Justice Denied !

On July 15 a news report was so unusual that it got a mention on most world news agencies.  It seems that an Australian woman,  forty year old Justine Damond heard suspicious sounds coming from a lane behind her Minneapolis home.  She thought it sounded like someone being raped - so she called the police.

A Minneapolis police car with two officers attended and dressed in pyjamas - Justice approached the car to speak to the officers.   Without warning or any sort of provocation, the office in the passenger seat leaned across the driver and fired his weapon, killing Justine.

More than five months later the investigation of this incident is inconclusive.  The officer who fired the fatal shot - Mohamed Noor - has refused to be interviewed and has claimed his Fifth Amendment rights.  The matter has not been aired in court and the public prosecutor complains that the " investigation has not been done to his satisfaction or even to the expected levels of accuracy and thoroughness. "

This seems to be a very familiar theme when police shoot an unarmed person in America.  It has sparked the " Black lives matter " movement protesting the high incidence of coloured people who meet their death from a police bullet   There is a certain taint about the way these matters are investigated and in the majority of cases the police are acquitted even though the evidence would seem overwhelming.

The American street scene is very different from most other cities in the western world. There is the expectation that people stopped may be carrying a gun and for their own safety police search them for weapons.  They are quick to force people onto the ground and apply handcuffs.  This is aggressive policing and police now carry assault weapons in their police cars.   A car that fails to stop on command may draw pursuit by a dozen police cars.

The American police are fast becoming a similar force to the American military and carry identical weapons.  The government is mindful of the riots a few decades ago sparked by the Rodney King beating - and the police acquittal.  All that stands between a repeat of that mass destruction that went on for days is a thin police line.   The American government is frightened of its own citizens and needs to appease the police to guarantee their loyalty.

The power of the police unions is paramount.  They protect their members by using their raw power to stifle investigations and move court cases to jurisdictions where acquittals can be expected.  When it is police investigating police the outcome is obvious.  Acquittals by whatever means need to be contrived.

Justine Damond's parents are grieving because this case is going nowhere.  A white Australian woman called the policer in an act of mercy and was killed without reason.   It seems unlikely that the cop who fired that bullet will ever seen the inside of a court.

The American justice system will see the case drag on endlessly until evidence becomes lost and memories become vague.   Eventually, it will gather dust in a Minnesota filing cabinet.   It makes a joke of that cherished American claim to be " the land of the free "  !