A step forward, but two steps back on brutality
Opelika, Ala.: Re “The cops were Black. But acquitting the officers involved with Tyre Nichols death was racial” (column, May 11): LAPD Chief Daryl Gates decreed that the four officers who shattered Rodney King’s skull, fractured his cheekbone and broke his right leg would be disciplined for employing excessive force. The trial was moved from Los Angeles to Simi Valley, an area 63% white. The jurors disregarded the video evidence, King’s injuries and his humanity, acquitting the four officers.
Derrick Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, choked the life out of George Floyd in a treacherous, torturous murder that was recorded. Protests erupted worldwide. Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder and other charges in a Minneapolis courtroom. After the murder, the Memphis Police Department mandated that its officers intervene in excessive force cases. Five beefy Black Memphis officers beat, kicked, tased and pepper-sprayed willowy 6 foot 3 inches, 145-pound Tyre Nichols for three minutes. These criminals masquerading as cops battered Nichols like a piñata. MPD fired the officers for breaking department rules.
Three officers’ trial was moved 358 miles away to Chattanooga, purportedly to ensure a so-called unbiased jury. The jury, which appeared all-white, sanctioned the cops. Five officers beating a man to death, then gloating about it, didn’t arouse these calloused jurors to follow the evidence. If the law authorized police officers to beat suspects because they refused to be handcuffed, there’d be no need for excessive force statutes. Yet, these jurors didn’t even find them guilty of official misconduct or official oppression, two of the seven counts they faced. That’s why Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Marc D. Greenwood
Blind leading the blind?
Fresh Meadows: Let me get this right. Manhattan Federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain is going to appoint someone to take over the responsibility to run all operations and personnel on Rikers Island, but the feds can’t figure out a way to control their own correctional facilities around the country that have been in shambles for years. Is it me? Gregory Coston
Treacherous history
Dover, Del.: To Voicer Wendy Jackson: Apparently, you are referring to the Zionist-washed edition of the actual events that led to the expulsion of the natives living in Palestine. The Zionists were led by David Ben-Gurion, who was the main force versus the folks living there. Rival Zionists bombed the King David Hotel along with residents’ homes, terrorizing locals to fear for their lives, resulting in the mass exodus of thousands due to Zionist armed forces! Not one of the properties were purchased — exactly what is happening in the West Bank: Europeans and other foreigners arriving, attacking and removing folks from their homes in the name of Zionism — which is not Judaism, which respects others’ rights. Chalky White
Relief
Manhattan: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Journavx (suzetrigine) 50-milligram oral tablets, a first-in-class non-opioid analgesic treatment for moderate to severe acute pain in adults. Journavx is the first drug to be approved in this new class of pain management medicines. It reduces pain by targeting a pain-signaling pathway involving sodium channels in the peripheral nervous system before pain signals reach the brain. Alan Lehrer
Honor the tradition
Brooklyn: I agree with Voicer Warren J. Damis. Veterans Day should remain Veterans Day and is not for putting on a circus show like Communist countries do. I am a proud veteran and was appalled by President Trump’s decision to do something like this. Keep Nov. 11 as Veterans Day. Charlie Pisano
Suspicious gift
Brooklyn: Does anyone think it’s OK to accept a new Air Force One from a foreign government? What will it take to make sure it’s safe and secure, if it’s even possible? Another real Trojan Horse. Will history repeat itself? How can our government get even more stupid? Greg Ahl
Almost accurate
Brooklyn: “I could be a stupid person and say: ‘We don’t want a free plane.’ ” News flash, Donald (not fake news): You are a stupid person. Robert Braunstein
Plane dumbstruck
Brooklyn: President Trump, can you please answer a few questions for us Americans? Is there something wrong with the current Air Force One? Do you need to fly in the opulence of a king? Aren’t a pair of new Air Force Ones on order already and being manufactured by Boeing? Didn’t you order that in your last term at a cost of almost $4 billion? For what reason is Qatar gifting that airplane to you and not to the American people? Do you expect the American taxpayer, who you are tightening up by eliminating so many benefits and programs, to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to make it secure and to have the latest electronics aboard? Just so you might make a few trips as though you were a king, and then for that same airplane to become your property? Do you think American taxpayers are suckers? Steve Miller
The enemy within
Forest Hills: I found Voicer Wallington Simpson’s letter so ironic! He is concerned that radical Islam will force Sharia law in the United States and take away our freedom of speech. The fascist Trump administration already threatens our freedom of speech. Corporate media has bowed to him and will only report on stories he approves. The same goes for the Washington Post and who knows how many other newspapers. Trump is dictating to universities what they can and can not teach. His cronies are banning books in schools and libraries across the country. If the Trump regime disagrees with a protester’s opinion, they are disappeared. Wake up, Mr. Simpson! Your freedoms have already been taken away by the fascist you voted for. Libby Gurgis
Infiltrated
Newark: Is America devolving into 1930s Germany? Elon Musk has had unprecedented access to data and systems that America uses an enormous intelligence community to protect. It’s been demonstrated quite vividly by a DOGE whistleblower that at least one critical system has already been compromised by Russia. Citizens across all political spectrums have expressed their concerns and outright fears about this issue. Musk is not an elected official, and even if he were, this level of access is dangerous to us all. The inherent conflict of interest as a business owner with a public history of questionable business practices is obvious, in my opinion. He must be stopped. Please reach out to your U.S. senators and let them know our concerns. Jon Andrews
Not on par
Rockaway, N.J.: To Voicer Amelia Bissonette: Sorry for the mistake of saying burned versus gassed. However, the point is the same. The next generation will make the mistake of saying Hitler deported the Jews from Germany. That’s why saying that Trump is Hitler minimizes the horrific treatment of the Jews by Hitler. I can find things I don’t like about Trump, but I look at the overall performance. Your side can find nothing good about him and nothing bad about a president who didn’t know where he was or what to do many times in public. You can’t argue that point because many insiders are now admitting it in their books and podcasts. Michael Ilardi
Plenty of parallels
Utica, N.Y.: We frequently hear Republicans indignantly scoff at any comparison of Trump to Adolf Hitler. Well, please consider this: Hitler forced the legislature to grant him dictatorial power after the German capitol building was burned. He then blamed the Communists and the Jews for Germany’s problems, labeled non-Germans as vermin and threats to Germany, said, “Only I can fix it” and started “disappearing” them to camps and prisons with no due process. He stifled the arts and the media, called the free press the “enemy of the people” and had all news filtered through Josef Goebbels’ propaganda machine. Is this sounding familiar? Finally, he declared himself “Führer” and a united Germany did not have another free election for 53 years! We can’t believe this is actually happening in America either, Republicans. Yet, reality tells us that it is, quickly and relentlessly. Jeff and Joan Ganeles
Grossed out
Bronx: Is anyone getting sick and tired of watching these ballplayers spitting out their sunflower seeds? It is so gross. Ralph Canzone Sr.
