Topic: The Murder of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter.

[reddebs]

You couldn't make this shit up as it's just so normal to them they don't even realise they do it.

Millions again wasted on an "action group' to tackle racism that doesn't think they need input from ethnic minorities 🤷

BBC News - Police initiative to tackle racism accused of being racist

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65708552

[AndyInVA]

Sorry to keep it off topic, but do all tax payers in the US file a return? Unlike in the UK where I assume most people pay their taxes via paye and don't need to file.  One of the side effects of the means testing of child benefit is the need for far more people to file a return.
Not related to the topic, or really the off topic discussion, just curious. From telly it feels like most Americans have an axxoubtent a lawyer.

Good question. Short answer is that everyone has to file a return.
A decent sized portion of the population have one job and the employer sends in their taxes every pay period. At the end of the year, every employer sends a statement to the employee and the IRS saying how much that person made from the employer. If you have one employer then it is reasonably easy, but not that easy, to do it yourself. If it is a simple tax return then you can pay $50 or so to get someone to do it. Some charities also do it for free for poorer people who find it hard to navigate the return.
If you have a side gig, or a small company then you really need a cheaper accountant. Larger companies need expensive accountants.
But yes, everyone has to file a return but not everyone uses an accountant.

[Jiminy Cricket]

Good question. Short answer is that everyone has to file a return.
A decent sized portion of the population have one job and the employer sends in their taxes every pay period. At the end of the year, every employer sends a statement to the employee and the IRS saying how much that person made from the employer. If you have one employer then it is reasonably easy, but not that easy, to do it yourself. If it is a simple tax return then you can pay $50 or so to get someone to do it. Some charities also do it for free for poorer people who find it hard to navigate the return.
If you have a side gig, or a small company then you really need a cheaper accountant. Larger companies need expensive accountants.
But yes, everyone has to file a return but not everyone uses an accountant.

Actually, you do not need to file a return if your income for the tax year was low. The precise cut-off amount varies according to circumstances.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/who-needs-to-file-a-tax-return

But there are some good reasons why it still might be advisable to file a return.

[AndyInVA]

Actually, you do not need to file a return if your income for the tax year was low. The precise cut-off amount varies according to circumstances.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/who-needs-to-file-a-tax-return

But there are some good reasons why it still might be advisable to file a return.

Didn’t know that.  Thanks. Makes sense really as at that income level it would be a real pain to get a return filled out properly.

[Barneylfc∗]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67529163

Minneapolis ex-police officer Derek Chauvin, convicted in the murder of George Floyd, has been stabbed at an Arizona prison, US media reports say.

A source told AP the 47-year-old was seriously injured by another inmate.

The New York Times, citing two people with knowledge of the situation, also reported that he was attacked.

Chauvin, who is white, is serving multiple sentences for the black man's death, which triggered huge protests against police brutality and racism.

The Bureau of Prisons confirmed in a statement that an inmate at a federal prison in the city of Tucson was stabbed at 12:30 local time (19:30 GMT) on Friday.

The agency said employees contained the incident and "life-saving measures" were performed on the inmate, who was then taken to hospital. The name of the prisoner was not given.

Nobody else is thought to have been injured and Chauvin is reported to have survived the attack.

The reported incident comes days after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal, in which it was argued that he had not received a fair trial for the killing of Mr Floyd - who died after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes in 2020.

The killing - captured on a bystander's phone camera - sparked global outrage and a wave of demonstrations against racial injustice and police use of force.

Chauvin was later found guilty of Mr Floyd's murder and sentenced to 22 years in prison. He was given a further 20-year sentence in July 2022 for violating Mr Floyd's civil rights.

[thejbs]

Manny Ellis’s murderers found not guilty on all charges. Based on what I’d read about this to date, this would appear to be a massive injustice but typical of US police are literally getting away with murder.

[John C]

I don't remember this jb, I'll have to look in to it.

[thejbs]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Manuel_Ellis

The key difference between this and George Floyd is that there wasn’t the same amount of footage. The cops that were charged are the very definition of unconvincing. They changed their stories, contradicted each other, lied (until caught out by recordings they didn’t realise existed); the department withheld information from both the coroner (who concluded homicide) and prosecution; the car that Ellis allegedly tried to car jack has never been found nor has a driver come forward (trained cops didn’t get a plate either). The defence was that the meth in his system caused his death, yet the coroner said this was not the case.

And yet a jury unanimously found them not guilty. Can’t get my head around it.

Spoiler

9 of the jury were white. two were black.

[close]

[John C]

Yep, got it, thanks. It also triggered memories of a young black lad shot in a car park for NOT resisting arrest. Where are they all up to!
Horrific.

[BarryCrocker]

Texas governor pardons man who killed Black Lives Matter protester in 2020
Greg Abbott on Thursday pardoned Daniel Perry, who has been serving a 25-year sentence since 2023 murder conviction

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas issued a full pardon on Thursday to a former US army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.

Abbott announced the pardon just minutes after the Texas board of pardons and paroles disclosed it had made a unanimous recommendation that Daniel Perry be pardoned and have his firearms rights restored. Perry has been held in state prison on a 25-year sentence since his conviction in 2023.

The Republican governor had previously ordered the board to review Perry’s case and said earlier that he would sign a pardon if recommended. The board, which is appointed by the governor, announced its unanimous recommendation in a message posted on the agency website, and Abbott’s pardon swiftly followed.

A jury in Austin had convicted Perry of murder in the death of 28-year-old Garrett Foster, an air force veteran who had been legally carrying an AK-47 while marching in a Black Lives Matter protest. Perry was working as a ride-share driver in July 2020, when he turned his car on to a street crowded with demonstrators and shot Foster before driving off.

The shooting was one of at least 25 killings of Americans during political protests and unrest in 2020, amid thousands of overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations over the police killing of George Floyd. Perry’s case became a rallying point for conservatives, who called on the governor to ensure his release.

Court records released in April showed that in the weeks leading up to the murder, Perry sent racist messages about protesters, shared white supremacist memes and talked about how he “might have to kill a few people” who were demonstrating outside his house. In a 76-page filing containing Perry’s private and public communications, he compared the Black Lives Matter movement to “a zoo full of monkeys that are freaking out flinging their shit”.

Abbott’s demand for a review of Perry’s case followed pressure from the far-right former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who on national television had urged the Republican governor to intervene after the former sergeant was convicted at trial in April 2022. While Carlson was still a top-rated host at the network, he dedicated a segment to directly challenging Abbott to appear on the show and discuss pardoning Perry – calling the case a “legal atrocity” that he blamed on progressive prosecutors. Abbott announced he was directing a review of Perry’s conviction the next day.

Carlson and rightwing groups similarly championed Kyle Rittenhouse, who in 2020 drove to a Black Lives Matter protest in Wisconsin where he shot and killed two protesters. A jury found Rittenhouse not guilty of murder after he claimed self-defense, and in recent years he has become a pro-gun advocate and minor celebrity on the conservative speaker circuit.

Abbott praised the board’s recommendation to pardon Perry, and touted Texas’s “stand your ground” self-defense laws.

Prosecutors argued at trial that Perry could have driven away without opening fire and witnesses testified that they never saw Foster raise his gun. The sergeant’s defense attorneys argued Foster, who was white, did raise the rifle and that Perry had no choice but to shoot. Perry, who is also white, did not take the witness stand and jurors deliberated for two days before finding him guilty.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/16/texas-greg-abbott-pardons-daniel-perry

[GreatEx]

Setting aside the defendant's apparent desire to kill protesters - which I would have thought negates the self defence argument in any sane jurisdiction - it is mad that these open carry laws produce so many he-said, she-said arguments about who raised first, with benefit of the doubt always going to the killer, such that it becomes open season on anyone who carries a gun, or for that matter anyone who "could" be carrying a gun (you know who).

[kavah]

Good god. What an outrage.

[RedDeadRejection]

Times like this it's easy to see we really have very little in common with the US bad the language.