A monster has been revealed in Oklahoma.
A beast that roamed free, preying on Black women in Oklahoma City. Unveiled by technology, Daniel Holtzclaw is revealed as a usurper of peace, an enemy to the people and yet another example of the old adage The end justifies the means, the end is power, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Holtzclaw is on trial for 36 charges of rape, sexual battery, stalking and burglary. 13 Black women were victimized by Holtzclaw. 13 Black women were dragged into the world of a sociopath. 13 instances of citizens targeted because they were women.
And because they were Black.
The case of Daniel Holtzclaw v. the State of Oklahoma is not only a matter of violence against women; the racial component cannot be overstated either. It’s not a far speculation to suppose the three-year officer was immediately aware of his ability to operate un-challenged in high-crime areas and was struck with a vile epiphany regarding his power and his character, or lack thereof.
Arrested in August 2014, the list of women who testified against Holtzclaw were varied in all things but race. There was a 57-year-old grandmother, a 44-year-old former prostitute and other women from various occupations and social standings, with their only commonality being skin color and gender.
As was the case last year when the story first broke, the mainstream media and social media have both been devoid of a healthy discourse on the subject. The aforementioned attributes of these deeds are revelatory for a multitude of reasons but the gender and racial component are extremely telling. Holtzclaw is indicative of the very same mindset that leads some in law enforcement to shoot, rob, extort and rape disenfranchised groups of people. That exists because it becomes a case of He said, They said and rare is the officer who would put Their word over His word. The word of the state and its proxies will be taken over that of any disenfranchised group- Black women in particular.
A case of Black versus Blue is really a case of Black versus White.
The evidence would have to be clear and almost unassailable. At the end of the day, many cops would rather not cross the Thin Blue Line of Silence in support of a disenfranchised group. But, thanks to the digital trail left by Holtzclaw via vehicle GPS, body cam and phone records, local police and the prosecution were able to piece together a case they believe will win a conviction.
Holtzclaw has plead not guilty.
The jury consists of eight white men and four white women, so its basically going to come down to the word of 13 Black women against that of a man whose own deeds have been documented by technology and was acting as a member of the Oklahoma City Police Department while committing these horrendous acts. Please forgive my admittedly in-bred belief that there will ultimately some kind of miscarriage of justice. Apologies, but no apologies.
I will concede that charges being filed against him were historic in the grander scheme of things, but he may prove to be a sobering and infuriating drop in the ocean of incidents of sexual assault and rape committed by law enforcement that go unprosecuted.
The Associated Press recently revealed 1,000 officers who lost their badges in a six-year period for rape, sodomy and other sexual assault; sex crimes that included possession of child pornography, sexual misconduct in propositioning citizens or having consensual but prohibited on-duty intercourse over a six year span.
That report is actually misleading because it only includes states that revoke licenses. New York and California do not have a statewide database from which to decertify officers.
“It’s happening probably in every law enforcement agency across the country,” said Chief Bernadette DiPino of the Sarasota Police Department in Florida. “It’s so underreported and people are scared that if they call and complain about a police officer, they think every other police officer is going to be then out to get them.”
But this isnt indicative of police raping, pillaging and plundering in communities they are supposed to be protecting. The truth is most dont get caught.
Indeed, it would not be a leap of faith to surmise the overwhelming majority of the victims were accosted in areas considered high crime areas, were of an ethnic or racial minority, or both.
Thats just how white supremacy mechanisms work.
