MNA and Nurses Respond to the Killing of George Floyd by Police

[tnbutterfly - Mary]

We have all seen on the news the terrible scene that played out in the streets in Minnesota when George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old black male, was arrested by the Minnesota Police for attempted forgery at a convenience store. The action was caught on video as George Floyd, handcuffed and pinned to the ground face down by an officer who pressed with his full weight with his knee on Mr. Floyd's neck for more than 8 minutes. We watched and heard George Floyd crying out that he couldn't breathe. We heard him calling for "Mama". We watched as his body went limp with the officer still holding him down. This will be a scene I shall never forget.

The following are quotes from the Minnesota Nurses Association's response to this heinous crime.

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As nurses, we see the horrific effects of racism in our hospitals and community every day. We cannot remain silent as yet another black man has died at the hands of police...

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George Floyd's last words were "I can't breathe.” George Floyd died shortly after arriving at the hospital."

Nurses jump into action when they hear someone say "I can't breathe", instead of standing there watching them die. Their goal is to save lives, not kill people

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In the case of George Floyd, Minneapolis Police took no care or life-saving measures. Instead, they left him pinned down to the ground until paramedics arrived. Police ignored the pleas of George Floyd and he died.

Nurses care for all patients, regardless of their gender, race, religion or other status. We expect the same from the police. Unfortunately, nurses continue to see the devastating effects of systematic racism and oppression targeting people of color in our communities. We demand justice for George Floyd and a stop to the unnecessary death of black men at the hands of those who should protect them.

As a nurse, or as a compassionate human, how has this horrific event affected you? We have seen protests (some peaceful and some that have erupted into riots), vandalism, looting, and more. What is going on in your community? What actions can nurses take?

Let us stand together and let our voices be heard. Post your comments below.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

On 6/7/2020 at 6:20 PM, eakirlin said:

There is a culture in some police stations and in some locales, and it amazes me that the police are roll-modeling assaultive behavior for the camera... like the young women thrown on the curb, later hospitalized.... or the 75 year old man pushed back until he fell on the concrete and started bleeding from the head.

I once worked with a police man, who decided to become a nurse. One day, all 4 of my tires exploded while on a 20 foot overpass in our downtown area, and each tire had a nail pushed through it. I almost died, because my car was set to careen over the side of the overpass. I was later told that this policeman-nurse liked to carry around a box of nails, and push them into the tires of someone with whom they had disagreed. Same day, my charge nurse's car lost all 4 tires. and another coworker had police show up at her door to arrest her for an as yet unpaid parking ticket... all of us had had an incident with this nurse. It betrays a level of permission that many police think they have.

While that is needlessly mean spirited, it is far from some really serious allegations of police brutality. Would agree that it needs to stop, and it may mean to imbed peaceful population in with the police. Also, did I say they need to turn on their body cams?

Sounds like attempted murder. Did you both file c/o?

No body cam should equal guilty of whatever an officer is accused of IMO.

[Joe V]

On 6/7/2020 at 6:08 PM, Kooky Korky said:

Nurses know the risks when they take a job in, for example, the ER or sign up for work that requires lifting and tugging on heavy people, often with little help.

I agree that there are good and bad apples and that there needs to be reform.

You do know, of course, that police sometimes face situations where only force will work. And force isn't pretty.

People need to know that the first priority, second priority, and 100th priority of a policeman is to go home in one piece, walking. If they can help people or stop/prevent crime, clean up a car wreck, or otherwise do good, that's wonderful. However, first and foremost if officer safety. Anything wrong with that?

Perhaps fear isn't the right word. Perhaps respect and obey authority is right. A lot of people don't.

They took the job, TO SERVE AND PROTECT. One can't be selective when taking this job. They are there to serve EVERYONE.

If they are scared and worried about their livelihood than maybe policing isn't for them.

There's a reason why nurses are the most trusted profession.

Nurses are color-blind. Even in darkness they find a way to do their job.

[toomuchbaloney]

On 6/7/2020 at 6:23 PM, Kooky Korky said:

Interesting.

It is not possible for me to believe that there was no policing until what sounds like the post-Civil War era, if I am understanding you correctly.

Why do white supremacists desire to tear apart America? I do not understand this. What is your definition of "tear apart"?

Thanks for the site. I will check it out.

Do you see only whites looting? I see a great many people, most of whom appear to be black.

Opportunists come in all colors and stripes. Some of the most famous opportunists, taking things not meant for them, are the wealthiest and most powerful among us. That truth doesn't change the reality that white supremacists and similar groups have agendas of creating mayhem and chaos to incite violence between blacks and the police or the community.

I didn't say there was no policing...I said that the first police were largely used to exact racist agendas.

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/869046127

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

1 hour ago, eakirlin said:

There is a culture in some police stations and in some locales, and it amazes me that the police are roll-modeling assaultive behavior for the camera... like the young women thrown on the curb, later hospitalized.... or the 75 year old man pushed back until he fell on the concrete and started bleeding from the head.

I once worked with a police man, who decided to become a nurse. One day, all 4 of my tires exploded while on a 20 foot overpass in our downtown area, and each tire had a nail pushed through it. I almost died, because my car was set to careen over the side of the overpass. I was later told that this policeman-nurse liked to carry around a box of nails, and push them into the tires of someone with whom they had disagreed. Same day, my charge nurse's car lost all 4 tires. and another coworker had police show up at her door to arrest her for an as yet unpaid parking ticket... all of us had had an incident with this nurse. It betrays a level of permission that many police think they have.

While that is needlessly mean spirited, it is far from some really serious allegations of police brutality. Would agree that it needs to stop, and it may mean to imbed peaceful population in with the police. Also, did I say they need to turn on their body cams?

This horrid behavior doesn't happen with just former, or current,, police officers. Years ago, I had my tires slashed (and caught on hospital security camera) by a male coworker because I refused to date him. He was married and I don’t date coworkers. Even caught on hospital camera, administration refused to do anything because "poor John is under a lot of stress", it was bad press, etc. I was even warned not to notify the police, I felt like my job was threatened.

John was a WalMart employee prior to becoming a nurse. Dirtbags come from all walks of life, not just the police. We hear about them more because they are in public service to protect us

[toomuchbaloney]

3 minutes ago, Hoosier_RN said:

This horrid behavior doesn't happen with just former, or current,, police officers. I had my tires slashed (and caught on camera) by a male coworker because I refused to date him. He was married and I don’t date coworkers. Even caught on hospital camera, administration refused to do anything because "poor John is under a lot of stress". He was a WalMart employee prior. Dirtbags come from all walks of life, not just the police. We hear about them more because they are in public service to protect us

Of course lateral violence isn't confined to police or ex police. That's not the point. The point is that for too many police and ex-police, honesty and integrity are equivocal. They seemingly can justify all manner of unacceptable behavior, up to and including murder. They bully the police who don't like it. Those police are cowered into silence when they are treated similarly.

This isn't a small isolated problem. This is a widespread and dangerous problem.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

On 6/7/2020 at 6:50 PM, toomuchbaloney said:

Opportunists come in all colors and stripes. Some of the most famous opportunists, taking things not meant for them, are the wealthiest and most powerful among us. That truth doesn't change the reality that white supremacists and similar groups have agendas of creating mayhem and chaos to incite violence between blacks and the police or the community.

I didn't say there was no policing...I said that the first police were largely used to exact racist agendas.

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/869046127

You said very first, so I took that to mean very first. As in no police before that. Maybe you meant very first in primarily the deep south during slavery days.

Yes, lots of opportunists around. Like Sharpton, Crump, et al.

Yes, white supremacists can be counted in that group. But there is lots of violence, looting, robbing, etc. even without goading by opportunists.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

1 hour ago, Hoosier_RN said:

This horrid behavior doesn't happen with just former, or current,, police officers. Years ago, I had my tires slashed (and caught on hospital security camera) by a male coworker because I refused to date him. He was married and I don’t date coworkers. Even caught on hospital camera, administration refused to do anything because "poor John is under a lot of stress", it was bad press, etc. I was even warned not to notify the police, I felt like my job was threatened.

John was a WalMart employee prior to becoming a nurse. Dirtbags come from all walks of life, not just the police. We hear about them more because they are in public service to protect us

You should make a police report, not go to your employer. Why go to your employer at all?

Is there camera footage of this whacko doing the vandalism on hospital property? Have a lawyer demand it. Less chance of it being destroyed or hidden if you go that route, I think.

The employer likely wants only to keep the reporters away, doesn't give a d___ about you, as you see.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

28 minutes ago, Kooky Korky said:

You should make a police report, not go to your employer. Why go to your employer at all?

Is there camera footage of this whacko doing the vandalism on hospital property? Have a lawyer demand it. Less chance of it being destroyed or hidden if you go that route, I think.

The employer likely wants only to keep the reporters away, doesn't give a d___ about you, as you see.

This was over 20 years ago. A little late now. And no, they didn't give a rats patoot. Nowadays, yes I would file a report and tell admin where to go. Back then, I was a young, single mom in the early years of my nursing career.

I'm not sure what happened to him, he was let go about a year after that happened after making advances toward a patients daughter?

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

On 6/7/2020 at 6:23 PM, Kooky Korky said:

Interesting.

It is not possible for me to believe that there was no policing until what sounds like the post-Civil War era, if I am understanding you correctly.

Why do white supremacists desire to tear apart America? I do not understand this. What is your definition of "tear apart"?

Thanks for the site. I will check it out.

Do you see only whites looting? I see a great many people, most of whom appear to be black.

How the U.S. Got Its Police Force

... The first publicly funded, organized police force with officers on duty full-time was created in Boston in 1838. Boston was a large shipping commercial center, and businesses had been hiring people to protect their property and safeguard the transport of goods from the port of Boston to other places, says Potter. These merchants came up with a way to save money by transferring to the cost of maintaining a police force to citizens by arguing that it was for the “collective good.”

In the South, however, the economics that drove the creation of police forces were centered not on the protection of shipping interests but on the preservation of the slavery system. Some of the primary policing institutions there were the slave patrols tasked with chasing down runaways and preventing slave revolts, Potter says; the first formal slave patrol had been created in the Carolina colonies in 1704. During the Civil War, the military became the primary form of law enforcement in the South, but during Reconstruction, many local sheriffs functioned in a way analogous to the earlier slave patrols, enforcing segregation and the disenfranchisement of freed slaves...

https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/

[toomuchbaloney]

42 minutes ago, herring_RN said:

How the U.S. Got Its Police Force

... The first publicly funded, organized police force with officers on duty full-time was created in Boston in 1838. Boston was a large shipping commercial center, and businesses had been hiring people to protect their property and safeguard the transport of goods from the port of Boston to other places, says Potter. These merchants came up with a way to save money by transferring to the cost of maintaining a police force to citizens by arguing that it was for the “collective good.”

In the South, however, the economics that drove the creation of police forces were centered not on the protection of shipping interests but on the preservation of the slavery system. Some of the primary policing institutions there were the slave patrols tasked with chasing down runaways and preventing slave revolts, Potter says; the first formal slave patrol had been created in the Carolina colonies in 1704. During the Civil War, the military became the primary form of law enforcement in the South, but during Reconstruction, many local sheriffs functioned in a way analogous to the earlier slave patrols, enforcing segregation and the disenfranchisement of freed slaves...

https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/

Thank you.

I didn't learn that in my traditional education either so I can't really be upset with others who have been educated in the society which excuses racism. Similarly, most white people upset by rioting today don't know anything about the Tulsa riots in 1921. Rioting to most evokes images of Detroit or LA...you know...angry black people.

Why are these realities left out of our public education?

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

On 6/7/2020 at 11:10 PM, toomuchbaloney said:

Thank you.

I didn't learn that in my traditional education either so I can't really be upset with others who have been educated in the society which excuses racism. Similarly, most white people upset by rioting today don't know anything about the Tulsa riots in 1921. Rioting to most evokes images of Detroit or LA...you know...angry black people.

Why are these realities left out of our public education?

Every time I hear Georgia Governor George Wallace name said as the epitome of an evil segregationist I cringe because he did repent.

Decades ago I saw him on the Merv Griffin show. He explained how he thought about the night shift nurses when he was hospitalized on a Stryker Frame after he was shot. The entire night staff was Black. He said they must have known what he had done and said, but they were so very good to him. They often asked how he felt. One scratched his itching nose. They fed him, rubbed his back, and answered his questions. He said, "Those nurses were the beginning of my repentance, but it was years before I said aloud how very wrong I'd been." He first apologized to John Lewis.

I was crying joyful tears watching and hearing him. It bothers me that most don't know about his repentance.

Here is an article about it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/sept98/wallace031795.htm

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

5 hours ago, toomuchbaloney said:

Thank you.

I didn't learn that in my traditional education either so I can't really be upset with others who have been educated in the society which excuses racism. Similarly, most white people upset by rioting today don't know anything about the Tulsa riots in 1921. Rioting to most evokes images of Detroit or LA...you know...angry black people.

Why are these realities left out of our public education?

Hopefully it will become included.