Heckler Verbally Assaults Manuel Diaz's Mother At Anaheim City Council 8/8/12

For those unfamiliar with the case, Manuel Diaz was unarmed when he was shot and killed by Anaheim Police Officers. This incident resulted in protests against the police department, much like the Fullerton protests resulting from the death of Kelly Thomas. The above video shows Manuel Diaz's mother speaking at the City Council meeting to be interrupted by a guy who calls her a bad mother, as if his mother did a stand up job with a guy who belittles grieving women.

I of course think this is an astonishing display of a lack of empathy in Anaheim and view it as a hurdle that is going to be important to deal with moving forward. While the race issue may not be the issue here, a white man calling an Hispanic woman a bad mother is still indicative of the different backgrounds each individual comes from and likely subtly contributes to the verbal assault - the irony being that the opportunity he was given due to his socio-economic background continues to be in the position of perpetuating stereotypes (poor gang members whose community decided to maintain acceptable levels of violence instead of investing in its' own citizens) that resulted in the death of an unarmed man.

I do not think these protests are over and I think we may be seeing something like Fullerton happen in more and more cities moving forward - as citizens are tired of the fraternal attitude of peace officers preventing justice when they commit crimes - crimes that at worst gets them paid vacations and for which you or I would be immediately locked away for.

S&F....applause... Poor people of little education, money, stuck in a never ending cycle...it's all your fault and not the fault of high oil, high food, high medical, high education, high Ins. Premiums from car to floods, high retail, high housing, high child care, high taxes....

I get it...

Originally posted by tracehd1
Poor people of little education, money, stuck in a never ending cycle...it's all your fault and not the fault of high oil, high food, high medical, high education, high Ins. Premiums from car to floods, high retail, high housing, high child care, high taxes....

You do get it, in my opinion...

People don't realize that the whole police brutality issue is from the perpetuation of stereotypes which should be obsolete. But people think that supporting the current economic system is preventive of creating an environment where these stereotypes wouldn't exist. The military provides the drugs on the streets and the banks are buying prisons with a guarantee from the government that there will be a 90% Occupancy rate. We're paying taxes to perpetuate hypocrisy...and then we have problems on the city level which results in seemingly small events like this.

But it's not small. Unnecessary death at the hand of peace officers is no small thing and it happens all of the time and they get away with it all of the time.

reply to post by MemoryShock


Well.. she was a bad mother. Sorry to say, but it's true. Perhaps uncouth to tell her in front of so many, but she probably cares more now after he's dead than she did when he lived. He was a known criminal and gang member making the neighborhood a miserable place to live. Should he have been shot and killed? No idea, I've not seen an official explanation as to what transpired. And neither did the people who protested.. they saw someone killed by the police, not stopping to think it was a criminal likely in the act of a crime who was running from police.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by MemoryShock

 

Well.. she was a bad mother. Sorry to say, but it's true. Perhaps uncouth to tell her in front of so many, but she probably cares more now after he's dead than she did when he lived. He was a known criminal and gang member making the neighborhood a miserable place to live. Should he have been shot and killed? No idea, I've not seen an official explanation as to what transpired. And neither did the people who protested.. they saw someone killed by the police, not stopping to think it was a criminal likely in the act of a crime who was running from police.

I agree. He was a documented gang banger and known criminal. I have no sympathy for gang bangers. Life is all about choices. You choose that life then you pay the consequences of that choice.

One less gangbanger thug is always a good thing, IMO.

Agreed. Seeing the damage gangsters have done around here they are as detestable as the police. Sad fact is that a lot of mothers around the bad areas of LA and OC seem to not give a damn about what their thug children do and in my opinion, I'd say most wear their son and daughters gang affiliation as a badge of honor and act in a crass and rude manner with the idea that you'll move along and say nothing bc their son/daughter is a gangbanger and you don't want to mess with them. I've had it happen to me and seen it happen to others. And it's not just hispanics. They love to complain about the conditions in the ghetto but seem to have no drive to get out of the ghetto either. I believe rap music should be held accountable for this attitude.

I am in no way saying that this is the behavior Manuel's mother displays though. I don't know her and her parenting style and I only have my deepest condolences for her at this time as she grieves for the loss of her child.

That being said, the police are just another gang. They have no respect anymore and operate like a criminal faction. I say we let the two duke it out and incarcerate the remaining few.

ETA: Talk about pot calling the kettle black though with that dude. Like poster above said, total hypocrite. It's obvious his parents weren't any better.

I have a problem with the term "verbal assault"....
Why does it seem that there are people out there that thinks their feelings should be so protected? Someone called me a poopoo head, arrest them!

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Well.. she was a bad mother.

Pretty ignorant of you, Rock, and I would have expected better. With what scale are you gauging how bad of a mother she is? Let's not even start discussing how well you know her and how well your parenting experience is...especially in what may be termed as a ghetto environment.

What gets me here is that people really think that some people have a choice in their economic status. For all we know, She immigrated (your views on immigration here are immaterial) to get her son away from certain poverty which would have likely resulted in worse situations. The fact that Manuel is a "known gangster" is a BS rationalization and does not excuse or justify the murdering of an unarmed citizen and the very theme beginning in this thread that is making allowances for police murdering unarmed citizens because of who they may or may not be is quite horrifying.

To TK - What do you think of Westboro? Cool to spit in the face of the grieving for preconceived notions based on personal supposition?

responses are typical.....horrible mother, just another gang member, ghettos, latinos, blah blah...

blame the victims of poverty, repression and racism, works every time like a charm.....im sure the media are patting themselves on the back right now for such good little sheeple.

this is the perfect example of how the thought police have succeeded, they dont even have to enter the equation anymore, we do it for them.

reply to post by MemoryShock


They have the same rights as everyone else to open their mouth and protest. Just because I don't support the message, does not mean I don't support their right to voice it.

Freedom of speech > people's feelings

reply to post by TKDRL

Fair enough. I still think that it's not okay to kill unarmed men. I also think that his comment is bourne of a society that reacts instead of thinking things through. Her life situation and his gang affiliation is an immediate dissociation and presumption of negative without an analysis of the socio economic situations that forced these social circumstances. She and Manuel had to evolve and react to an environment that is not normally considered the ideal environment (the one that white middle class people are brainwashed into believing as truth by TV) - so how can one judge the viability of a completely different set of circumstances.

This discussion is partially about how society views itself...

reply to post by MemoryShock


agreed, that was exactly my point...

reply to post by MemoryShock


I agree 100% it's not right to kill an unarmed person like that. It's not right, most gangbangers are scumbags, but certainly not all of them. Some of them are just waiting for their chance to get the hell out. I helped a few do just that when business was booming.

I went to school with the worst of the worst, gang bangers were the majority. It was a bad kids school made for people tossed out of other schools, armed guards and all that. I learned how to carry a razor in my mouth, and how to spit it in that school. I am a country boy, but most kids I went to school from were ghetto kids, from CT and NY. I visited where they lived lots of times, they are crazy places. I am native north american, but most people would look at me and think I am caucasion. A "white boy" hanging in those places, not really that safe, but I didn't care back then about anything. I was fully immersed in the whole gangsta way of life back then, I lived in a ghetto spot in white plains for 3 years after I graduated, I was a street pharmacist back then mostly.

I realized though after some time, that all that family stuff gangs talk about, is just that, talk. Part of my character is that I am fiercely loyal. I thought everyone was like that. After all the blood I shed, and all the shirts I gave off my back, when I needed something, suddenly everyone got all quiet. I found out the hard way after I quit selling, and doing drugs who my real friends were. I didn't have any at all, not a one. They all disappeared soon after. People only hung with me for the parties. Me, the crazy guy that would be throwing down, if you even looked at one of my friends funny, no one had my back like that.

Well, my family does, even after all the messed up stuff I did, and trust me, I did plenty. I am still fiercely loyal, probably to a fault. But nowadays I reserve my loyalty to my blood, and don't trust anyone nearly as easy as I used to.

I have lived many kinds of lives, from thug life, to working poor life, to the working higher class life, to even the homeless life. I understand a lot about life, about pitfalls, traps, and gnawing your leg off so to speak to get out of it. Drugs and alcohol is a huge part of the problem. Temporary escape is a hell of a lot easier than clawing your way out of a hole.

As crazy and chaotic as my life has been, I am not sure if I would trade any of it. There were so many lessons learned along the way. In my own hard headed way, I had to go through it for myself. I didn't listen to what my elders warned me about, being young, I knew it all. The old folks were just full of it, they didn't understand what I was going through. Except they did, from the hoes I hooked up with, to the so-called friends.

I came from a decent home, and went through it all. Granted, my pops was busy working most of my life. He missed a lot, from baseball and hockey games. Even to this day, it feels awkward talking to him, about anything other than work. He did it for me and my sisters, that I understand now. Being responsible for other lives, it changes a lot. I found that out when I had custody of my nieces. I had a mom that went to bat for me every time I needed it. And even I went bad for a long time. I can relate to how a lot of the guys in the hood go back, a lot of them don't have a father at all. I had a father once in a while, mostly all I saw of him was when he woke me up in the morning for school. He wasn't getting home until after I was in bed. Ok done rambling lol

He was a plant, in my opinion.

Put there to discourage her from speaking in front of cameras again.

reply to post by MemoryShock


No no no brother, you have it COMPLETELY backwards.

Economic status.... in no way.. shape.. or form .. effects your parenting skills. I don't need to "know what its like" to be poor in a ghetto to know that decent Human beings love and care for their children, imposing their views of the World onto them, hopefully in a positive way so that their children can excel in every way higher than they.

Her son was a career criminal. Not exactly the halmarks of great parenting...

And I certainly never said he deserved to be shot, since that was not the topic of the thread. The topic was her parenting skills, which personally from this perspective I find ... lacking.

Originally posted by MemoryShock

Originally posted by Rockpuck
Well.. she was a bad mother.

Pretty ignorant of you, Rock, and I would have expected better. With what scale are you gauging how bad of a mother she is? Let's not even start discussing how well you know her and how well your parenting experience is...especially in what may be termed as a ghetto environment.

What gets me here is that people really think that some people have a choice in their economic status. For all we know, She immigrated (your views on immigration here are immaterial) to get her son away from certain poverty which would have likely resulted in worse situations. The fact that Manuel is a "known gangster" is a BS rationalization and does not excuse or justify the murdering of an unarmed citizen and the very theme beginning in this thread that is making allowances for police murdering unarmed citizens because of who they may or may not be is quite horrifying.

To TK - What do you think of Westboro? Cool to spit in the face of the grieving for preconceived notions based on personal supposition?

How could anyone claim she was anything but a bad mother? Her and her family are trying to paint him "Manuel "Stomper" Diaz as a hard worker who's only interest was to start a family and support them through hardwork. They come off as people who aren't very credible due to blatant lies and jump at the opportunity to exploit the Gangmembers death. Their is also evidence of some of their family members rioting and destroying property in Anaheim... I'm guessing his nickname "Stomper" was obtained because he loved to stomp out fires like the good little angel he was. I don't agree with him being killed but I am sickened by the obvious attempt to exploit his death. I think the family should be awarded a settlement "somewhere in the 100,000 range" and then force the family to reimburse the insurance companies and business owners who's property was damaged and the city for having to deploy police to quell the family rioting.