clear, I am making no judgment on the nature of the incident itself. Whether racism was a factor or not is an open question. That said, harassing a citizen for his speech on Twitter and in interviews by appealing to the authority of his employer is both weak and underhanded.
Update: This post has been updated to clarify that it was the police union that sent the letter, rather than the police department itself. We apologize for the original error.
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Policing the Details
The letter was written on letterhead for the Las Vegas Police Protective Association Metro, Inc. (the union for LVMPD police officers), not the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
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Re: Policing the Details
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Re: Policing the Details
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Re: Re: Policing the Details
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Open to question?
Whether racism was a factor or not is an open question.
So - how may large white men have been running from gunshots, tackled, thrown to the ground, and told "I'll blow your F-ing brains out!"? And how does that compare to the percentage of each race in the population?
I don't have any question at all that many police actions normally have an element of racism.
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Re: Open to question?
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Casinos face all sorts of bullshit and video is often their saving grace.
It is nice to see the union rushing to defend the officers before any actual investigation starting with how do you roll on an active shooter call with no cameras running.
But the toddler stamping the feet & I'll tell your boss is the latest and greatest efforts to silence people they disagree with. Sadly it works because corporations would rather fire someone than deal with 100 unhinged wingnuts sending hundreds of messages demanding something be done.
Soon we will be back to My Dad can beat up your Dad with a corporate spin... fucking children.
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Re: Re:
The close relationship with the local PD probably precludes any video coming from the casino of that quality, short of a court order.
Having worked in the wagering industry for a decade, even if a court issues an order, the video will have been "aged off and deleted before the order was issued".
Typically, they only keep 96 to 168 hours of video before deleting it.
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> should sue the casino.
Based on what legal theory?
Casinos don't have a legal duty to every random person who walks through their doors to preserve video of them for eternity just in case they might have a beef with some *other* person they encounter in the casino.
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> somehow let the evidence clearing them get deleted
The casino isn't facing litigation here. This is a dispute between Bennett and the cops. The casino has nothing to do with it.
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Did those officers plan to scapegoat someone and then stopped when they noticed that person is somewhat famous? Or maybe were they so incompetent that they couldn't keep the body cam working and they'll release a well known athlete over fear of public backlash?
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Re: ... and then stopped when they noticed that person is somewhat famous?
In other words, do only Black Famous Lives Matter?
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Re: Re: ... and then stopped when they noticed that person is somewhat famous?
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Re: Re: Re: ... and then stopped when they noticed that person is somewhat famous?
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Re: Re: Re: ... and then stopped when they noticed that person is somewhat famous?
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(or "can't be retrieved") since it more so supported Mr Bennett's story?
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Cops have long since learned to "forget" to turn their cams on, to delete footage, or -- in places like Baltimore -- to stage "re-enactments" to fabricate footage in order to use the bodycams to support their side of the story. This case is no different.
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Cpps are racists
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The new Nazi...
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Some perspective and background
There are some pre-existing elements that this applies to.
Rich black male athletes have traditionally been subject to "enthused scrutiny and punishment", powered by disguised racist sentiment.
Recently, black male athletes have been making effective political statements related to the killing of unarmed black males. Police reacted as if the speech condemning the killing was worse than the actual killing.
These political statements are only effective because of sports fame. That fame comes from a single source, the NFL. Unfortunately, the NFL's hierarchy doesn't resemble the players much at all. And besides punishment, often appear insensitive to their athletes' concerns.
The police are aware of their racistly derived political power in this case. Despite being outsiders to the NFL, communal and institutional aspects of racism allow them to have influence over the livelihood of athletes like Kaepernick.
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The police union and the police are separate bodies.
One is a private, civilian organisation who's paying members employment is with the police department. The police is the government body that performs policing functions.
Therefore it is not the police who have taken issue with Bennett's statements, it is the police officer who has personally taken affront and his union, the police union, appears to be assisting (or working on their own without their member having asked them to assist).
Since it's the police union that has an issue with a civilian causing problems for one of its members who's employment is as a police officer, why would the police, a different body altogether, get involved?
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> difference.
Nothing like finding someone who is not only ignorant, but happily celebrates his ignorance and has no desire to change.
Well done!
> The Union is the police and the Police are the Union.
And now he moves on to outright lies.
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the signature.
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This struck me more than the rest of the bs in the letter. I don't think the logic applies to the American flag itself. I'd say law enforcement and the executive branch in general think they are America and deserve unquestioning, patriotic worship. Which explains a lot of the madness.
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So there defense is that they saw hin hide an run out of the casino. I wonder how many people did exactly the same. Makes you wonder what made him especially suspicoius.
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Firing off a letter to the employer
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Re: Firing off a letter to the employer
I don't behave that way and the troll could not be contacted to be asked for evidence of my alleged malfeasance.
The question, then, is not, "Should you name and shame?" but "Would the attempt succeed or fail at sanctioning the targeted individual?"
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Re: Firing off a letter to the employer
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> point. They should be investigated on RICO charges, at
> least.
Absolutely! Libel-slander-RICO, fire in a crowded theater, and five violations of the Mann Act, as well.
<facepalm>
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A Suggested Reply
Being unaware of any "obvious false allegations" from Mr. Bennett or any incidents of "disrespect for our American Flag" by Mr. Bennett, we regrettably cannot pursue these requests.
We are, however, able to conduct a fact-based inquiry into this matter. Once we have completed our investigation into why someone at a location where shots are being fired might choose to hide behind a large metal object, we will promptly inform you of our findings.
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As a former Marine, I have no problem with football players not standing for the National Anthem. Obviously there are issues with law enforcement and I think it is good they are bring more attention to this.
As for Colin Kaepernick, he is not employed because he is not a good enough quarterback. If he was better, someone would sign him. He is probably as good (or bad, however you look at it) as guys that are currently on rosters, but his skills don't overcome the baggage comes with him.
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Boo-Hoo
Las Vegas Police Union Fire Off Whining, Flag-Dripping Request To The NFL To 'Investigate' Michael Bennett For Saying Things
The self-entitled losers in police cruisers have spoken and they demand free hand in administering street justice without the burdensome hurdle of being held accountable for acting like thugs under color of the law.
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LVPD is weak.
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To Anonymous coward
Kaep is better than about at least 1/4 of the starters out there. Remember he took a team to the super bowl. The last few years with 49ers he had no talent around him. With shitty play calling, no wonder he was awful. Tom Brady would not have done any better on those teams. Get your head out of your ass. You might learn something.
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Re: To Anonymous coward
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Re: To Anonymous coward
Never mind this Anonymous rather contradicts himself, even though he has a point, which may be true or not. I have no way to evaluate that and don't care to try.
Also, replying in-thread helps, even when there aren't ten thousand anonymous cowards.
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Re: To Anonymous coward
He is not better than 1/4 of the starters out there, if he didn't suck, someone would sign him. Just like Trump shooting someone on 5th Avenue and still not losing votes, if Kap could help someone win, he would be playing.
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Re: To Anonymous coward
What does B actually mean? It means that when Marines see people violating the Constitution (Cops, NSA, Free Speech, Gun Control, Politicians) they get pissed off. They swore an oath and they get pissed when others who have sworn an oath ignore it.
People have a misconception about the military, that they are ignorant, that they are stupid. That may be true of the Army and the Navy, but it is not true about the Marines.
If another revolution happens because our government oversteps, I would imagine Marines will be fighting with the people, not against them.
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Flag-Dripping
'Cause flags, as solids, don't drip.
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Re: Flag-Dripping
In this case, it evokes the image of the request document being adorned with so many flags that it's difficult to see the actual contents of the document.
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Re: Re: Flag-Dripping
> with lots of X hanging all over it as "dripping with X"
That's used with reference to emotions, feelings, or other ephemeral concepts, not solid real-world objects. I.e., "Her words were dripping with sarcasm."
"He was dripping with flags" makes no linguistic sense.
> for example, consider a person described as "dripping
> with jewels".
Yeah, that doesn't make any sense, either, and I've never in my 49 years on the planet heard a bejeweled person referred to that way.
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Re: Re: Re: Flag-Dripping
I'm a little surprised you've never encountered those expressions, but just as with the many expressions I've managed to go my whole life without encountering (the idea that "whack-a-mole" might properly be spelled without the K, for instance), that doesn't make it any less real. (Though it certainly may make it significantly more irritating! I cringe every time I see a Techdirt article use "whac" as a verb.)
Google finds plenty of results for "dripping with jewels" sans quotes, although most of them appear to be from "dripping in jewels" instead. There are also plenty of hits for things like "dripping with rubies", "dripping with pearls" (including a song lyric which I think I've run across before), "dripping with diamonds", et cetera, with the same minor caveat. It may not be as universally widespread as I'd thought, but it certainly does appear to be out there in the culture.
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/387441/origin-of-dripping-with-sarcasm refers to "dripping with jewels" in the question and some of the discussion, and one of the answers gives a quote from 1860 which includes "It hangs unclasped and heavy with jewelry, dripping with chain, filigrane, and aiglet" (reportedly taken from the OED), one of two non-liquid-based uses quoted there. So unless you're Keanu Reeves, the usage is probably older than either of us.
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