What’s the matter with Arizona?
by digby
And I’m not talking about John McCain:
Arizona’s Republican governor has vetoed a controversial bill that would have barred the release of the names of police officers involved in lethal shootings. The bill, which had broad support in the state legislature, was inspired by two incidents in which unarmed suspects were killed by police.[…]
That the bill even reached the governor’s desk reflects a sentiment in Arizona, and perhaps across America, that the real problem with police shootings is the threat posed to the safety and reputations of officers by those angered by such incidents. This threat, Smith argued, became especially clear in Arizona over the last year or so.
“This was the genesis of two cases in Arizona,” Smith told the House committee.
In both cases a police officer in Arizona shot and killed an unarmed person of color under questionable circumstances. And yet, the bill’s passage suggests, the lesson state legislators drew from those killings was that it was the police who needed more protection.
Maybe the police could offer their fellows protection? Like they are supposed to offer all the citizens? As in, it’s their job?
I don’t think police officers should be targets. But then neither should anyone else.
Is there another state in the union that has to depend on its super conservative governor to rein in the ultra-right wing legislature?
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