JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

WHEN THE LOOTING STARTS THE SHOOTING STARTS

UPDATE: BASED ON UNREST THERE IS A 10PM-6 AM CURFEW FOR MIAMI DADE COUNTY
As if you do not have enough reasons to stay home, there is now a curfew. Stay safe.

Dateline Miami: 1967: Miami Police Chief Walter Headley said today "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." Headley was talking in response to unrest in Miami's Negro* communities: "We don't mind being accused of police brutality. While most negroes are law abiding, about ten percent are young hoodlums who have taken advantage of the civil rights movement" the Miami Police Chief said, before predicting a quiet and peaceful time when the 1968 Republican  National Convention comes to Miami Beach next year. 


Dateline: October 24, 1968,  Madison Square Garden, New York City:  Alabama Governor George Wallace, who is running for President as the America Independent Party nominee against Richard Nixon (Republican, crook) and Hubert Horatio Humphrey nee Hornblower* (Democrat)  said to a packed Madison Square Garden of  supporters  that he was disgusted at President Johnson's response to demonstrators who blocked the Presidential Limousine: "I tell you when November comes, the first time they down in front of my limousine, it'll be the last one they ever lay down in front of; their day is over." 
As the crowd responded, Wallace took off his jacket and clenched his fist, shouting "We don't have riots in Alabama. They start a riot down there, first one of em to pick up a brick gets a bullet in the brain, that's all. And then you walk over to the next one and say 'all right, pick up a brick. We just want to see you pick up one of them bricks now." 
The crowd erupted in enthusiasm. *

Dateline The White House, Washington DC, May 29, 2020: President Trump, responding to the protests in St. Paul Minnesota the night before, which saw a police station burned and looted tweeted "When the looting starts, the shooting starts."  Considering that one of Rumpole's rules is to never believe in coincidences, and considering that the current president has zero understanding or recollection of history, someone fed the president that racist line to tweet. 

Dateline The White House, Washington DC, May 29, 2020: A violent crowd of protestors overwhelmed uniformed secret service officers and national park police officers this evening, pulling away crowd barriers and taunting police officers. 

Dateline St. Paul, Minnesota, May 29, 2020: Ignoring an 8PM curfew imposed by the governor, protestors roamed the streets of St. Paul, Minnesota near the third precinct police station this evening, with no police or national guard troops on the street, the protestors looted the burned police station, as well as burning other nearby businesses. The protestors also attacked the nearby fifth precinct police station. 

Throughout the United States on the evening of May 29, 2020, protestors erupted in violence. The Barclays's Center in Brooklyn New York was the scene of violent protests. The CNN Center in Atlanta was attacked and damaged, and police and protestors squared off in various parts of Los Angeles. In one televised incident, officers stood by as protestors wrote the word "Killers" on police vehicles. 

When the looting starts, the shooting starts, and the looting gets worse. 

"Hate begets hate. Violence begets violence. Toughness begets greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love. Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding." 

Dr. Martin Luther King,  (1958). 

* We are using the vernacular of the 1960's, when African-Americans were referred to as Negroes. 

* Perhaps it is time Mr. Moss and Rumpole had it out over George Wallace. We have thrown down the gauntlet. He knows where to find us (hint-send an email). 


* See President James Earl Carter's nomination acceptance speech, New York Democratic National Convention, August 14, 1980 when the President, referring to Minesotta senator and 1968 Democratic Presidential Nominee Hubert Humphrey instead called him "Hubert Horatio Hornblower"  a mistaken reference to the great fictional character of C. S. Forester. We highly recommend re-reading the Hornblower novels in  this time of home sheltering. Start with Midshipmen Hornblower, and go from there. 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can argue about Trumps words and his tactics but you can’t disagree on the results. Tens of thousands of dead, an economy in complete shambles, race murders on tv and the military forced to try to control the streets. Wow! This is what he meant by make America great again?

Anonymous said...

What makes America great is that morons like 1:27 p.m. can become lawyers and still write such ridiculous tripe.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole,

One of my favorite rock bands of the new millennium, Drive By Truckers sing about Alabama and George Wallace: The Three Great Alabama Icons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MIztbe1_e8
and Wallace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTbd4cjfSQk

Listen!