The issue about Natalie Johnson Lee and the police officer speaks to me of a bigger issue: SELECTIVE ENFORCEMENT
It is the way in which laws are enforced (i.e. unequally) that cause me such concern.
Over the past several years I have witnessed and dealt with reports of people who are homeless being ticketed for jay walking, or for loitering.
When I first started working years ago as a shelter advocate I was at first surprised ( my naive attitude certainly was related to my privilege as a white person who was not poor) at the number of citations and tickets that were handed out to homeless people by Mpls police related to the above two offenses.
As years have passed I see now that it is a consistent way to harass and intimidate
One man I interviewed who is homeless calls them "the Move Around Laws"--- if you stay in one place too long you are threatened with arrest or citation if you do not move on.
To simply say "well, if they were breaking the law, they should have been ticketed" begs the question.
Selective enforcement of the law is practiced day in and day out against people of color and people who are poor and/or homeless.
The history in this country of white, privileged people getting out from under the law has left a legacy that we cannot simply shrug off.
Margaret Hastings-Mpls-Kingfield---
