(no subject)
Sep. 6th, 2006 12:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
violachicI know I have sports fans on my flist (stares hard at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bloodredrosev) who may know more about the case cited in this article than I do. But I found it interesting.
Cops vs. Jocks
The Shooting of Steve Foley
By DAVE ZIRIN
"This one stinks like a beached whale." That,s how Philadelphia Daily News sports columnist Bill Conlin described the police shooting of San Diego Chargers star linebacker Steve Foley. Foley was shot at 3:30 A.M. Saturday night in front of his home by an off-duty police officer named Aaron Mansker. Mansker, who has been on the force since 2005, followed Foley and a friend in an unmarked police car for more than 20 miles without once calling for backup or identifying himself. Upon reaching Foley's home, Mansker shot him three times: in the leg, arm and chest. Please take a moment to digest the scenario. At 3:30 in the morning, in an unmarked car, an off-duty cop followed Foley to his home and shot him. As Conlin wrote, "Did this officer fail to charge his cell phone? Amazing how by day, with TV news helicopters overhead, a stoned crazy can lead a scary, high-speed chase through half of SoCal with no shots fired. But by night, one off-duty cop can go from one end of his large county to another and end up using his gun in an apparent solo bust. Charles Bronson lives."
On Sunday, the sheriff's department issued a statement that Foley's car, driven by his friend, had been driving erratically, "weaving at high speeds." The statement failed to mention just how Mansker happened to be in position to follow Foley and why he didn't so much as send a smoke signal for assistance. The statement also didn't address Foley's recent--and scalding--history with the San Diego police force.
In April, police arrested Foley for multiple crimes including resisting arrest, battery of an officer, and public intoxication. Last week, the DA dropped the case and cleared him of all charges. And now Foley's shot. "Stinks like a beached whale"? More like a beached Bull Connor.
The Chargers, in craven fashion befitting a team owned by the odious Alex Spanos, have now put their ace defender on the "non-football injured reserve list." This means Foley has "forfeited" his entire 2006 salary since "the injury occurred in a non-football capacity." But did it?
A case can be made that what happened to Foley was very much a function of football. It seems that the combination of large Black jocks draped in conspicuous wealth is proving to be an irresistible ambrosia for police officers that dabble in racial profiling.
Over the summer, Wizards All-star Gilbert Arenas was arrested for getting out of his car in Miami to speak to a policeman arresting his friend and teammate, Awvee Storey.
The Cincinnati Bengals have had so many run-ins with the police this summer they are being called "the Cin-mates."
The Portland Trailblazers, which the sports radio wits--on loan from the Algonquin Round Table--call "the Jailblazers", even held a meeting where the team was advised to avoid cooperation with police. An August 23rd article by John Canzano in the Oregonian revealed the details of the 2003 meeting where team president Steve Patterson, told his team, "Remember, the police are not your friends." Canzano wrote, "That 2003 meeting was a seminar on traffic stops and probable cause given by a group of legal consultants the Blazers hired. The consultants instructed team personnel on what they should do in the event they were ever pulled over in a traffic stop or sought by detectives for questioning in a legal matter. If police ask you if you've been drinking, 'No matter what the circumstance, say no,' they were told. If police ask you if it's OK to take a look inside your automobile, say no. If they ask you anything at all, those in the room were advised, the answer is always no." Canzano's piece is a critique of the Blazers' meeting. His conclusion is, "[The fact] that the Blazers have assumed an adversarial position with the men and women who are here to serve and protect is disappointing. It's weeks like this one that we wish the seminar had been on civil behavior and not civil rights."
But it's not the jocks that need the discussion on "civil behavior" It ain't Peyton Manning getting cuffed, shot, and maced. This is the unspoken reality racial profiling being played out your morning sports page. As the ACLU wrote as part of a recent study, "Is racial profiling real? Most Americans think so. A July 2001 Gallup poll reported that 55 percent of whites and 83 percent of blacks believe racial profiling is widespread. And the reports of thousands of racial and ethnic group members across the country add credibility to the perception that racial profiling is real. These are stories from all walks of life, not just hardworking everyday people, but celebrities, professional athletes, and members of the military..."
When former Georgia Congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney, was arrested earlier this year after a confrontation with Capitol Hill police, her lawyer, said, "Ms. McKinney is just a victim of being in Congress While Black [CWB]." Well, let's add being a "Jock While Black" to the list. Or maybe just call it BWB: Breathing While Black. At this point, that seems to be Steve Foley's most obvious offense.
Dave Zirin is the author of "'What's My name Fool?'": Sports and Resistance in the united States. Contact him at dave@edgeofsports.com
I think its a clumsily written article, but it brings up interesting points. I'm predisposed to not doubt the claim of racial profiling. But I don't know a thing about the athletes involved, and their cases. Of course, if it were an isolated incident, I'm biased to think perhaps the professional athlete had been caught doing something he should be caught doing. But it doesn't seem, according to this article, to be an isolated incident- far from.
Feedback?
bloodredrosev) who may know more about the case cited in this article than I do. But I found it interesting.Cops vs. Jocks
The Shooting of Steve Foley
By DAVE ZIRIN
"This one stinks like a beached whale." That,s how Philadelphia Daily News sports columnist Bill Conlin described the police shooting of San Diego Chargers star linebacker Steve Foley. Foley was shot at 3:30 A.M. Saturday night in front of his home by an off-duty police officer named Aaron Mansker. Mansker, who has been on the force since 2005, followed Foley and a friend in an unmarked police car for more than 20 miles without once calling for backup or identifying himself. Upon reaching Foley's home, Mansker shot him three times: in the leg, arm and chest. Please take a moment to digest the scenario. At 3:30 in the morning, in an unmarked car, an off-duty cop followed Foley to his home and shot him. As Conlin wrote, "Did this officer fail to charge his cell phone? Amazing how by day, with TV news helicopters overhead, a stoned crazy can lead a scary, high-speed chase through half of SoCal with no shots fired. But by night, one off-duty cop can go from one end of his large county to another and end up using his gun in an apparent solo bust. Charles Bronson lives."
On Sunday, the sheriff's department issued a statement that Foley's car, driven by his friend, had been driving erratically, "weaving at high speeds." The statement failed to mention just how Mansker happened to be in position to follow Foley and why he didn't so much as send a smoke signal for assistance. The statement also didn't address Foley's recent--and scalding--history with the San Diego police force.
In April, police arrested Foley for multiple crimes including resisting arrest, battery of an officer, and public intoxication. Last week, the DA dropped the case and cleared him of all charges. And now Foley's shot. "Stinks like a beached whale"? More like a beached Bull Connor.
The Chargers, in craven fashion befitting a team owned by the odious Alex Spanos, have now put their ace defender on the "non-football injured reserve list." This means Foley has "forfeited" his entire 2006 salary since "the injury occurred in a non-football capacity." But did it?
A case can be made that what happened to Foley was very much a function of football. It seems that the combination of large Black jocks draped in conspicuous wealth is proving to be an irresistible ambrosia for police officers that dabble in racial profiling.
Over the summer, Wizards All-star Gilbert Arenas was arrested for getting out of his car in Miami to speak to a policeman arresting his friend and teammate, Awvee Storey.
The Cincinnati Bengals have had so many run-ins with the police this summer they are being called "the Cin-mates."
The Portland Trailblazers, which the sports radio wits--on loan from the Algonquin Round Table--call "the Jailblazers", even held a meeting where the team was advised to avoid cooperation with police. An August 23rd article by John Canzano in the Oregonian revealed the details of the 2003 meeting where team president Steve Patterson, told his team, "Remember, the police are not your friends." Canzano wrote, "That 2003 meeting was a seminar on traffic stops and probable cause given by a group of legal consultants the Blazers hired. The consultants instructed team personnel on what they should do in the event they were ever pulled over in a traffic stop or sought by detectives for questioning in a legal matter. If police ask you if you've been drinking, 'No matter what the circumstance, say no,' they were told. If police ask you if it's OK to take a look inside your automobile, say no. If they ask you anything at all, those in the room were advised, the answer is always no." Canzano's piece is a critique of the Blazers' meeting. His conclusion is, "[The fact] that the Blazers have assumed an adversarial position with the men and women who are here to serve and protect is disappointing. It's weeks like this one that we wish the seminar had been on civil behavior and not civil rights."
But it's not the jocks that need the discussion on "civil behavior" It ain't Peyton Manning getting cuffed, shot, and maced. This is the unspoken reality racial profiling being played out your morning sports page. As the ACLU wrote as part of a recent study, "Is racial profiling real? Most Americans think so. A July 2001 Gallup poll reported that 55 percent of whites and 83 percent of blacks believe racial profiling is widespread. And the reports of thousands of racial and ethnic group members across the country add credibility to the perception that racial profiling is real. These are stories from all walks of life, not just hardworking everyday people, but celebrities, professional athletes, and members of the military..."
When former Georgia Congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney, was arrested earlier this year after a confrontation with Capitol Hill police, her lawyer, said, "Ms. McKinney is just a victim of being in Congress While Black [CWB]." Well, let's add being a "Jock While Black" to the list. Or maybe just call it BWB: Breathing While Black. At this point, that seems to be Steve Foley's most obvious offense.
Dave Zirin is the author of "'What's My name Fool?'": Sports and Resistance in the united States. Contact him at dave@edgeofsports.com
I think its a clumsily written article, but it brings up interesting points. I'm predisposed to not doubt the claim of racial profiling. But I don't know a thing about the athletes involved, and their cases. Of course, if it were an isolated incident, I'm biased to think perhaps the professional athlete had been caught doing something he should be caught doing. But it doesn't seem, according to this article, to be an isolated incident- far from.
Feedback?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-09-06 06:07 pm (UTC)The shooting occurred Sunday after Foley, who is 6-foot-4, 265 pounds, got out of the vehicle near his home in Poway and began walking toward Mansker, who identified himself as an officer, said he was armed and fired a warning shot into the bushes, authorities said.
Lisa Maree Gaut, a passenger in Foley's vehicle, got behind the wheel and drove toward the police officer, authorities said. Mansker fired two shots at the car and avoided getting struck. Gaut was unharmed.
Mansker fired at Foley when Foley "raised up his shirt and reached down into his waistband," Brugos said. He opened fire again when Foley continued to walk toward him, and then Foley fell to the ground.
The shooting came after Mansker, who was on his way home from work, followed a suspected drunken driver weaving in freeway traffic at speeds up to 90 mph. The driver nearly collided with several other vehicles.
Foley stopped three times, including at a red light after he got off the freeway. Mansker called radio dispatchers for assistance and ordered him to pull over, but Foley drove away, officials said.
So, when the story you quote says 'without once calling for backup or identifying himself', well, not so much.
However, I'm not at all sure that this warranted the first 'warning shot', much less any that followed it.
Other bits of trivia: The assorted Portland 'Jailblazers' litany of crimes have included such gems as:
Trying to smuggle pot, wrapped in _tinfoil_ through an airport metal detector;
Multiple players busted for DUI, including having drugs in the car/on their person at the time, including at traffic stops;
Multiple players charged with domestic/spousal assault;
Multiple players busted for driving without a license/insurance (including one genius who was caught doing 83 in a 55 without a lisence with drugs in his pocket - and tried to give the cops one of his NBA trading cards as his ID, then blew off the court hearing, then got arrested for driving without a lisence AGAIN within two months' time)
Assault with a pool cue;
Multiple cases of cursing at police and refusing to leave the scene of a bar brawl;
Participating in illegal dog-fighting (the player dumped his dog in a back alley because it 'wasn't winning any fights').
And I left out some of the boring incidents.
Here's what's led to the "Cinmates" crack; all of these occured in the last year:
One player arrested for felony burglary of a college-teammate's apartment (plus theft and vandalism)
One guy who violated some boating laws on Cincy's river, and promptly failed 5 different DUI tests.
One player arrested for spousal abuse.
One guy charged with resisting and fleeing arrest after a parking violation (they ended up having to taser him).
And the king: the player who racked up 4 arrests in 6 months: felony gun charge (brought his gun into a nightclub and flashed it at people; they dropped assault charges), DUI, drug possession, and providing alcohol to underage girls.
My general response? Foley almost certainly shouldn't have been shot at (at least, not at first - I cannot fathom what possessed him and his friend to both continue to make agressive moves at the cop _after_ a warning shot.)
But like most cases where a pro athlete gets arrested, the original act that drew the cop's attention wasn't because of profiling, but because players have gotten busted when people have either called the cops on them, or they've done something immensely stupid/blatant/illegal in public or of a very serious nature.
White athletes also get arrested for this sort of thing, but the majority of NFL players (and the VAST majority of NBA players) aren't white; it's easy to spin it as 'racial profiling' if you pick selective facts.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-06 06:31 pm (UTC)The cop was off-duty, in an unmarked car, 20 miles outside of his jurisdiction, and followed they guy for quite a while (no articles in the first 24 hours mentioned any contact with dispatch or calling any other police offices). The only time he identified himself as a police officer was when he pulled up next to him at a red light, rolled down his window, showed a badge, and said he was a police officer.
Apparently, when the guy was walking towards him he said something like "that's not a gun, that's a BB gun." Having never used lights or sirens, and only identifying himself by rolling down an window and showing a badge, I wouldn't believe the guy was law enforcement either.
He apparently tailed him for quite a while after the red-light-I'm-a-cop incident, and no backup arrived, which should probably have been provided.
I have no idea what went on, but it appears to be screwed up either way. Also, notice the athlete wasn't charged with drunk driving and denies being under the influence or driving erratically. This is weirder than "racial profiling" and all that jazz.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-06 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-06 07:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-06 07:09 pm (UTC)But that was last night or the night before (the day the news broke and Ben and I compare news stories at night) and the story has gotten more bizarre and contradictory. Apparently, the supervisor of the cop who shot him came out today saying no, he never showed his badge to the guy but wore it on his belt where it could be seen.
Who knows what really happened.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-06 07:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-06 08:24 pm (UTC)Professional athletes often act in unsavory manners because they are poorly-educated, often start with subpar intelligence, and then get coddled by social and support systems that give them senses of entitlement and untouchability - consider that a lot of these guys are surrounded by sycophants and brought through a college athletics system geared to smooth over 'minor troubles' and incidents..
Also, some athletes are just dumber than a box of rocks. :P
no subject
Date: 2006-09-06 08:30 pm (UTC)One cannot deny this statement.