Well James Woods certainly knows how to defuse racial tensions. Following the murder of two New York City police officers on Saturday night the actor, who usually plays some sort of slimy villain in motion pictures, posted a short series of messages on twitter. The first, which was later deleted, read, "This disgusting pig is DIRECTLY responsible for the murder of two good policemen. No discussion." The text was accompanied by a photo of Reverend Al Sharpton.
In addition he tweeted, "I'm putting wings on pigs today--cop assassin Ismaaiyl Brinsley. Is race pimp Al Sharpton eating caviar this morning?"
In a third post he wrote, "Sony has hired race racketeer and tax cheat Al Sharpton for its board. Imagine this: #BoycottSony until he is ousted." This means Mr. Woods is on the Hate Sony Bandwagon with some highly questionable people, although for different reasons. Hey, just check out the latest news releases from North Korea if you think I'm in error.
The putting wings on pigs line was lifted from an instagram message from Brinsley who, shortly before he murdered the two officers wrote, "I'm putting wings on pigs. They take 1 of ours. Let's take 2 of theirs."
To say Mr. Brinsley didn't like the police is a bit of an understatement, but then he didn't seem to like anyone very much. Earlier in the day, down in the Baltimore area, he shot and critically wounded his ex-girl friend, Shaneka Nicole Thompson who isn't on a police force anywhere. There is no word if Jimmy Woods blames Sharpton for that act of violence too, although he seems on a roll and probably will somewhere down the line.
According to reports, the police had popped Brinsley at least 19 times in the past, mostly in Georgia for petty gangster wannabe stuff. New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton was quoted as saying he had also attempted suicide last year.
Of course not everyone blames the good reverend for the deaths of officers Wenjian Liu and Raphael Ramos. The president of the New York City police union, Patrick Lynch issued a statement which said, "There is blood on many hands tonight. That blood on the hands starts on the steps of city hall in the office of the mayor." His reasoning is the mayor has begun to rethink police training and procedures when it comes to minorities and His Honor also seemed to question a grand jury's finding.
All this began when a Staten Island panel refused to indict NYPD officers in the death of Eric Garner on December third, despite a ruling by the medical examiner which said his death was a homicide. Garner, a master criminal who committed the heinous crime of selling individual untaxed cigarettes on a street corner, died in July after police took him to the sidewalk in a choke hold. The decision came hard on the heels of a Missouri grand jury verdict which failed to indict Ferguson, MO policeman Darren Williams after he shot and killed an unarmed African American, Michael Brown.
Sharpton's National Action Network organized protests in Missouri and New York. In every instance Sharpton has called for peaceful and non-violent demonstrations. After the tragedy in Brooklyn he was quoted as saying, "Any use of the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown in connection with violence, or killing of police is reprehensible and against the pursuit of justice in both cases."
There is no pleasing some people though. It looks as if Woods and Lynch believe if you exercise your constitutional right to actually question the actions of the police, you're actively telling members of the community to kill cops.
Yeah, yeah and those of us who protested the Vietnam conflict not only committed treason, but ultimately cost us the war.
In the end, there is no questioning the bravery and service of the overwhelming majority of police. On the other hand, however, there can be no questioning the anger and frustration felt by a portion of the population who are routinely rousted simply because of the color of their skin. Finally there can be no question those people and others have the right to peacefully speak their minds and demonstrate.
There are plenty of insane people in this country and practically every one of them has a loaded gun. All they need is an excuse.
Tragically, like too many Americans of every race, Ismaaiyl Brinsley finally found one and last Saturday he acted on it.
12-22-14
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