Dear America: Stop Calling Everyone “Criminal”.
By: Johnny Silvercloud
Tags: Protest, Labeling Theory, Criminal, White Supremacy, Freedom Of Speech

On 15 Oct 2020, I was present for the Supreme Court Nominee Protest in Washington, D.C., near the Hart Senate Office building. Eventually, some of the protesters revealed a plan to sit in the street in protest, and one by one, they were detained by police. Arrested. Laws are laws, and rules are rules, I suppose.

There was this right wing agitator named “Ben” I overheard saying something like:

“Look at these criminals. Completely lawless criminals.” ~ Ben the Conservative Agitator

Another man being dragged away by police for peacefully protesting. Supreme Court Nominee (Amy Coney Barret) Protest, Washington D.C. | 15 Oct 2020 | Photography Credit: Johnny Silvercloud

The first thing that ran through my head as I relaxed the viewfinder off my eye was that, technically, this authoritarian right-wing personality guy would — by the logic of his argument — literally co-sign the police murdering these detained protesters. You know, like how they have been doing, like George Floyd, or any myriad of people that are called “criminal.” We’ve seen this before, repeatedly.

I have this nagging suspicion that if these peaceful, detained protesters were even to give minor resistance to arrest, conservatives (more importantly, the 70,000,000+ Americans who voted for Trump) would have gleefully cheered for his street execution if the cops shot them where they sat. If these protesters offered any form of resistance to detainment, agitator Ben would have enjoyed and cheered on their slaughter. Ben is America’s conservative, the Trump supporter. Ben would have been more than marginally content with their murder. The sad part is that I don’t think this is an exaggeration. The more heartbreaking part is that conservatives are lot alone on this; liberals justify cops murdering detained “criminals,” too.

A young woman being pulled up to be arrested for protesting. Rightwing media types were dehumanizing her in this moment. Supreme Court Nominee (Amy Coney Barret) Protest, Washington D.C. | 15 Oct 2020 | Photography Credit: Johnny Silvercloud

Let’s not be coy here; calling someone “criminal” in America practically grants carte blanche for cops to murder on sight essentially.

In America, while it’s not listed formally in law, in these days of civil rights protests and all, it does seem like the very concept of being labeled “criminal” carries the weight of being an un-person.

The way some people speak is like once you are called “criminal,” you don’t have regular rights as an American. It’s like your citizenship is revoked. Your personhood is revoked. Your American-ship is revoked. You don’t deserve to live; you deserve to die, regardless of how minor the infraction is. It’s like once you’re labeled criminal in America, you totally exist outside the protection of the law; there’s NO law to protect you, and anyone can kill you with impunity, especially by police — and they do.

There’s far too much evidence of this problem.

Try talking to a moderate white person about George Floyd and watch how their whole argument is based on the notion that “he was a criminal.” You can even hear this from conservatives when police accountability protesters are given a chance to speak. “Criminal” by their logic, means “kill on sight,” especially if they are Black.

Cops do not decide who is a “criminal.” This is explicitly why they infinitely use the term “suspect.” One can not deem one a criminal without an actual investigation, trial, and more importantly, conviction.

Anyone who is detained by police deserves to be maimed, mutilated, or die, based on what conservatives argue (and moderate liberals, but it’s a conservative stance).

The problem with this particular premise is that this flawed logic completely undermines the American justice system, morals, and ethics. Cops don’t determine who’s a criminal or not; courts do. Just because police detain a person, it doesn’t mean they are criminal. For anyone who boasts of being Blue Lives Matter, I find this matter fascinating because had you even listened to the police, and you’d discover that not even they call everyone in their custody or pursuit “criminal.”

Police call anyone they pursue or detain a “suspect”.

Strange, isn’t it? This thought-process goes to ridiculous lengths. A person can literally slap a police officer in their face, kick the K-9 dog unit, and jet off running, and the cop would pull the radio to his face and go, “I am in pursuit of the suspect.” Police don’t call everyone they encounter a criminal. So why do we? Why do you? Why do we let conservatives, toxic liberals, and other persons of malice continue to use this labeling?