In the Name of Safety, a Detroit Judge Bans Cops From Using Weapons That Are More Safe

AP Photo/Steve Helber
AP featured image
Police in riot gear advance on protesters as they attempt to clear the streets during a third night of unrest Sunday, May 31, 2020, in Richmond, Va. Gov. Ralph Northam issued a curfew for this evening. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Advertisement

 

In politics and government, you routinely see people saying and doing things that make no sense, often with the declared reason at odds with the action.

This would be one of those.

In Detroit this past week, a judge banned the police department from using non-lethal implements to fight rioters for at least the next couple weeks.

That would be, so far as I understand, to protect people.

As noted by The Daily Wire, activists “are looking to make the ban permanent.”

Just days ago, a group called Detroit Will Breathe sued the city for excessive force. According to the litigation, cops went to extremes controlling May and June protests in the aftermath of George Floyd.

As per the Detroit Free Press, the plaintiffs assert, “Police used those objects to fracture bones, inflict baseball-sized lumps and concussions, collapse lungs and cause other injuries that left Black Lives Matter protestors hospitalized and disoriented during marches in Detroit that started on May 29.”

To hear their attorney tell it, it seems those in the streets are just being constitutionalists:

“The demonstrators are out in the streets exercising their First Amendment rights and have been met with brutal violence. We are at a point where the city needs to decide what its image is, what its soul is; whether Detroit is a place that encourages free and open thought and dialogue or whether open dialogue is met with brutal violence.”

Advertisement

Nationally, it’d be nice to see that First Amendment stuff. Lately, what I’ve watched online looks like all hell breaking loose during some sort of Zombie Apocalypse.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the “First Amendment”:

Advertisement

 

Amid the reality of America’s goings-on, the judge sided — or, it would appear, tried to side — with the protestors.

Hence, an injunction against the DPD barring the use of non-lethal weapons including “batons, shields, gas, rubber bullets, chokeholds, or sound cannons.”

Interesting move.

Let’s play Elimination: Police have two kinds of weaponry — lethal and non.

They’ve got batons, shields, gas, rubber bullets, and sound cannons…and guns.

Now take away batons, shields, gas, rubber bullets, and sound cannons.

What’s left? That’d be the choice of someone who thinks they’re making everyone safer.

As the increasingly relevant question goes, what could go wrong?

Nevertheless, Detroit Will Breathe attorney Jack Schulz counts it a win:

“For a short period, we know that the police will not be able to use the brutal tactics they have in the past against peaceful protestors without violating a court order.”

Correction: Now they just can’t use anything but deadly brutal tactics.

Detroit’s Police Chief James Craig told the Free Press that Saturday, officers “used force to prevent protestors from setting up a ‘Seattle zone of lawlessness’ during demonstrations that turned violent Saturday.”

Advertisement

And they’re not backing down:

“I am not going to let any group set up a Seattle zone of lawlessness here in the city of Detroit. That is non-negotiable.”

Thanks to a judge, rioters now have something much worse to worry about.

Or, the citizens of Detroit do.

And the saga continues…

-ALEX

 

See more pieces from me:

Will Trump Defund California Schools If They’re Teaching the 1619 Project?

Woman Tries to Frame Ex-Boyfriend by Supergluing Her Vagina, Accidentally Goes to Prison Instead

Great Depression: Business Owner Places Ad for ‘Happy’ Employee, Gets Rejected for Discrimination

Find all my RedState work here.

And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below. 

Recommended

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on RedState Videos