Maine Congressman Jared Golden introduces bill aimed at protecting U.S. judges and public safety officials
Maine Congressman Jared Golden introduces bill aimed at protecting U.S. judges and public safety officials
www.mainepublic.org
Congressman Jared Golden introduces bill aimed at protecting U.S. judges and public safety officials
Honestly, I don't know how I feel about this. On one side, I'm all for increasing penalties against those who bring harm to legitimate emergency service workers who are just trying to do their jobs, including cops.
On the other hand, I just see this as a tool that ends up being used against brown people who fight against ICE raids, or to drum up charges against brown people in order to justify their deportation.
You already figured it out, no need feel conflicted. This will only protect Nazis even if it could do more in theory.
It's entirely reasonable to both support EMTs or 911 dispatchers or firefighters, and to not support ICE. These aren't conflicting ideas, they just happen to be multiple separate things all lumped together in order to make you think they all go together.
Similarly, you can believe that some police actions are acceptable, and others (arguably most, or at least far too many in our current system) are not. If a guy is stabbing his ex to death across the street, then there needs to be some intervention from some form of law enforcement. That's not really in question. Standing on a man's neck for 9 minutes is obviously an entirely different thing. That's also not in question by anyone reasonable.
Right. My point is that they (or at least, the Democrats) will pass this with the well-intentioned point of extending protections of EMTs or law enforcement who are engaged in legitimate activity like you said, and will instead be used almost exclusively as a way to protect ICE and punish brown people. I want to support a law like this because of the people that it is intended to help, but also fully acknowledge the reality of the world we live in and know how a law like this will most likely end up being (ab)used in the real world. Hence, the conflict.