Four NYPD officers converged on one woman on a bike because she smiled at them, then detained her because she wasn't carrying ID.
MixmasterDjCheba (@djcheba) on Threads
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/30846799
What's with the replies asking why she's not carrying ID in NYC? Is there some reason why you need to have ID on you at all times on New York?
the reason is that the people asking are fascist asses. there is no legit reason to “need” an ID in any american place when out like this woman was.
ID is like meth to these pigs.
It's actually a law in certain states. In California you need an ID even for the officer with a bicycle infraction. This is New York though and I don't know the particulars of the municipality.
California does not require a cyclist to present an ID to an officer when being cited for a traffic offense. However if they choose, an officer may arrest and hold you to verify your identity. Same is true with pedestrians.
Lesson learned.
Don't acknowledge cops, don't look at them, don't talk to them, avoid them, ignore them and don't trust them.
Now you’re “acting suspicious”
I'm up in Canada so this stuff doesn't affect me much .... but I used to laugh at an old friend who used to actively avoid the cops. If he saw them up the street far away, he'd cross the street, turn into an alleyway or just turn around. If we were driving and he saw a cop car, he'd immediately turn anywhere and drive away. He wasn't a criminal or anything, he just didn't like police and avoided them. No matter the situation, if he saw a cop, he'd do everything to avoid even having the remote possibility of even interacting with the police.
This was years ago and since then I've been like that too but not as bad ...... but as the world becomes more authoritarian these days, especially when police training even in Canada is to just have a pulse and be a white male .... I'm avoiding the police more actively than before.
My old friend Johnny was more right than I realized.
Okay, so smiling is bad. What the fuck is the solution to not look suspicious to cops at this point? Making eye contact is suspicious, but not making eye contact is also suspicious. So what, are we supposed to Sneak 100 past them when we see them from afar now? Is that it?
At which point does a society realizes that maybe we have an issue when people are actively trying to avoid cops even though they are not doing anything that is against the laws? How many people need to be detained over nothing? How many people need to be brutalized with no consequences to their blue aggressors? How many people need to be killed by the "finest"?
I treat cops like a rogue militia. I avoid them when I can, and otherwise, I feel the need to watch my every step because they are completely unpredictable. And for fuck's sake, I'm white! Needless to say, cops are much less on the lookout for me. When I hear the stories of people from different ethnicities, it's fucking terrifying.
But hey, gotta protect the rich somehow, I guess.
As it turns out, avoiding the cops -- or even looking like you're avoiding the cops -- will also land you in hot water
People scream at me when I say "abolish the police". Even radical progressives. To me the solution is obvious but nobody wants to listen.
I agree with you.
The police, as an institution, should be abolished.
And a new institution put it its place.
And, off the top of my head, just a few things it should do differently is in no particular order
Citizen Oversight boards made up of 7 educated citizens (with no professional or familiar connection to law enforcement), chosen at random, to serve 3 month tours, with 3 local lawyers, also selected at random, and in good standing, to advise on the legal side of things but with no vote themselves. (Cause sometimes just cause its not technically illegal doesnt mean its not horrific and awful and deserving of punishment/reprimand)
national black list, so cops that do bad cant just jump ship to the next jurisdiction over.
Liability insurance, that is paid for by the replacement organization, out of their wages, with no payout caps (because fuck being permanently crippled due to abuse and only getting 30k)
No qualified immunity.
must live in the communities they serve.
no training them to think or behave like their the last surviving member of a super elite commando unit behind enemy lines, and that everyone is their potential enemy.
training must take longer than it takes to become a beautician, including extensive learning of not just what the laws are, but what is expected of them as a servant of the public, behavior and atittude wise.
regular refresher courses, at least 3 months long, every 2 years, to maintain, update, and verify their knowledge of the law and the duty they choose to take up, failing this course is a firable offense.
Then put all the money you save from all of this, and put into social needs and improvements.. Which will reduce crime more than putting a bunch of paramilitary wannabe pretenders on the street.
edit
Oh, and one last one.. mandatory +20 years to any conviction, for betrayal of the public good and public trust.
That's because you are most likely miscommunicating what you mean. When you say "abolish the police" I presume you mean "the current policing institution does not justly enforce law, ensure safety, or act in support public interest and therefore needs to be replaced with an institution that conducts policing justly and accountable"
What people hear is that you're saying "policing as a concept is wrong and we should not have any institution that enforces democratic law or acts to secure public safety in accordance to a justice system"... Because that's what the word "abolish" means, to formally and permanently put an end to something. Like "abolish slavery" because slavery is wrong.
Okay, so smiling is bad. What the fuck is the solution to not look suspicious to cops at this point?
There's an episode from the Twilight Zone reboot (S1E3, "Replay") that plays with this idea in an interesting way. A black mother and son are at a diner with a police officer, and things happen and her son gets shot. But then she discovers that she has this magic camcorder that can rewind time, so she goes back to the diner and tries again, doing things differently. And this time he gets shot for a different reason. So she goes back, again and again, trying different approaches.
It really captures the feeling of insecurity, of being damned if you do, damned if you don't. And it's sort of a metaphor for the different scenarios playing out in one's head, of trying to think of how each action might be misinterpreted or go wrong.
Pick up that can
Urgh... yes honey officer...
Ep3 wen
fucking insane. So many NYPD patrol vehicles and personnel to stop a lady on her bike in the bike lane. What the fuck?
i always have an id when not at home, but thats just because my id is my driver's license. in a city with lots of public transportation options, i can see why someone wouldn't have any ID unless they're going to buy alcohol or something. irregardless i am opposed to people being forced to have an ID at all times in case a cop gets uppity, and interestingly enough the same people who were mad about vaccine records appear to not have a problem with something like this happening
If you're using the roadway several states and cities require you to carry a government ID for the purpose of writing you tickets. Generally speaking, in those places if you can't provide one you will be detained and taken to the police station until your identity can be verified. While their, your bike will almost surely be stolen.
its mob mentality, they wont do it alone.
Fragile egos, a chuckle caused this
Its absolutely institutionalised amongst NYPD officers to be massive, egomaniacal see you next Tuesdays
What's really shocking is that a woman detained in the US for not having ID wasn't delivered to ICE immediatelly and deported to El Salvador without due process.
I mean, the whole point of not having due process is that if you can't right then and there prove you're not an illegal immigrant they can just treat you as one and punished you for it with no recourse.
It doesn't matter if they can prove it or not. ID, documents, birth certificate, none of it matters without due process.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was specifically prohibited from being deported to El Salvador. He literally had an order from a US immigration judge that said he cannot be legally sent there in particular, because of the risk to his life.
Its' strange that they let her keep her phone in that tiny cell. In any case, they are all very brave when the offender is a 55kg young girl.
Were they brave though? Even then they didn't have the stones to approach her without backup, apparently.
Makes me think it's fake. I can't find anything on it
remember folks: brutality is a method employed by “democracies” under capitalism.
Papers, please 🫴
TBF you’d have to be truly mentally unwell to be smiling in these times. /s
FREEDOM!
Do you have any solutions to suggest?
Defund the pigs.
Never once had a positive interaction with a cop.
That's because, and all together now...
All Cops Are Bastards
Makes sense. (I believe you!) They do not exist for positive reasons.
Do you want people to hate you and ignore you?
Because that's how you make people hate you and ignore you.
No, they want people to literally cower in fear and lick their boots.
Psychopaths who habitually escalate because you don't give them enough "respect," but I do stop for anybody with lights on even if I'm in a bike lane. Mostly because I don't want to get hit by an idiot cop or sleep deprived emt or some other car deciding the bike lane is where they want to go to yield for the emergency vehicle.
SDPD, SPD, OPD, LAPD: you mean they didn't shoot first? How does that even work?
Never make eye contact with police everybody knows the rules
Same rules as dealing with wolves.
No eye contact.
No smiling.
No sudden moves.
No sandwiches.
no acorns.
Also homeless and old people in long queues.
That's actually a popular misconception. Your goal is fo come off as docile, comfortable, and most importantly neurotypical. They think avoiding eye contact is evidence of a crime. If they think you're scared they'll give you something to be scared of.
After all, only bad guys are scared of our heroic cops. /s
I can't think of what other video I've seen this woman in, but her face is so familiar this seems very sus. And as a progressive I actually find the unquestioning acceptance bandwagon here somewhat terrifying in how perfectly it mimics how MAGA idiots act. It's like we're all just reactive raw nerve-ends in search of outrage triggers - the perfect malleable mass for yet another clever con-artist to manipulate.
You're right that media coverage needs to be scrutinized however I'd argue it's easier said than done. We’re barraged by a constant onslaught of information far more than we have the time or energy to process. This problem is compounded by our tribal tendencies, which politicians exploit by flooding the discourse with empty controversies while quietly pushing through more sinister actions.
This dynamic also helps explain why disadvantaged populations are often less informed or politically engaged. When daily life is a struggle for survival, scrutinizing this week’s partisan bill or police skirmish inevitably falls lower on the priority list.
I'm a little confused. Lots of words before it seems like she was pulled over because she didn't get out of the way of the police when they put their sirens on. Impossible to know whether she made a mistake or not. Still probably a massive overreaction by the police. Obviously traumatic for the young woman but her narrative seems melodramatic. Yes, you're in the bike lane but you can still move over. It does seem dystopia that you can be arrested for not having ID for such a small offense.
She said she didn't have space to move over.
Yes, I heard that but I think that there is almost always somewhere to move. My guess is that the police thought she didn't make that effort. Probably the police didn't make it very clear what they wanted before the escalated.
