Louisville PD declared a “state of emergency” in preparation for the decision to move forward with the Breonna Taylor case. It’s been almost 200 days since Taylor was killed in her home after plainclothes cops executed an inaccurate no-knock warrant on her apartment. Since then, no cops have been arrested, one cop has been fired and a Taylor’s ex-boyfriend was offered a plea deal requiring him to list Taylor as an accomplice which he rejected. The city of Louisville stands with America reminding Black and brown people in this country, that we are not safe from police violence, even at home in our beds.
My feelings were complicated by the “blue alert” I received on my phone last weekend. I didn’t know what a “blue alert” was until twitter told me that it means a state trooper was killed in my area. This was the first “blue alert” message that I’d ever seen. I’ve seen silver alerts, amber alerts, dust storm warnings, flash flood warnings, curfew alerts but never a “blue alert” so I decided to do some research.
A blue alert is an alert when law enforcement officer is hurt, killed or assaulted with a deadly weapon, the subject is at large, the license plate has been recorded and the suspect poses an imminent threat. It was created in 2008 and federally recognized in 2015, just two years after #BlackLivesMatter was founded and began examining police brutality with increasing scrutiny.
When I received my Blue Alert, there was no information about an area to steer clear of, there was no license plate number; frankly there was no real information that helped me protect myself. Later I found out no one was even injured in this shooting.
This was an inappropriate and political use of state power to shift a narrative that has been polarized around abolishing and defunding the police. Abolitionists have been painted as anti-police when they are anti-oppresionist, anti-racist and anti-police brutality. Decades of police reform, diversity training and policy change have not led to a safer police force, if anything, we’ve seen them emboldened – kneeling on necks, pushing down elderly protestors and driving cars into peaceful protestors.
To me, the use of this alert is very suspicious. It also highlights how one-sided safety is by showing whose bodies deserve the urgency of a statewide public alert. If these alerts are meant to keep us safe, why isn’t there a similar alert for other violent offenders? Why hasn’t the “blue alert” been used before if violence against state officers is so prevalent? Why was it inappropriately used if no one was injured? Why did the first alert come after public criticism of Phoenix & Tempe police is finally reaching international communities? Why did the first “blue alert” come with less than 50 days until the national election?
It’s very paradoxical that there is a public alert for violence against cops (being used during an election year), yet there are no alerts or accountability mechanisms for citizens to be alerted about violent, armed state sanctioned officers who are paid with tax dollars yet continue to brutalize the public, especially communities of color. There’s no public, local or national database of police officers who commit acts of violence and brutality. Cops who exhibit poor judgement and sub-standard de-escalation skills are often placed right back on the streets to continue to terrorize people of color.
It’s interesting that this comes just a few days after trump denounced critical race theory in favor of “patriotic education.” It’s disturbing that I got a “blue alert” this weekend and Dion Johnson’s family was told their son’s murder at the hands of Trooper Cervantes will not result in criminal charges. This is what #BlackLivesMatter is about and this is why #BlueLivesMatter is bullshit. Police volunteer to protect the community through de-escalation and yet their disregard for Black Lives have re-started a civil rights movement that’s been deemed delinquent. Black people pay taxes in a country that treats them like second-hand citizens, only to be criminalized for wanting to experience the privileges of being a Black American.
It’s really disturbing and disappointing that Black Lives Matter has been painted as a terrorist organization even though 93% of protests this summer have been peaceful. It’s sad that there’s no alert or accountability for citizens, especially black and brown citizens who experienced disproportionate gratuitous violence at the hand of the state, to whom we pay our taxes. It’s sad that instead of holding officers accountable for their questionable actions in the Taylor case, the city has chosen to prepare for a state of emergency instead of addressing the fact that many of their black and brown constituents live in a state of emergency and hyper-vigilance as our friends, neighbors and family members are threatened by violence, loss of liberty and political disenfranchisement
The media has repeatedly indicted protestors as robbers, thieves, looters while the infamous leader of this country empathizes with killer 17 year olds trolling protests with assault rifles. The “blue alert” and “blue lives matter” is another example of a conscious attempt to shift the narrative of violence onto abolitionists and communities living with the trauma of hearing the words “no indictments will be pursued,” or “no grand jury will be convened.”
America’s rich gave us a television series, billboards, magazine covers and conventions to sell/tell Breonna Taylor’s story but what we asked for was an indictment. We asked for a chance to live full lives. We asked for a living wage. We asked for universal healthcare. We asked for decarceration. Now we have a state of emergency.
I want to tell America, we’ve been in a state of emergency. I carry our status as a tarnished state with the names of Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Dion Johnson, Alton Sterling, Sean Bell, Aiyana Stanley, Ezell Ford, Oscar Grant, Tony McDade, Natasha McKenna, Michelle Cusseaux, Riah Milton, Michael Brown, Dominique Fells and so many more.
Today, I’m ashamed to call myself an American.
America does not love me. America does not love my people.
Thank you for those poignant words that tug at our heartstrings… it is so unfair that these precious lives were cut short so unjustly leaving families and love ones with empty hearts…. when will it end??? When will enough be enough?🤔
This piece reminds me of how important it is for us to reaffirm the inherent value of our own existence. I think this piece highlights that this alert attempts to “speak over” communities pushing back against police brutality by creating a “well, what about me?” frame to an unrelated issue.