As the World Burns the Only Ones Who Can Fix Us are Us.

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I had been self-quarantining, but it did not have to do with the illness. I had been self-quarantining from the news. All cable news had been covering were the people protesting the government decisions trying to keep people from spreading the virus. I had no desire to keep watching conspiracy theorists keep thinking their Constitutional rights were being violated because they were being asked to wear a mask or they were being asked to stay six feet away from other people.

I decided to keep away from the news as ridiculous stories of ultra-aggressive hornets making their way to the West Coast began popping up. It wasn't enough thousands of people were dying of respiratory failure due to a virus; now people were going to have to keep an eye out for bugs that were more aggressive than the notorious killer bee.

We kept descending along the downward spiral. Because of the COVID restrictions, everything ground to a halt. Millions of people lost their jobs, numbers not seen since the Great Depression caused by the stock market crash in 1929. Politicians who were, at first, united in trying to keep the community moving in the right direction soon began bickering over what decisions to make. The state pointed fingers at the county, the county pointed fingers at the city, the school board pointed fingers at the city, and the city pointed fingers at the school board.

The citizenry was growing restless. Even as Governor Abbott began relaxing restrictions and allowing the state to reopen, people were beginning to crack under the shelter-in-place restrictions. The Island almost sank into the Gulf of Mexico under the weight of all the people who tried cramming on to the narrow strip of sand when the County finally allowed people back on the beach.

The economy was tanking. People were becoming more and more divided. Politicians were spreading rumors and unsubstantiated stories about people infected with COVID gallivanting around pharmacies and coughing on everything, and everyone, in sight. 

Then an electrical storm ripped through the Rio Grande Valley and everyone's wet Saturday morning on South Padre Island was interrupted by a lightning strike that ignited a condominium complex near Schlitterbahn. 

With all the bad things happening, at least there hadn't been any terrorist attacks to report.

That all changed about a week and a half ago. The NAS Corpus Christi Facebook page mentioned the North Gate would be closed off because of an attempted breach of security. A gunman tried making his way on the base in the hopes of killing as many U.S. sailors as possible. Had it not been for the swift actions of one of the sailors on guard duty that morning, the terrorist would have been successful. Thankfully the only things damaged were the sailor's body armor, the terrorist's vehicle, and the terrorist who was "neutralized."


More disappointing news for Brownsville broke when Elon Musk's swindlers over at the SpaceX complex had a prototype rocket explode into a million pieces on a launch pad. To add to insult to the potential environmental injury, the SpaceX complex in Florida was lauded as they launched astronauts into space - a launch that, for all intents and purposes, should have happened in Brownsville had the original plans for the launch facility been realized.

Pandemics, economic problems, killer hornets, political infighting, cabin fever, lightning storms, a burnt down building, a thwarted terrorist attack, and another exploding trashcan over at Boca Chica.

It couldn't possibly get any worse, could it?

It seems it could.

This country is no stranger to law enforcement officials overstepping their authority. There are always news reports of excessive force or a questionable shooting somewhere in the news. As least during all this turmoil, we hadn't seen any problems with police officers and excessive force complaints.

That all changed last week.

Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng responded to a 911 call from a food store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The report was a customer was allegedly trying to pay for some goods with counterfeit currency. They found a gentleman by the name of George Floyd in a vehicle. After an initial struggle, they removed Floyd from the vehicle and detained him. 

Eventually two other officers, Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao arrived on the scene. Chauvin eventually ended up putting Floyd on the ground next to a police vehicle - the Minneapolis Police use black and white Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicles (an SUV that is nearly identical to a Ford Explorer). Video shows Chauvin placed all his body weight on Floyd as he placed his knee directly on the back of Floyd's neck.

The disturbing video shows Floyd begging and pleading with the police to let him breathe. He does not appear to be resisting. Chauvin does not get off Floyd. After several minutes of keeping Floyd subdued by keeping his knee pressed up against the back of his neck, his body appears to go limp. Eventually, the paramedics arrive but it appears to be too late.

Other videos have surfaced over the past couple of days showing Chauvin struggling with Floyd in the backseat of the police vehicle before taking him to the ground. The other three officers stood around Chauvin as Floyd begged for his life. He can also be heard crying out for his mother as he pleads with officers to let him go.

All four officers were almost immediately fired from the police department. As of right now, Chauvin has been charged with third degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and has been transported to the Hennepin County Jail.

Over the last few nights, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of major cities across the United States in order to protest this latest show of police brutality against a member of the African-American community. Protesters have been walking the streets of New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and several other points across the country.

During the protests in Washington, D.C., it is reported the president and his family were taken to a protective underground bunker in the White House by the United States Secret Service and was kept there for approximately an hour as protests around the White House calmed down.

Texas has not been immune from the protests. Protestors have been seen in Houston and San Antonio. The mayor of San Antonio took a cue from mayors across the country and imposed a curfew along the downtown area. The Texas Freedom Force, an armed militia, stood guard over the Alamo and the Cenotaph to make sure protestors didn't cause any damage to the 300+ year-old structure and surrounding monuments. 

Small groups of protestors lined University Boulevard in Edinburg and a small group of protestors assembled in front of Brownsville's city hall located at the old federal courthouse and post office on East Elizabeth Street.

The protests in some of the major cities turned into riots and other civil unrest. Looters took to the streets and began pillaging stores. Protestors set buildings and police vehicles ablaze in several cities. The police radio in Chicago didn't quit last night as police officers kept requesting transportation for large groups of juveniles and adults throughout the city. Eventually dispatchers were asking any available police vehicle to help transporting people to police stations since the transport wagons were being overwhelmed with requests.

I had not seen the video of George Floyd being murdered until today. It was a heartbreaking and disturbing sight. To say nothing of the fact that I was already depressed, the sight of this man being crushed to death by someone who was hired as a servant of the people and an upholder of the law made me feel worse. I couldn't stop the tears from building up in my eyes as I heard him exclaim and call out for his mother. 

In an interview with the Minneapolis Police Chief, Medaria Arradondo, the chief stated he would do everything in his power to make sure these police officers were brought to justice. While the other three had not yet been arrested, the chief said since they just stood by in silence and did nothing to prevent Floyd from being injured, they were just as culpable as Chauvin. I wouldn't be surprised if the other three former police officers will be charged with crimes in the upcoming days.

We here at the Beacon hope this is will be the proverbial straw that will break the camel's back. We hope this will not be forgotten in a few weeks like every other incident of excessive force and every other school, or mass, shooting there is in this country. I hope our attention span will outlive the normal time period of outrage and I hope people will actually begin demanding their elected officials do something about these people who should not be in a position of authority.

I am an ardent law enforcement supporter, but this is a clear case of someone who was not fit to be a police officer. I am not casting a wide net and throwing all police officers under it. I actually believe the majority of police officers are good and there is only a small percentage of police officers who give the rest a bad name. 

Furthermore, we hope this calls further attention to the need for further discussions about social justice and equality. There is absolutely no reason why African-Americans should feel as if they are second or third-class citizens in the United States. There is absolutely no reason why Mexican-American and other Latino ethnicities should feel as if they are second or third-class citizens in the United States. The time for separating people because of the color of their skin needs to go away. 

There are those who think the plight of the African-American is an African-American only problem and African-Americans should worry about African-American problems and Mexican-Americans shouldn't be protesting or supporting African-American causes. Some people on social media are quick to mention Mexican-Americans and other Latinos have been persecuted and discriminated against, and they don't recall African-Americans rushing to defend Latinos.

That is a ridiculous premise. It shouldn't matter if it is an "African-American" or a "Mexican-American" problem. The fight and struggle for ethnic equality should span the entire spectrum of ethnicities, not just one or two.

We should all realize one very important thing. No matter what you call yourself; no matter what ethnicity you associate with, and no matter what you think you are, the simple fact is this - we are all members of the same human race. 

The world is in flames right now. The only people who are going to be able to get us out of this mess are the same ones who got us into this mess to begin with. We are our own worst enemies. We are the ones who have the power to turn things around. We are the ones who are going to have to figure out a way to solve things and salvage the remainder of this year and get on the right track.

And remember, don't ask if things can get worse. Things can always get worse.

After all, hurricane season starts tomorrow.

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