Emil and the Myth of Cops "Sparing" White Cop-Killers

One of the more bizarre "white privilege" racist myths being spread is that cops are okay with cop-killers as long as they're white. Shoot a cop and it's okay. If you're white. But if you're black, the cops will suddenly turn mean and shoot you.

A version of this racist meme first reared its head after photos of Dylan Storm Roof appeared being escorted while wearing a bulletproof vest. #BlackLivesMatter decided that was some special privilege he got for being white. Too bad there were plenty of photos of black mass killers being escorted wearing bulletproof vests

The bulletproof vest just means you did enough horrible things someone might want to shoot you for them. It's not a "privilege".

Now after the latest shooting, we have the racist meme that cops take cop-killers alive as long as they're white. That would have come as news to Emil Mătăsăreanu.

Emil Mătăsăreanu was one of the stars of the North Hollywood shootout. The North Hollywood shootout was the sort of thing you usually see in movies, except that Emil and his pal were stupid enough to try it in real life.

They had a whole lot of weapons, body armor and IEDs. The LAPD was outgunned and around a dozen police officers were wounded. But since life isn't a movie, the LAPD adapted. Emil and his partner were both white, but it didn't stop the LAPD from shooting them even after they surrendered.

Emil Mătăsăreanu was left to bleed to death in the street. EMTs were prevented from treating him while he lay in handcuffs. It took over an hour for him to die.

There were excuses and justifications, but the bottom line is that Emil Mătăsăreanu had earned a whole lot of resentment from the cops around him and he died much harder than most of the criminal martyrs of #BlackLivesMatter. He had no white privilege as far as the LAPD, often accused of being a racist police force, was concerned.

The key criteria isn't race. Different police forces have their own history and character. The LAPD was the original militarized force. It has its own identity. As does the NYPD and a whole lot of others. The way that officers react has a whole lot to do with the culture of the force, their experiences and their training.

There are plenty of forces that would not have let Emil die. There are others that would have. Emil's race mattered much less than the culture of the force.

White people didn't view Matasareanu as a martyr or a victim over racial identification the way that a scumbag like Michael Brown became a hero. They weren't guided by the color of his skin. Neither was the LAPD.

No cop decides to go easier on a scumbag that shot some fellow officers because of the color of his skin. Even the most race-obsessed social justice warrior ought to be able to grasp that.