We like to think that we live in a free country...where everyone is born with inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. With the police killing Mike Cho, illegal wiretapping by the government, waterboarding practices (aka torture through simulated drowning), and an endless supply of internet videos showing excessive brute force perpetrated by the police...our faith in freedom and democracy is certainly crumbling.
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I've read the news reports, watched the surveillance video, and attended the candlelit vigil. The circumstances regarding Mike Cho's death are certainly not black and white. But 10 bullets fired with the intent to kill someone because of suspected vandalism??? I don't know about the circumstances, but the lethal outcome is definitely unsettling.
As a bystander to such events, it reminds me of the fragility of life. One day we may be getting ready to bring in the New Year with old acquaintances, and the next day we could be missing final exams because we're stuck pushing up daisies. Death comes to all of us.
The murder of my friends parents during a robbery of their store gets me so angry over the evils in life. Then I get introduced to a wife that donated her kidney to give her dying husband a few more living days, and I get renewed by the miracle of selfless and sacrificing love.
When will you spend a minute to tell someone you love them? How long does a hug really take? Does a smile really cost you that much? I know your brother annoys you while you're on the phone, but one day he may be murdered because he walked into the wrong convenience store...spare a second to say, "I love you."
13 comments:
fuck the police.
wWhat the hell is happening to society.....is this an airborne virus affecting law enforcement?....The RCMP recently killed a visitor from Poland at a B.C. airport.....have they have all gone crazy?.....Perhaps an investigation into the use of steroids by law enforcement might be a good idea and answer some of the questions as to why they have to kill people to do their jobs...these stormtroopers have to be investigated....why no investigation?....They've all turned into freakin roids lookin for a reason to off anyone who hesitates to obey a verbal command....is this what is taught during their training.....Citizens should be badgering their elected representatives for answers to these murders....Remember that there are good people working to keep our streets safe,and without law enforcment society would descend into total chaos, but murder must be investigated and punished
Perhaps it's not the morals of society that is crumbling, but that the media has only made us more aware of police misconduct.
Hm...Anyone who comment actually see the shooting IN PERSON?
Yeah, read an article on the internet, fuck the police.
I really hope the admin and their immediate loved one's are victims of severe sodomy.
Fuck you sheeple. Maybe y'all thank we should bring back hangings and fucking public executions to restore society's morals. I'm glad that 'Handicapped' kid is dead. He was obviously handicapable enough to fucking walk/crawl/roll his limp ass into a crime scene.
let's please be civil everyone. this is a very controversial matter, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. please refrain from using offensive language.
I must be living under a rock because I have not heard of this incident. This incident needs media attention or I need to crawl out from under my rock.
I love how you reminded us how we need to remind our loved ones we really care about them.
how was he physically handicapped?
i haven't found any other article about mike cho discussing this alleged handicap
and your article lacks any mention of the tire iron he was allegedly wielding.
hi arejay. =)
mike cho's friends and family at the vigil stated that he was born with a disability in one of his legs. yes he was holding a tire-iron, but there is no evidence that he ever wielded it at the police. in the surveillance video, you can see that he was holding the object in his left hand and never raised it from his side.
there is a lot of ambiguity regarding this situation. feel free to sign the online petition for a non-partial federal investigation here.
i already signed the petition. i am routinely disgusted by trigger-happy police. being a police officer is, statistically-speaking, not as dangerous as they would like to make it seem when needing to justify brutality.
speaking of trigger-happy police, why were there no tasers? does this department not have tasers? and for a vandalism call those weapons sure were drawn swiftly it seemed.
and in regards to threatening the officers with the alleged tire iron, we can't conclusively say whether or not he did, as he walked out of the view of the camera. who knows what happened there.
well, i watched the korean news piece on youtube. is there anything more conclusive?
and at any rate, I'd much rather give the poor guy the benefit of the doubt as police will routinely hide behind the blue wall of silence to cover up any wrong-doings and egregious abuses of power. just because the police say this man was threatening them doesn't make it so. just because the police say it doesn't make it so. such an appeal to authority is a terrible logical fallacy.
Holy crap, this is incredible. This sucks, Mike: RIP. What surprises me most is that their not conducting an investigation. Unbe-fucking-lievable.
i knew mike. we took korean for ethnic speakers in 2004 back at ucla. i remember jokingly scolding him for being so lax about the class, but he was a busy man, living the life of the artist... so that meant immersing himself fully into his art and then enjoying the company of his eclectic mix of friends afterwards.
i had a true crush on this passionate, complicated, compassionate, and talented man. i wanted him to be mine; to let me down without hurting my feelings, he expressed that i was "too pure" for him and that he would taint me with his ways if we ever paired up.
the last time i had contact with him was in the winter of 2006 when i called him a few days after thanksgiving. he in turn text messaged "merry x mas" to me on christmas day of that same year. with all this time having been passed, i imagined he was getting ready to pursue his mfa at a top art school like yale or chicago or was already at one of those colleges.
i heard about this incident a few months ago, focusing mainly on the notorious record the police have on inflicting unnecessary harm on civilians who don't pose a threat that would call for such extreme lethal measures, but upon visiting your blog today and doing a little bit more unearthing on this case, i find that this was the mike sung cho i fell in love with back when i was a senior at ucla.
such a beautiful man, inside and out. he had a little limp to his step, i remember; i thought it only made him cooler to be honest.
he was a true artist. lots of people say that without much thought, but he was the real deal. i always had a little spot tucked away for him because he left such an indelible mark upon my life even though we weren't exactly friends. he makes me so proud because he kept following his bliss. there was so much in store for him. such a beautiful soul is gone from us, but now he's among the angels and clouds where nothing is limited. we miss you, mike. have lots of fun in heaven.
^wow, thank you so much for your touching comment. it's very good to hear from someone that knew him as personally as you.
Corrupt cops are disgusting. I know there are good cops out there, but these quotes are directed towards the rest:
"so you wanna be a cop?
you never stop with your wicked guns going pop
after 41 shots your grinning in the donut shop
your sickening behavior regulates this society
and musters all the sickness & hatred inside of me"
"the worlds getting madder and it ain't gonna stop
it's an uphill battle all the way until we reach the top
you got an answer in your holster
and no question to kill
you got a vision for society
and it's your will"
"Power Abuse
authority misuse
they kill and rape
and it won't be on the news
but you're the good one
with a badge and a gun
braggin' how you blasted shots of 41"
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