Resisting Arrest Is Not A Capital Offense

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“The courts in the United States regard resisting arrest as a separate charge or crime in addition to other alleged crimes committed by the arrested person. It is possible to be charged, tried and convicted on this charge alone, without any underlying cause for the original decision to arrest or even if the original arrest was clearly illegal.

Accordingly, it is never advisable to resist even an unlawful arrest as it will likely result in the use of force by the arresting officer and the addition of the charge of resisting. In most states, see below, resisting arrest is a MISDEMEANOR which can result in jail time.

Georgia:

Obstructing or hindering law enforcement officers:

Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, a person who knowingly and willfully obstructs or hinders any law enforcement officer in the lawful discharge of his official duties is guilty of a misdemeanor. (b) Whoever knowingly and willfully resists, obstructs, or opposes any law enforcement officer, prison guard, correctional officer, probation supervisor, parole supervisor, or conservation ranger in the lawful discharge of his official duties by offering or doing violence to the person of such officer or legally authorized person is guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.”

——Wikipedia

Somebody in the Wendy’s restaurant called the police because this man fell asleep behind the wheel of his car while in the drive through lane.

The man was shot and killed while running away from the police with a nonlethal taser in his hand.

This occurs in the immediate wake of the police murder of George Floyd.

The cop who fired the fatal shots was dismissed from the Atlanta Police Department and the Atlanta Chief of Police resigned her position.

These actions are no longer perceived as even baby steps toward the goal of social justice….

Let’s be clear here and make no mistake.

The real pandemic in America is racism.

Racism, whether it is institutional, systemic, or otherwise, is not going to go away or be cured unless white people acknowledge it as the cancer that has been eating away at this country and society from the beginning.

Police escalation to violence cannot be permitted in the context of an arrest for a misdemeanor.

This is especially so when it is clear that the police should not have been called, nor should they have responded to the call, in the first place.

So here’s the question:

Who’s the real ‘criminal’ here, and what should be the charge in this scenario?

How far we’ve come isn’t close to how far we need to go….

 

 

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