Regarding the Jan. 8 online article “Minneapolis protests remain peaceful after ICE officer fatally shoots woman”:
Prince called it a long time ago. The Revolution starts in Minneapolis.
We must be disciplined in our civil disobedience. We must play chess, not checkers, as we react to the tragic killing of Renee Nicole Good in our city.
My fellow chaplains and I, community medics, and mental health professionals working for Minneapolis’s Behavioral Crisis Response program — created after the 2020 murder of George Floyd — were on the scene Wednesday to ensure we remain nonviolent as we exercise our freedom of speech and channel our rage into meaningful reform.
We are Minneapolis Strong. We are the North Star to the nation.
Howard Dotson, Minneapolis
Okay, class, it’s time for today’s lesson in MAGA Justice 101 with professor Kristi L. Noem:
If you are arrested and convicted after smashing windows to enter the Capitol, assaulting police with bear spray, flagpoles and their own riot shields, and chanting to hang officials as they attempt to certify the results of a free and fair election, you will be hailed by the president as a “hostage” and “patriot,” and receive a pardon.
If at a peaceful protest you are fatally shot in the face by an agent who won’t show theirs, and accused of running them over with your vehicle when video evidence from different angles shows you did not, you are a “domestic terrorist.”
Any questions?
Vin Morabito, Scranton, Pennsylvania
In my career as a journalist, I have done more than 200 hours of ride-alongs with police officers. Though the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good deserve the presumption of innocence in court, their actions appeared to be bad police work from the start.
The officer who approached the car tried to open the driver’s door while another officer stood in front of the vehicle. This set up an unnecessary, frightening confrontation. Citizens who haven’t had much, if any, interaction with police are naturally scared in such situations. They often try to get away from the danger, a decision the driver had apparently made even before the officer pulled on her door.
Police across the nation have used this same tactic to “assert authority” and to justify shooting someone: stand in front of a car and, in effect, dare the driver to move forward. As soon as the car moves, the shooting starts.
Trapping someone who is not known to be a violent criminal or an escaping felon creates a situation where, as in Minneapolis, other possibilities for resolution are slammed shut and people guilty of only a moment of panicked judgement are shot dead.
Doug Terry, Olney
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent killed a U.S. citizen — and mother of three — as she appeared to be driving away from officers. The Trump administration immediately branded her as a terrorist and called her death justified.
High-ranking officials making the victim into the perpetrator, while excluding Minnesota authorities from the investigation, is not just prejudice but pre-justice. The message to officers is clear: Shoot first, don’t even ask questions later.
Rob Buchanan, Kerikeri, New Zealand
Tank Man reborn
Regarding the viral image shared by Iranian outlet Iran International of a lone protester sitting in the street in front of security forces:
Buddhist monks and Aloka the Peace Dog walk.
Rosa Parks sits.
Lone man in Tiananmen Square stands and stares down tanks.
Colin Kaepernick takes a knee.
Iranian protester sits and bows before armed men on motorcycles.
Walking. Sitting. Standing. Kneeling. Behold the power and audacity of simplicity.
Meg Mullery, Middleburg
Heed Hungarian history
The Jan. 3 news article “Several in Iran reported killed in protests sparked by dire economy” reported on President Donald Trump’s warning that if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the U.S. “will come to their rescue.” We have been here before, it did not end well. In late October 1956, the people of Hungary rose up against their communist government. The CIA and Radio Free Europe had strongly implied that the West would come to their aid. In early November 1956, Russian tanks rolled into Hungary. Thousands were killed. No American or NATO forces came to their aid. The people of Hungary felt betrayed.
Now, as in 1956, America will lose credibility and gain new enemies if we renege like we did in Hungary. America will face the scorn of the Iranian protesters and lose face in the Middle East and beyond. And if Trump does put American boots in Iran, America will likely find itself in a quagmire. If only there were an adult in the White House.
Charles Plushnick, New York
The opposite of extradition
The Jan. 4 editorial “Justice in Venezuela” stated that Nicolás Maduro and his wife were “being extradited to the U.S.” Karen Tumulty’s The Sunday Take column that same day, “Toppling Maduro might prove to be the easy part for the Trump administration,” referred to a “military operation that achieved the extradition” of Maduro.
As the Supreme Court ruled in Terlinden v. Ames, “Extradition may be sufficiently defined to be the surrender by one nation to another of an individual accused or convicted of an offense outside of its own territory, and within the territorial jurisdiction of the other, which, being competent to try and to punish him, demands the surrender.”
There is no claim by the U.S. that Venezuela surrendered Maduro. So, in both cases, The Post turned the meaning of “extradition” on its head, thereby suggesting Maduro’s capture and removal were perfectly legal rather than setting a dangerous precedent.
David Cosson, Washington Grove
An extraordinary rendition of an anti-war anthem
Some folks are born made to wave the flag/ Ooh, they’re red, white and blue/ And when the band plays “Hail to the Chief”/ Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord.
There are no lyrics to describe how embarrassing it is that President Donald Trump has hijacked a classic anti-war song. On Jan. 3, his Truth Social account posted a video of that day’s capture of Nicolás Maduro, with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” as the soundtrack. I have to conclude that Trump is trolling the nation or someone controlling his account is trolling Trump under his nose — or they are ignorant. The song is not just anti-war; it is also anti-elitist, taking aim at the rich and their children who got draft deferrals during the Vietnam War. This is the biggest self-own by the president yet.
Langdon Daughtrey, Columbus, Ohio
Post Opinions wants to know: Bob Brody’s Dec. 30 op-ed, “Every family has a history. Here’s how to hand it down.,” encouraged children to interview their parents and grandparents. How has your family preserved its history? What have you discovered? Send us your response, and it might be published as a letter to the editor. wapo.st/family_history
The post MAGA justice: Shoot first, don’t even ask questions later appeared first on Washington Post.
