This article is written in conjunction with an IGTV video on the page @_conshervative. Check it out here.

As if 2020 couldn’t get any worse, we have another viral police shooting. On August 23^rd, Jacob Blake was shot 7 times in the back by a police officer. A bystander filmed and uploaded a video of the incident, and almost in an instant, it went viral. Unrest and outrage once again moves across the country with protesters touting Black Lives Matter signs and angry hearts. Fingers once again are being pointed at the wrong people and protestors are burning down cities. Meanwhile, the media creates a narrative of racial injustice to get views and spark controversy as the election approaches.

I made a decision to take some time and evaluate all of the recent incidents that have been sparking the outrage. I watched all the videos without any media commentary, and tried my best to research everything from all political angles and from as many non-based sources as possible. (you can see all my research and references using the hyperlinks throughout the article)

While evaluating all of the recent incidents I noticed a common theme:

A disrespect of the police officers, a resistance of arrest, and current and/or previous criminal activity.

How is resisting arrest defined and what are the ramifications of it? I realized this is something that most people do not know, myself included, so I decided to look up the legal definition. The rules vary slightly state by state, but they all generally have the same idea. Pennsylvania’s law states “[resisting arrest is when] With the intent of preventing a public servant from effecting a lawful arrest or discharging any other duty, the person creates a substantial risk of bodily injury to the public servant or anyone else, or employs means justifying or requiring substantial force to overcome the resistance” Some states like Michigan, resisting arrest also includes verbal violent threats to an officer. In Wisconsin, where Jacob Blake lives, the law clearly states that he resisted arrest and that the use of force was justified.

Now, was being shot seven times justifiable? That is certainly up for debate. In my opinion, it was excessive, and those officers should be disciplined. However, the lawyers and investigators may conclude differently. This is not the point of this article. My point is to inform you of what resisting arrest looks like and how it is a common theme across all of the recent deaths and viral videos.

I am going to start with Jacob Blake. You can watch these videos here. There are two videos that surfaced showing the altercation between Blake and the officers. The second video that surfaced shows Blake struggling and fighting with the police officers. The officers use their tasers in an attempt to subdue him. Blake, clearly strong, manages to get up unphased by the tasers, and quickly walk to his car. The police follow him, guns pointed, screaming for him to simply comply. When he opens his car, he begins to reach for an item, then the officer begins to shoot.

This was not a simple “white officer killed a black man”. If you were to only watch the first video, I can see how one would think so. However, the second video shows the danger Blake put himself, and the officers in. I also want to note the officers were called for a domestic violence situation, and there was a warrant for Jacob Blake’s arrest. Blake had a long criminal history and much of his past involved issues with firearms. The police officer’s assumption when he went into the car was that he was reaching for a gun that he most likely had.  In the end, Jacob Blake was detained, and given medical care. He is going to live although he will be paralyzed from the waist down.

Next, let’s look at what happened to George Floyd. He too had a rich history of criminal activity before the day of his death. He had been arrested five other times, once for aggravated assault, and was 6 years out of prison at the time of his arrest. The body cam video that surfaced a month or two after the incident shows Floyd clearly disobeying the officer. We know that Floyd was high on drugs at the time of his arrest and the police were executing a lawful arrest. The body cam video also shows what the viral video did not, that George refused to comply with the officers, and that he was already complaining of not being able to breathe before he was ever on the ground.

Now, officer Derek Chauvin should have never placed a knee on Floyd’s neck and I agree with the charges placed on him. However, imagine if Floyd had simply complied and gotten into the vehicle when asked. He would still be alive; you would have never heard his name; and cities would not have burned down.

The incident of Breonna Taylor’s death unfortunately also has a similar narrative. She and her boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover, were knee deep in criminal activity and suspected to be a part of a drug ring. On March 13^th, the police had a lawful no-knock warrant which they were using for a large narcotics investigation that involved Glover and their address. No-knock warrants are very hard to obtain. They must go through three levels of approval before they can be used.

On the evening of Taylor’s death, police came to the door and knocked repeatedly before beginning to bang the door down. When the door was opening, they were met by a shot fired by Glover. That shot struck officer Mattingly. At this point, with belief that they were in danger the officers began to fire. This is why these officers cannot be charged with murder, as soon as the shot went off, it became a defense situation. Unfortunately, Breonna was caught in the middle, and she paid with her life. The officers mistake was not providing care to Breonna in a timely manner. We will never know if she would have survived with proper care. For those of you still asking for #JusticeforBreonnaTaylor, the officers are not the ones responsible for her death, Jamarcus Glover is responsible, his actions lead to the cross fire.

There are so many other viral stories that follow this same trend. There is a lawful cause for arrest, the person resists, officer shoots. It is starting to feel like a broken record. What bothers me most is that this is not a racism issue, yet the current dialogue says that it is. Imagine if the video of Jacob Blake was exactly the same except he was white or the officers were Black. I don’t think we would have heard a single peep about it, yet this happens to white criminals as well. The standard is the same. Need an example? Fine: Dillon Taylor. In 2014, he was shot and killed by a Black officer while resisting a lawful arrest. You can watch the body cam footage here. For those of you who are going to accuse me of digging and searching to find one video, hold your breath, this took me a total of three minutes and minimal effort. This kind of thing is not racially exclusive, it happens to people of all races.

The result of resisting arrest is not a mystery. It is so known that in both videos you can hear female bystanders pleading for the men to simply comply. They know what the end result could be. The choice was theirs. Yes. That is right, their CHOICES lead to their death. These men made a choice to not obey the officer. They made a choice to participate in criminal activity. George Floyd made a choice to take drugs. Jacob Blake chose to fight the officers.

How dare I suggest that the death of these men is not the fault of the officers! Well my dear liberals, just like our freedom of speech that I am exercising right now, and that you are using to justify your riots for the death of criminals, we also have the freedom of choice. So, this argument that I have heard repeatedly does not hold up.  “Black people have no choice but to commit crime to feed their families because of systematic racism.” FALSE. You always have a choice. No one is pointing a gun to your head and making you sell drugs or steal, and suggesting that there is no choice is an insult to every Black family that has found success. Here is what I find ironic: even when there is a gun pointed to your head, you still choose the opposite of what is asked.  So, you are telling me that the power of “systematic racism” (that doesn’t actually exist), is more powerful than a gun to your head? Well call me stunned. You live in America; you always have a choice.

These police officers could have done better. Derek Chauvin should have never knelt on George Floyd’s neck; the officers should not have fired seven shots at Jacob Blake; and the officers should have given Breonna Taylor medical attention, but none of these activities make these officers criminals or racists. What I am seeing is that there seems to be a problem with black individuals complying to police officers. No white man can fix that, and the standard isn’t going to change because you are Black. Police officers owe you nothing. America owes you nothing. Teach your children to respect authority, to obey police when they say something the first time, and to stay away from drugs and criminal activity. Teach them to be better than the culture. You have the power to choose your fate: pick wisely.