After a shootout with the feds on Tuesday, it looks the Oregon militia standoff is finally coming to an end. Leader Ammon Bundy is in custody and spokesman Robert ‘LaVoy’ Finicum is dead after an alleged shootout with law enforcement.
In the week before the shootout, Joseph Harney Stetson had an interesting run-in with the police. While under arrest for DUI on his way to join the protesters, he threatened to kill all of the officers present, but faced no consequences whatsoever. The cop even initially told him that he “seems like a nice guy.”
Stetson immediately told the officer:
“I’m going to Banks, Oregon to make a stand…against that piece of shit Obama.”
The officer than responds by asking him he’s been drinking. Stetson denies it and upon being cuffed responds:
“I will kill all of you…If I go to jail, and when I come out, I will kill you.”
Stetson then rants angrily about Nazis and how he cannot be killed. This all passes with absolutely no violence, and his handled calmly and expertly by the officers without unnecessary escalation.
According to Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks, this contrasts wildly with the actions taken by police in the cases of often unarmed people of color. There are countless cases, videos, and reports of unarmed people of color of all ages being brutalized and killed by police, often entirely unprovoked, while this white man who blatantly threatened violence was treated respectfully. This is a clear illustration of how white privilege functions in America.
Watch Cenk’s commentary below:
Featured image via screen grab
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