Speaking of reallocating resources and how nothing changes, I watched a YouTube video just the other night in which a police officer beat the holy living shit out of an elderly Black man suffering from dementia who had wondered into a convenience store. (He briefly opened the door of a car in the parking lot, apparently confused, thinking it was his vehicle. Then he seemed to understand that it wasn't, he closed the door and entered the store.)

The Kentucky police agency that employs the cop in question fought to stop the release of the body cam video, but given store surveillance video was already being released, there wasn't much they could do to stop public outrage, not that it's really achieved anything.

Watching the videos and listening to the audio, it's obvious to anyone paying attention that the elderly man was in distress, disoriented, frightened, and seriously ill. In fact, there was a Silver Alert put out for him, from his family, who were desperate to find him after he wandered off.

But the cop who arrived at the store didn't see a human being in distress, didn't see an elderly man who needed to be cared for.

He saw a Black man who must be drunk. When he realized there was no odor of alcohol emanating from the man, he switched to saying the man must be on opioids. Later, after another cop arrived, the story changed to methamphetamines, which he was "obviously" on. (I've seen a lot of people on meth. This man's symptoms looked absolutely nothing like that.)

The man wasn't on any drugs. He just didn't know what was happening, because he has advanced dementia.

When he didn't immediately put his hands behind his back when the cop ordered him too, he severely beat him. And I mean very severely. He cried and curled up into a ball asking what was happening.

The second cop arrived, and they kept beating him, screaming at him to stop resisting. Stop resisting!

Our lying eyes make it obvious that he was not resisting, that he was in severe distress even before the police arrived.

Then, after they finished beating him, they laughed and joked with the clerk at the store. They looked like they were all having a pretty darn good time getting their chucks over it.

Even after dispatch informed the cops that there was a Silver Alert for the guy and that he was seriously ill, they still charged him with crimes, including assault against police officers and public intoxication. (Later blood test revealed that he had no illegal drugs or any alcohol in his system.)

The police chief and the police union have defended the officers, claiming they acted professionally in accordance with their training.

Defund the police.

Please!