But now because anti-police activists have succeeded in promoting the idea that all police shootings of black men—regardless of how heinous the past or current crimes of these men or the threat they presented to the police and the public at the time of the shooting—are "murders," Che Andre Taylor has joined a pantheon of "saints" memorialized by Black Lives Matter.
Here's a look at some of the other "victims" canonized by the movement.
Michael Brown—Minutes before he was killed by a Ferguson officer in August 2014, 18-year-old Brown was throwing his considerable weight and size around, quite literally. He walked into a local convenience store with his friend Dorian Johnson, terrorized the clerk, and walked out with a box of cigars that he decided were free just because he could take them. In other words, he committed strong-arm robbery.
Jamar Clark—On Nov. 15 Minneapolis police officers were called to a domestic disturbance to aid EMTs who were caring for an injured young woman who had been struck by Jamar Clark, her ex-boyfriend. While paramedics were treating her for her injuries, Clark reportedly tried to drag her out of the ambulance and continue the attack. A confrontation with police began, and officers say Clark attempted to grab an officer's gun and was killed. Other witnesses of the events say Clark was on the ground and handcuffed when he was shot, but they are probably as reliable as the "hands up, don't shoot" crowd in Ferguson. Regardless, it's not in dispute that Clark was possessive of his exes and willing to use violence against them. At the time of his death, he had been recently released on probation after pleading guilty to making terroristic threats in an incident where he threatened to burn the apartment of another ex-girlfriend.
Mario Woods—On Dec. 2 San Francisco police responded to a call about a slashing attack. Later that day they shot and killed the alleged perpetrator of that attack Mario Woods, 26, while he was holding a kitchen knife. The shooting occurred after multiple attempts to get Woods to put down the knife and after less-lethal projectiles failed to subdue him. He reportedly said to the officers, "You better squeeze that motherf____r…and kill me." Woods had an extensive criminal record, including a prison stint for armed robbery, and he just randomly slashed somebody on the street the day he was killed. But after loud protests against police, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is treating him like a hero. The supervisors voted in January to make July 22 Mario Woods Day. Which has royally and rightfully pissed off the city's police union.
And I have to ask, would the same supervisors have voted a remembrance day for the two black officers involved in the Mario Woods incident if they had been stabbed to death by Woods? Would Black Lives Matter have marched in the streets for those officers?
Of course not. Because from the point of view of anti-police activists, the only black lives that "matter" are those of street criminals killed by police, not the lives of the many African-American officers who protect the public to the point of sacrificing their lives.
You won't find anybody from Black Lives Matter mourning the death of a slain African-American officer like Riverdale, GA, Police
Major Greg Barney
who was killed helping another agency serve a no-knock warrant on Feb. 11.
Barney, 50, was a 27-year veteran of law enforcement. He left behind a wife and twin 15-year-old sons. More than 2,000 people showed up for his funeral, and there was an outpouring of grief in the Atlanta suburb of Riverdale.
But not one peep was heard from Black Lives Matter. You see, some black lives don't matter at all to these folks, especially the ones dressed in blue.
