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Dogs have always been said to be a man’s best friend, and in most cases that ends up proving to be true — we love you, Scooby Doo! All jokes aside though, Black people actually have a very complicated history when it comes to canines; well, ‘K-9’ specifically since we’re mainly referring to police dogs.
You might still be intertwined in the now-viral K-9 attack in Ohio that saw a Mississippi trucker viciously attacked earlier this month (July 4) in what many are saying is just another case of excessive force and ultimately police brutality — yes, it applies even when Scrappy is doing the dirty work for them.
Thankfully we can now report that 23-year-old Jadarrius Rose is alive, first and foremost, but also able to speak with the press on his harrowing experience in the wake of K-9 officer Ryan Speakman being fired from the Circleville Police Department following investigation and social outcry.
RELATED: Ohio Cop Releases Dog On Black Man Who Had His Hands Up After Trooper Instructed Him Not To
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It’s arguable as to whether Rose could’ve avoided this whole melee by pulling over some miles prior, but there’s no denying that the use of a K-9 that starts off biting you with lockjaw grip was absolutely uncalled for.
More details on this case in specific below, via
ABC News:
“The former officer, 29-year-old Ryan Speakman, was terminated from the force after an investigation by the Circleville Police Use of Force Review Board prompted police officials to conclude he ‘did not meet the standards and expectations we hold for our police officers,’ according to a statement the agency released on Wednesday.
National civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is now representing Rose, told ABC News that the incident, which was caught on police body-camera video, harkened back to the 1960s Civil Rights Movement when police dogs were let loose on non-violent protesters.
‘We have to say, we will not tolerate this. We won’t go back to the days where they’re siccing dogs on unarmed Black people,’ Crump said.”
Good man Crump makes a valid point there, leading us back to our original point. Dogs were in fact used as literal tools of oppression against Black people during the sordid era of enslavement in America. Just last year,
VICE did a very detailed report on what they called the “violent, racist history of K-9 units,” stating that dogs were being used as far back as the 16th century to keep slaves from trying to escape. As we gained our freedom, the aptly-named bloodhounds were then promoted to partner — “best friend,” if you will — in a way that directly was trained to target Black men specifically. Exhibitions were reportedly held to test out the ‘best in show’ by having them chase Black men that were given a 20-minute head start run. According to
VICE, “If the dog completed the mission, usually by isolating him to where he couldn’t move, that dog was considered usable by police.”
What chance did Rose, or any Black man, woman or child in a similar situation for that matter, have against the ingrained racism of a law-abiding animal? According to MSNBC, one Talladega police officer testified under oath that he overheard a lieutenant telling his officers a need for “a dog that would bite a n****r.”
…do
those dogs go to heaven, too?
Let us know your thoughts on the culture of K-9s, and take a look below at what many are saying over on social media:
