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America’s Police Problem, continued

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Another black man was killed by the Chicago Police Department last night:

The shooting happened about 5:30 p.m. in the 2000 block of East 71st Street, according to police and Chicago Fire Department officials.

Officers on foot saw “a man exhibiting characteristics of an armed person,” and a “confrontation” ensued when they tried to question him, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted. An officer then opened fire.

What the hell does it mean for a man to “exhibit characteristics of an armed person?” (I look forward to the NRA weighing in on the man’s behalf.)

Confrontations between protesters and police officers erupted almost immediately:

A crowd of protesters sparred with a group of Chicago police officers Saturday evening near the street where an officer fatally shot a man during a confrontation in South Shore.

The chaotic scene simmered for hours after the encounter, as dozens of people chanting “murderers” and “no justice, no peace” lingered in the neighborhood. Several officers were hurt by rocks and bottles hurled at them, and police said four demonstrators were arrested.

People outside the crime scene after the shooting claimed a female officer shot the man, a neighborhood barber, at least five times in the back as he ran away, and that the officer was taken away from the scene in a police vehicle afterward as the crowd formed.

Dozens of officers were called to help control a tense scene as more than 100 people crowded around, chanting at police, “Who do you serve? Who do you protect?”

Tension boiled over about 7:30 p.m. as police tried to push protesters back from the scene, with officers hitting at least six people with batons and some protesters punching back. Police could be seen detaining a few people.

“We just want to live,” one woman said. “Our black kids keep getting killed. We just want to live.”

The scene cooled off for a while until more people flooded the area about 8:30 p.m., with some throwing glass bottles at officers. At least three people were then detained.

When police with batons entered a parking lot where protesters were gathered near the scene, scores of people scattered. Two officers shoved a Chicago Sun-Times reporter to the ground, smacking a cellphone out of his hand.

The instinctual response of police forces to respond with force and violence when nonwhite people protest their authority is one of the many problems that lay at the core of American policing. In this case as in most cases, the Chicago Police Department is functionally indefensible in its handling of legitimate protest against its authority, but a lot of liberals will join most conservatives in trying to defend it. It’s incredibly depressing.

Lots of good people who are still on the ground in Chicago are asking the right questions this morning. Charles Preston among them:

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