Flutterby™! : Feeling Bad for Lt. John Pike

Why I Feel Bad for the Pepper-Spraying Policeman, Lt. John Pike:

Structures, in the sociological sense, constrain human agency. And for that reason, I see John Pike as a casualty of the system, too. Our police forces have enshrined a paradigm of protest policing that turns local cops into paramilitary forces. Let's not pretend that Pike is an independent bad actor. Too many incidents around the country attest to the widespread deployment of these tactics. If we vilify Pike, we let the institutions off way too easy.

Back when BART police officer Johannes Mehserle shot Oscar Grant I said the same thing.