{"id":14762,"date":"2020-05-30T14:29:41","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T18:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=14762"},"modified":"2020-09-17T13:09:28","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T17:09:28","slug":"minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/","title":{"rendered":"Minneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide"},"content":{"rendered":"

American Conservative, May 30, 2020<\/h3>\n

Cops Kill Because We Gave Them The Legal Framework to Do It<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n
\n

Rather than burning and looting, protesters should turn their ire on lawmakers and judges who facilitate police immunity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

George Floyd moments before his death in Minneapolis on Memorial Day (Twitter)<\/div>\n
\n
\n

by Jim Bovard <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The brutal Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd has sparked violent protests, looting, and arson attacks in Minneapolis and St. Paul. A police precinct building was torched and destroyed and the Minnesota National Guard has been called out to restore order. But the killing in Minnesota is the latest reminder that politicians and judges\u2014through federal law and judicial interpretation\u2014have turned police into a privileged class that is most often unaccountable, if not entitled to oppress other Americans.<\/p>\n

Almost everyone agrees that Floyd\u2019s death was a horrendous injustice. President Trump, who urged police officers in 2017 to not \u201cbe too nice\u201d to suspects they arrested, condemned what the police did to Floyd as \u201ca very bad thing<\/a>.\u201d Former Minneapolis police chief Jane\u00e9 Harteau<\/a> said that the video of Floyd\u2019s killing was \u201cthe most horrific thing I\u2019ve seen in my career and in my lifetime.\u201d Washington, D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham<\/a> declared that the officers\u2019 actions were \u201cnothing short of murder.\u201d Derick Chauvin, the police officer who killed Floyd was arrested today and charged with murder<\/a>; he and three other police involved in Floyd\u2019s death were fired earlier this week<\/p>\n

Floyd was killed by Chauvin pressing his knee on Floyd\u2019s neck for eight minutes after he was handcuffed and laying face down in the street. Floyd repeatedly declared, \u201cI can\u2019t breathe.\u201d It didn\u2019t matter. ACLU attorney Carl Takei<\/a> told the New York Times <\/i>that police departments that permit \u201cchokeholds try to differentiate between cutting off the flow of blood, which renders someone unconscious, and cutting off the flow of oxygen, which is deadly.\u201d This dicey distinction often goes amiss, as in 2014 when Eric Garner was killed<\/a> by a New York City policeman\u2019s chokehold. But how did government officials ever acquire a right to strangle people who fail to instantly submit to their commands?<\/p>\n

Such killings would likely not occur without the sense of impunity conferred on police in much of this nation. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a top contender for Vice President candidacy for Joe Biden, was the chief prosecutor for Hennepin County (including Minneapolis) from 1998 to 2006. Klobuchar, who was nicknamed \u201cKloboCop<\/a>\u201d by detractors,\u00a0 \u201cdeclined to bring charges in more<\/a> than two dozen cases in which people were killed in encounters with police\u201d while she \u201caggressively prosecuted smaller offenses\u201d by private citizens, the Washington Post<\/i> noted. Her record was aptly summarized by a headline early this year from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press<\/i><\/a>: \u201cKlobuchar ramped up prosecutions, except in cases against police.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minnesota cops also benefit from their state\u2019s so-called \u201cpolice officer\u2019s bill of rights,\u201d which impede investigations into killings<\/a> by police and other misconduct.<\/p>\n

Outrage over police abuses have become a regular occurrence in modern American life<\/strong>. In 1994, the ACLU and the National Rifle Association\u00a0 jointly called for President Bill Clinton to appoint a national commission to investigate \u201clawlessness in law enforcement<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 In 2014, after violent protests over a police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, Attorney General Eric Holder declared that \u201cwe must seek to rebuild trust<\/a> between law enforcement and the local community.\u201d But unjustified police shootings usually spark brief uproars and promises of reform\u2014 but no fundamental rollback of law enforcement\u2019s lethal power and prerogatives.<\/p>\n

Much of the media coverage quickly framed the Minneapolis killing as another example of systemic racism by police. There are many bigoted cops who have unjustifiably shot or otherwise abused innocent black citizens but people of all races, creeds, and colors are at risk from lawless lawmen. As the Washington Post <\/i>noted, \u201cIn 2017, a Minneapolis police officer shot and killed Justine Damond<\/a>, an Australian woman who had called police about what she believed was a possible sexual assault near her home.\u201d The Montgomery County, Maryland Police Department continues to refuse to provide camcom videos or any other evidence on its predawn no-knock raid in Potomac, Maryland, in which police reportedly shot 21-year-old Duncan Lemp as he lay sleeping in bed in his parents\u2019 house. The Lemp case has been largely ignored by the nation\u2019s media (except for my American Conservative<\/i> articles here<\/a>, here,<\/a> and here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Focusing on racial bias also risks obscuring the fundamental problem: the Supreme Court has effectively given police a license to shoot, pummel, or falsely arrest ill-fated citizens across the nation.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the Civil War, freed southern blacks were terrorized by lynch mobs and other attackers. Congress responded to Ku Klux Klan violence against freed southern blacks by enacting the Civil Rights Act of 1871 to authorize lawsuits against any person acting \u201cunder color of\u201d law who causes a \u201cdeprivation of any rights\u2026 secured by the Constitution and laws.\u201d But in a series of decisions beginning in 1967<\/a>, the Supreme Court gutted that law by permitting police and other government agents to claim they acted in \u201cgood faith\u201d when violating citizens\u2019 rights. In 1982, the Supreme Court granted government officials immunity<\/a> unless they violated \u201cclearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of centuries of court rulings that clearly demarcated citizens\u2019 constitutional rights, the Supreme Court decided government officials deserved \u201cqualified immunity\u201d unless a prior court case had condemned almost exactly the same abusive behavior. Federal judge Don Willett declared in 2018 that \u201cqualified immunity smacks of unqualified impunity<\/a>, letting public officials duck consequences for bad behavior\u2014no matter how palpably unreasonable\u2014as long as they were the first to behave badly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court effectively added an asterisk to the Constitution that expunged much of the Bill of Rights. In a 2018 case absolving a reckless shooting that killed a motorist, Justice Sonia Sotomayor angrily dissented that the court\u2019s decision \u201ctells [police] officers that they can shoot first and think later<\/a>, and it tells the public that palpably unreasonable conduct will go unpunished.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does the Supreme Court\u2019s idealism on \u201cgood faith\u201d G-men play out in the real world?\u00a0 Courts have \u201capproved qualified immunity for cops who allegedly shot people without cause, sicced a dog on a man who was surrendering, tased a driver who was stopped for failing to buckle his seat belt, and ordered a 17-year-old boy to disrobe and masturbate so they could take pictures of his erect penis,\u201d Reason <\/i>columnist Jacob Sullumreported in 2019<\/a>. That year, a federal appeals court bizarrely granted qualified immunity to Fresno, California, police officers who stole $225,000 during a search<\/a> of two businessmen.<\/p>\n

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said yesterday that his committee would hold a hearing on police violence to analyze \u201cwhy does this happen, how often is it, is it an aberration<\/a>.\u201d Graham said the video of Floyd\u2019s killing is \u201chard to watch, and I just imagine how many people died without videos.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Congress has, as usual, been asleep on the job. As Dan Alban, an Institute for Justice<\/a> attorney and\u00a0 the nation\u2019s most effective litigator against asset forfeiture abuses, observed, Congress could pass legislation \u201cclarifying that there is no qualified immunity\u201d for civil rights lawsuits against state and federal officials.<\/p>\n

But the problem goes far beyond qualified immunity. Politicians criminalize practically everything in daily life and then tell police \u201cbe nice\u201d\u2014or maybe mandate that cops attend\u00a0 sensitivity training.<\/strong> The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a blizzard of new mandates and prohibitions that further empower police. A video went viral earlier this month of a New York Police Department officer tackling and pummeling a young black man<\/a> who was suspected of violating new dictates on social distancing. One wonders if there are a hundred such instances of idiotic brutality for each one that trends on Twitter today<\/p>\n

Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins<\/a> announced yesterday that city officials will \u201ccreate a healing space at the site of the [burnt-down] 3rd Precinct so that people can grieve, express their concerns, their anger, in a safe and humane way.\u201d\u00a0 It remains to be seen whether a\u00a0 \u201chealing space\u201d will deter the unjustified looting and violence that has proliferated in Minnesota. But rather than pillaging Family Dollar, Aldi\u2019s, and Target, folks infuriated by Floyd\u2019s killing should focus their wrath on the legislators and judges who have effectively given police a right to kill.<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Bovard is the author of\u00a0<\/i>Lost Rights<\/a>,\u00a0<\/i>Attention Deficit Democracy<\/a>, and\u00a0<\/i>Public Policy Hooligan<\/a>. He is also a\u00a0<\/i>USA Today\u00a0columnist. Follow him on Twitter\u00a0<\/i>@JimBovard<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American Conservative, May 30, 2020 Cops Kill Because We Gave Them The Legal Framework to Do It Rather than burning and looting, protesters should turn their ire on lawmakers and judges who facilitate police immunity. George Floyd moments before his death in Minneapolis on Memorial Day (Twitter) by Jim Bovard The brutal Minneapolis police killing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[542,451,1167,2270,2343,1481,2344,2347,57,2346,2345,2348,708,252],"class_list":["post-14762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bill-of-rights","tag-constitution","tag-criminalization","tag-duncan-lemp","tag-george-floyd","tag-lindsey-graham","tag-minneapolis","tag-pillaging","tag-police","tag-qualified-immunity","tag-riots","tag-sonia-sotomayor","tag-trump","tag-tyranny"],"yoast_head":"\nMinneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"American Conservative, May 30, 2020 Cops Kill Because We Gave Them The Legal Framework to Do It Rather than burning and looting, protesters should turn their ire on lawmakers and judges who facilitate police immunity. George Floyd moments before his death in Minneapolis on Memorial Day (Twitter) by Jim Bovard The brutal Minneapolis police killing […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-30T18:29:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-17T17:09:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/30\\\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/30\\\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"Minneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-30T18:29:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-17T17:09:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/30\\\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1445,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"bill of rights\",\"Constitution\",\"criminalization\",\"Duncan Lemp\",\"George Floyd\",\"Lindsey Graham\",\"Minneapolis\",\"pillaging\",\"Police\",\"qualified immunity\",\"riots\",\"Sonia Sotomayor\",\"Trump\",\"tyranny\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/30\\\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/30\\\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/30\\\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\\\/\",\"name\":\"Minneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-30T18:29:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-17T17:09:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/30\\\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/30\\\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/30\\\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Minneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Minneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide - James Bovard","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Minneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide - James Bovard","og_description":"American Conservative, May 30, 2020 Cops Kill Because We Gave Them The Legal Framework to Do It Rather than burning and looting, protesters should turn their ire on lawmakers and judges who facilitate police immunity. George Floyd moments before his death in Minneapolis on Memorial Day (Twitter) by Jim Bovard The brutal Minneapolis police killing […]","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2020-05-30T18:29:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-09-17T17:09:28+00:00","author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"Minneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide","datePublished":"2020-05-30T18:29:41+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-17T17:09:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/"},"wordCount":1445,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["bill of rights","Constitution","criminalization","Duncan Lemp","George Floyd","Lindsey Graham","Minneapolis","pillaging","Police","qualified immunity","riots","Sonia Sotomayor","Trump","tyranny"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/","name":"Minneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide - James Bovard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-05-30T18:29:41+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-17T17:09:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/30\/minneapolis-killing-is-summons-to-end-police-tyranny-nationwide\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Minneapolis Killing is Summons to End Police Tyranny Nationwide"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/","name":"James Bovard","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f","name":"Jim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Jim"},"description":"Bovard's homepage is at http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14762"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15094,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14762\/revisions\/15094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}