The George Floyd murder only underscores what most of us have known all along, that cops have been profiling and killing black folks pretty much with impunity, if not active assistance by the law. And yes, it is racism and the BLM movement is perfectly justified in their protests.

But the shooting of Rayshard Brooks by Atlanta police, leading to the immediate firing of the cop and the resignation of the police chief makes me wonder if perhaps we are going too far. Granted, there may be more facts that yet need to come to light before we can pick a side on this incident, but let us not forget Mr Brooks was a public nuisance, failed a sobriety test, resisted arrest with violence, stole a police taser during the struggle and shot an officer with it, and then tried to escape with the weapon still in his possession. Unless some convincing additional facts come to light to tell me otherwise, this guy needed to be shot. I would have, if I had been that cop.

I am concerned that pretty soon it will be impossible for any cop to use any violence on any black man, or that any excessive response, either by legitimate demonstrators, opportunistic thugs, or white supremacist provocateurs will be excused as a fully justified response by an oppressed minority. And regardless of the shooting itself, the subsequent burning of an innocent business by protesters will be gleefully seized on by reactionaries as a reason why the violent suppression of minorities is perfectly justified.

Some cops are crooked, maybe a lot of cops are crooked, maybe the whole justice system needs to be overhauled. I’ll be the first to concede that. But no one, white or black, rich or poor, Conservative or Liberal wants to live in a world without cops, or in a political environment where cops are afraid even the most legitimate use of force will be questioned and called brutality.

Even oppressed minorities sometimes need police protection.