It has happened once again. We might as well just give the newscasters a script to follow, because each time sounds more and more alike. “An unarmed black man has been killed by the police in [insert name of town and state here]. The video footage shows the officers ordering him to [action], but instead, they fire at the man. The officer in question is on paid administrative leave, and will be investigated by the [insert town police department] to determine any wrongdoing. And now, to sports.” I already wrote about why this keeps happening. I just can't for the life of me comprehend the reactions to these murders. That's what they are. They're not killings, they're not “accidental discharging of a weapon.” These are murders, executions. But many don't see them as such. They see a man being killed as the result of not complying with orders. Listen and do what they say, or you deserve to be shot. That mindset is one of hatred, not of actual thought.

Yes, statistics show that more white people are killed by police. However, you must consider the population. African Americans take up about 13.2% of the population, while Hispanics are at 17%. Statistics that show 82% of whites are killed by blacks and only 16% blacks by whites is actually reversed – most of the groups that “release” these are actually fake. Statistically, it is more likely for a white person to be killed, simply because there is more of them. Yet, we also need to look at violent offenders across the board. Dylan Roof, the shooter in the Charleston church attack, was captured by police without any injury, and was brought out of his house in a bulletproof vest supplied by the police. Eric Garner was selling bootleg cigarettes on the street in New York City, and when he attempted to explain what was happening, six officers brought him down and put him into a chokehold – Garner's last words were a plea, saying “I can't breathe.” A man is killed for selling untaxed nicotine – yet a mass murderer is given great treatment. Even still, people will go out of their way to defend the officers involved.

“Comply or die” is practically a reality in this country. Philando Castile was told to keep his hands up, and the officer wanted his ID. So, doing what he was told to, Castile reached into his pocket to get the wallet. The officer fired point blank, while Castile's girlfriend recorded the encounter and their four-year-old daughter was in the backseat. He was doing what he knew he had to do, but that wasn't what the officer said. His punishment for getting out his wallet? Death. Let's take it back to 2009, New Year's Day. Oscar Grant is beaten in the subway station in San Francisco, and people record this on their flip phones or Blackberry (it was 2009 after all). The officers forced Grant against the wall, threatening to hurt him even more if he spoke up. He attempted to defend himself, and was told to “stop resisting.” Witnesses claim the officers were verbally and physically assaulting Grant and his friends, and when they saw the handheld cameras, the officers either confiscated or made people turn off the phone – they didn't have the “right,” even though no law says you can't film injustice. Grant was then pulled from the wall, beaten, and fatally shot. The sentence for being unlawfully attacked and trying to protect yourself, as well as not “complying” for Oscar Grant was an execution.

A car was stalled in the middle of the road in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A 9-1-1 call was placed by a woman, saying that a man was running down the street warning that the car may explode. When officer Betty Shelby arrived on the scene, en route to a domestic violence call, she saw the man, Terrence Crutcher, standing by the car, hands in his pockets. She asked if this was his car, but he gave no answer, likely out of fear. She ordered him to take his hands out of his pockets, and so he did – raising them into the air. Shelby stated that this was “strange.” She reportedly kept asking hard questions about the car and Crutcher, who did not answer, instead walking towards the back of the police car, and set his arms down. Backup was called in, and Shelby aimed her gun at Crutcher, ordering him to get on his knees. He did not – obviously out of complete fear at this point. When more officers and a helicopter, which was incidentally recording, arrived, Crutcher was ordered to walk towards the car. This is infered from how calmly the officers walk behind Crutcher – if he was trying to escape, with his hands still in the air, why would they just walk behind him like it was nothing? Then, when he stands by the car door, he is shot. However, the video and the Tulsa Police Department claim he was tasered as well – but did not fall. Shelby fires immediately after the taser shot, killing Crutcher.

There was no blood found on the vehicle, and the window was up. So the story being pushed by Shelby and the Tulsa Police Department is already false – they claimed Crutcher was reaching into the car through the window, or opening the door. And even with two videos – one from the dash camera is obscured during the shooting by officers forming a perfect line-of-sight blocker, and the one from the helicopter showing Shelby calmly waking behind Crutcher, then when the others show up, they shoot him without any question or even attempt to bring him down using nonleathal force. Again, defense of the police, and not the man gunned down in a firing squad. People would rather trust the officers in question because of their badge. Currently, the United States Justice Department is investigating the shooting, and Shelby is being charged with manslaughter. Not murder, but still.

In Charlotte, North Carolina, a disabled black man, Keith Lamont Scott, was shot and killed by an undercover officer, as he thought Scott was a wanted criminal. According to witnesses, Scott was holding a book outside his car and the officer began asking questions that Scott was unable to answer. Seeing the book, the officer fired, killing Scott – who was simply waiting for his child to get out of school. Scott's daughter, Lyric, can be heard in a video claiming the supposed gun found on the scene was planted. Witnesses also back up this claim, but they are being silenced or even told not to speak up because they're “too involved.” The department claims a video shows the gun being pointed at the officer, while the chief says there is no “definative” evidence this is the case, and the family also says the video is unclear, but stand by their story that he did not have a weapon. Other video claims he has a gun, and again, we must question what the "it" his wife is yelling about is - a gun, or a book? Say something, or stay silent? Yes, the officer who killed Scott is a black man. So this isn't an issue with racism, so much as profiling and inability to determine an actual threat. Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, said that even as a black man himself, he often has a fear of another black man walking towards him, saying that when a white person walks by, he never thinks “he could rob me.” The question is, why would they plant a gun at the scene? That way, a murder is justified and they can throw out any witness testimony that claims otherwise.

In no situation, save for mass casualty events, should an officer aim to kill – injure, yes, but not kill. Though of course if there is no other option and the officer's life is in direct danger, then by all means do what you need to - if it means fire the gun, then make sure it's the only option left, and the taser won't work. Especially when the person is disabled and unable to respond to the questions. Imagine you're in Scott's situation. You're in your car, reading while you wait for your child to come home from the bus. Then, a man comes up to you, with a gun in hand, and starts ordering you around. You don't know, so you get shot and killed. Yeah, that's not always easy to find out. But other reports exist of deaf people, often black, being murdered because they are “not listening to orders.” One black man was almost shot point blank because he reached into his pocket to retrieve the card stating he was deaf and mute. The officer later said that even now, after twenty-plus years in the force, he would not hesitate to fire at the deaf man who won't comply. Even if these people did commit a crime, every American has the right to a trial. By killing a nonviolent offender/person, they lose their right. Do they not get one because of who they are?

He should have listened. He shouldn't have gone back to the car. He was being unresponsive according to the police. His problem not mine. What about black on black crime? If all these black people listened to orders like a decent person, they wouldn't be dead. Why are we talking about this? So what, he deserved what he got. You either listen to the police or get shot. They are an authority and you must do whatever they say, and if you don't, you deserve to die. He was a big guy, they were scared. He shouldn't have reached in his pocket. They shouldn't release the video. We don't need to hear from the family, they're probably just lying. They wouldn't plant a weapon like that. The officer was black. The officer was Hispanic. The officer is not racist, the guy just shouldn't have been there where he would be suspicious. The police are always right – no matter what.. Do what they ask and you won't get shot. Want to live? Listen to the guys with guns or else. Comply or die.

That is not how a country should work. In fact, that is a police state – not unlike North Korea. The officers of the law are the end-all, either you do what they say without question, or you're going to be killed because you didn't comply. The punishment for insubordination should not be death. And you can't blame the African-American population for being afraid to do what police say. Oscar Grant wasn't, and he was murdered. Eric Garner didn't get a chance to explain himself. Philando Castile was getting his identification. And yet, people jump to defend the boys in blue, because “Blue Lives Matter.” Yeah, the lives of officers do matter. As does the lives of black people, white people, Hispanic people, and everyone else – which is exactly what Black Lives Matter stands for. They are not an only black group. They want the lives of the unarmed black man to be treated as equally as the unarmed white man. Movements like White Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter were created to try to cover up the systematic racism in law enforcement, and discredit entire situations because the deceased was “not complying” or had a criminal past. Comply or die mentality is the mentality that would allow a dictator to rise to power, where law enforcement is free to do as they wish, and if you ask anything, you are going to be executed for being insubordinate. Again, North Korea does this, and yet those hardworking, true-blood, conservative Republican Americans want this to be the way the country is run.

I tried not to repeat myself. I wrote an article about these events a while back, right after Alton Sterling and Castile were killed. I shouldn't have had to write more than one. In a perfect world, I wouldn't have had to write the first one at all. But now, we're a few months beyond those two deaths. We sit here, seeing the same thing happen again and again. And every time, people say they should have just complied and they wouldn't be dead. That's not even remotely true. Comply or die is nothing more than justifying racism and executions of people who do not deserve death. Police protect the white shooter, and don't shoot to kill a terrorist, but they will gun down a black man who is afraid for his life. Not to say all cops are evil. There are plenty of good ones out there, more good than bad. Yet the corrupt are the ones to make the news, because they abuse their power and decide to take the law into their own hands. America is not Mega-City One. Our cops don't ride around on motorcycles and are the judge, jury, and executioner. We are a land of the free, and our police are supposed to protect and serve.

On the topic of the good police. The number of corrupt or unqualified officers is probably less than 5%. Maybe even 1%. And sometimes, these shootings happen by officers who are otherwise good people. But they never face real accountability. We have the real police, the ones who truly are out to protect the people, and treat everybody equally. The worst part about it is that they are shut down quickly by others as apologists and a disgrace. Good cops are ordered to fire tear gas into crowds, sometimes peaceful, sometimes riots, in order to stop people from speaking out against injustice. They can't say no, because that is insubordination. And at this point, the result of being insubordinate is being shot. In a best situation, they could lose their badge and fired from the department they signed up to serve. Granted, that is an extreme situation, but still. Nothing is impossible when you cross lines you "shouldn't" cross.

I don't know what the solution is. Really, I don't. We can't do much right now. When people do, they are cut down and told if they don't like this country, they can leave. That only continues to push the police state/tyrannical system the conservatives want. Wanting change is not anti-American. That's how this country was formed. Wanting the senseless murders and executions of unarmed black men to stop is only right. Americans are being killed because of their skin – the actions are usually small, little things that would be a fine or a non-issue, but because they are black, they are assumed to be violent. That is proof of systematic racism. Oppression did not stop because they got the right to vote and segregation ended. It did not stop when Barack Obama was elected. Oppression is still prevalent in this nation, and to ignore it is to be part of the problem. Equal rights does not always lead to equal treatment. When an unarmed black man is not shot, but is instead treated like a white man would be, even if he does not exactly follow the demands of an officer, then true equality will be had. Until then, I hope we do not have to see another story following the script.