The Protect and Serve Act: An Attack on Black Lives

On Wenesday (5/16/18) The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protect and Serve Act of 2018 by a vote of 382 to 35. This act is nothing more than an attempt to make the ideology of the “Blue Lives Matter” movement federal law.

What constitutes assualt on a pig? No, REALLY...  people, BLACK people get charged with assualt on a peace officer for moving back during their interactions with said peace officer. This bill basically makes it a federal crime to assault a police officer. This is NOT A JOKE, this bill is now in SENATE and their version of the bill goes even further, framing an attack on an officer as a federal hate crime.

I've never seen a blue human being before and it makes no sense to protect law enforcement any further than existing law. This is just opening the door wider in order to make it easier for crooked pigs to justify the unjustifiable. Justify their over policing, implicit biases, racism & prejudices and get to walk away with two weeks paid leave after taking a Black life. According to the federal government and how its criminal justice standards are executed “blue lives” CLEARLY matter more than the lives of citizens who happen to be Black. Is it not bad enough that they call activsts "Black Identity Extremists" for calling out this protection of "blue lives" who abuse our bodies via laws sanctioned by the state?!

Law enforcement are not, nor will they ever be in a position to claim that they are threatened and under seige, but they take that position often. They take that position to justify excessive use of force, rape, oppression and all the other harm they cause in the name of the state. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT LAW ENFORCEMENT PROTECTS THE STATE AND ENFORCES THE STATE... IN TURN THE STATE PROTECTS ITS ASSET, LAW ENFORCEMENT. Who really needs protection from who???

IF you don't believe me, check out these FEDERAL DEFINITIONS:

STATE.—The term ‘State’ means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, or any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.’’. ​

LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.--The term ‘law enforcement officer’ means an employee of a governmental or public agency who is authorized by law

‘‘(A) to engage in or supervise the prevention, detention, investigation, or the incarceration of any person for any criminal violation of law; and

"(B) to apprehend or arrest a person for any criminal violation of law.

“Rather than focusing on policies that address issues of police excessive force, biased policing, and other police practices that have failed these communities, the Protect and Serve Act’s aim is to further criminalize,” civil and human rights groups (the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, and ETC) had this to say in a joint letter to Congress:

Here is the bill: H.R.5698 - Protect and Serve Act of 2018

*** The Protect and Serve Act would allow anyone who knowingly causes serious bodily injury to a law enforcement officer to be imprisoned up to 10 years

*** If a police officer were kidnapped, killed, or faced a threat on their life, then the perpetrator could get a much longer sentence, including potentially life in prison.

---

"BOTH THE HOUSE and Senate bills are predicated on the notion that police are increasingly under threat. Policing does not even rank in the 10 most dangerous jobs, according to a 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Fishers, farmers, and, above all, loggers are more likely to die on the job. And police are, according to the same statistics, more likely to kill themselves than be killed by a criminal. The Senate bill notes that, in 2016, “ambush killings of police officers hit a 10-year high, with 21 such deaths.” This narrative of growing danger, however, falls apart when one notes that just a year later, in 2017, the number dropped to eight officers killed."

​- ​Natasha Lennard

The roll call vote was 382 - 35
- 382 YEA
- 35 NAY
- 10 NO VOTE

To be clear, this bill is based in racism just like the crime bill of the 90s. A Black Democrat FROM TEXAS spearheaded that crime bill back then and not much has changed as you can see above. A MAJORITY OF DEMOCRATS voted lock step with the republicans to pass this bill to the Senate. This flies directly into the face of the progressive narrative that voting ALONE will improve conditions for Black lives. YES, voting does help, but we also must hold those who were voted in to REPRESENT us accountable and ride their asses. I say this because there has been a consistent theme since 2016 of evoking the ballot box as a remedy to racism.

Lets be real and recognize that voting for a liberal or progressive will not change the make up of our racist society. They say that overtly racist white people make up a fraction of white population and that is a lie. While there are some white folk accomplices, we must recognize that our society is built on the construct of race for their benefit.  So to suggest voting will fix issues of race and other societal problems without addressing and dismantling the systems of oppression and degradation is just psychotic to me. In reality, it is the activists, organizers, and other community members that do the work that is required to create change, NOT POLITICIANS.

Yeah laws can be changed on every level, but who enforces it? And when will we realize that laws are a matter of interpretation? Interpretation is a dangerous thing, when the very power structure and system of pivilege are still intact after laws are reformed or repealed. People will still be bigots, haters, rapists and etc. We must be careful to note the truth, yes vote, but dont pretend that it will fix all of our societal flaws.

Stop lying to yourselves! just look at the 36 votes that came from right here in Texas.....ONE DEMOCRAT VOTED NO.

For this reason ALONE, I must drive home the fact that this bill further legalizes police brutality and makes it much easier to attack those of us exercising our constitutional rights to freedom of speech and protest. Our peaceful actions can be deemed an attempted assualt toward crooked cops who are the ones that commit hate crimes and escape punishment. Current laws already provide a remedy, and this bill would not actually provide police officers with any greater protection than current laws. What THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT is doing here, is an attempt to further criminalize our Blackness, by criminalizing us for excercising our right to question why we are being accosted by a law enforcement officer. We must fight against this effort to criminalize Blackness. The Senate bill is a lot worse, waiting to get a copy to share....