Was Leonard Cure’s Fatal Shooting by Police Related to Race?
A man died on Monday (October 16) by shooting at the hands of a cop when things went wrong during a traffic stop in Camden County, Georgia. Not surprisingly, some on the left are trying to play the race card in the incident since the deceased was a black man and the cop a white guy. But the original footage of the incident has punched a hole in their narrative.
The video footage from the deputy’s dashcam was shared widely on Twitter/X. It shows that Camden County deputy Sgt. Buck Aldridge stopped 53-year-old Leonard Allan Cure for speeding along Interstate 95. Aldridge ordered Cure to put his hands behind his back so as to be arrested for speeding and reckless driving, by which Cure didn’t comply. As Aldridge tried to arrest Cure, he attacked the deputy. The two engaged in scuffle and Cure got to grab Aldridge and tried to choke him. Aldridge managed to get one had free, draw his gun, and shoot Cure.
Before the release of the dashcam video, CBS presented the story from its Cure-centered angle with sympathy and tributes for Cure by different people. The channel’s coverage employed the victim card for Cure by going back a few years to his exoneration from his armed robbery conviction in Florida for which he was sentenced to life in prison but was freed in 2020, 16 years after his imprisonment following his 2003 conviction.
On Wednesday (October 18), when the incident’s footage was released, the leftist social justice organization Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) jumped on to condemn the shooting as racist and the result of “anti-blackness in policing.”
The Western Journal responded (October 19) by calling SPLC “phony racial justice warriors” looking for another George Floyd incident. But with the video of the incident gone public, left-aligned media continued to phrase the incident in a manner as to exclude Cure from any wrongdoing. For example, Savannah Morning News did not phrase the physical conflict as Cure attacking Aldridge and trying to strangle him. Instead, it wrote that “the two get into a physical altercation. The deputy hits Cure with his police baton and then shoots him.”
The Blaze pointed to this twist in the narrative serving the leftist talking point of racism targeted at blacks and wrote that liberal media ignored critical detail of the incident in their presentation of the story – namely the deputy been in a fight for his life.
While the Reuters report noted nine paragraphs down that Cure died after an altercation, it made no mention of the decedent first assaulting the officer after failing to comply.
Good job officer. Enough of this woke shit. What we have is another attempt to urn and loot. But we the people ain’t gonna take it no more. Start shit and get to eat it. Word??????
What woke shxx can you be referring to?
Man; jail fir doing 💯? Whattta fucked up State. Or was it the “reckless driving” kicker?
Look at the video stupid.
So you can’t explain it either.
Cuz I read all the stories, watched the tape, and there’s no woke there
Right. No wokeness. That’s good. That shit hides the facts
Woke hides facts?
How?
And you admit you messed up that this tragic affair had nothing to do with woke? Cuz I
I’m pretty sure the guy who’s dead who was locked up wrongly for 16 years and just freed does know know what woke is. And the cop wasn’t pushing woke.
Guess you cant attack troopers and expect to get away unscathed. Cost him his life.
I agree kenneth. I also question people who run away from cops, even on me, lowest of possible charges like shoplifting. They to risk death by gun, and frankly, I think I would pull the trigger even more often than current cops are allowed. Broken windows. And in my intemperate youth, I have run from police knowing full well, chances are they would not fire.
But I am not black, and I guarantee I have a different mindset on this being white. It’s just life, but there it is as Mr. Horst would say.
So I agree, Kenneth, but I also see the tragedy in a guy being falsely incarcerated for 16 years getting into the situation. It’s too bad that the data system did not support the cop and provide them information relative to who the driver was ASAP. He might’ve handled the situation With kid gloves at that point, knowing this guy had PTSD for sure.
I mean who doesn’t to 95 on 95. The dam road seems posted for 95… And he only did 100 to pass. Really bad eggs as Sparrow would say. Tragic. .
I agree Frank. I always thought the “I” in “I-95” meant “I go 95”. Thank you for straightening me out on this! :>)
It’s simple. The right defines Woke as anything that’s not extreme right wing. So that means the majority of the population is woke.
Racism is the favorite statement to all things involving black citizens not complying with LEO commands! Poor impulse control and a lack of the desire to adhere to society norms is a more constant reason! I do not think that there as many racist people as many like to state, but there are a lot of people who get fed up with the criminal acts by black citizens and of course that anger is then translated into Racial Hate by the clowns trying to gain something! It is also amazing how black citizens who live their lives in a productive law abiding manner are often called “uncle toms” for being good citizens! Do not expect this to change since the media love to keep it alive and the race baiters can use it to make $$ from it! Let the screams of racism about this statement begin!
I did not see anything related to race in the video. What I saw was a contradiction to the news video where they say Cure got out of the car and cooperated with police. The first thing Cure says when he got out of the car was “I ain’t doin shit!” and it goes awry from there culminating in Cure’s attempt to subdue the officer with a choke grab and then tackle. This is not my definition of “cooperating”. The officer appears to have acted very professionally except for tone of voice. Some people are very sensitive to tone of voice because of traumas in their past. As soon as you use tone on them they instantly flip into a high defensive mode because that was how they survived the trauma before. You hear it in the beginning: Sheriff: using harsh tonality says “Step out of the car!!!”. Cure: Complies by getting out of the car and then says, “I ain’t doing shit!” using the same tonality as the sheriff. If you have ever studied the PAC communications model, (Parent, Adult, Child) it says communications only occurs on the horizontals, i.e. P to P, A to A, and C to C. When communicating on the diagonals such as P to C, breakdowns and misunderstandings occur which I am sure can lead to violence. Sheriff starts out as a P. Cure responds as a C. This is a diagonal that often happens when one adult is verbalizing as a “Parent” the other adult will respond as a “Child”. And from there it just gets worse.
Officers respond using tonality because the situation is precarious, dangerous, and in this case the officer was alone which drives fear. Many have been shot when faced with these circumstances which is prior knowledge. Cure responds using tonality because tonality is often a first line of defense to ward off an aggressor and establish safety and control. Dogs do it all of the time. They bark first. Barks then get more intense and teeth are shown. Then they bite. Same exact thing happened here with Cure, i.e. Tone, more tone and resistance gestures and some flailing, then wrestling. You can see the escalation that is being caused by a parent yelling at a child where the child has events in their past that are called triggers and serve to automatically and without thinking flip Cure into defense mode without rationalizing the situation. This is often the way incarcerated people must act to survive prison. So the sheriff’s tonality flipped Cure into “survival mode”.
So bottom line, I did not see any racism here in either person’s behavior. What I saw was two people engaged in a conflict with both acting according to their training, prior knowledge, and past experiences. Unfortunately it did not work out well for Cure.
Two things that would definitely help in these kinds of situations: 1: Train officers to not use tonality first. Soft tone, stay on the A level in the PAC model. 2) Safer prisons where survival skills like we see in Cure do not have to be developed and used. Some might call this “prison reform”, but really, we need to reform our whole penal system to promote proper behavior instead of survival behavior.
P.S. I did not see any of what has been labeled “woke” in the conflict. I saw power versus power. In the news cast, what I saw was advocacy in some of the news statements on behalf of Cure but it was not balanced with what the law says you should do when approached officially by an officer of the law, nor did they admonish Cure for his statement, “I ain’t doin shit!”. The news did not admonish either for their tone of voice. This might be considered by some to be a news agency engaged in “woke” behavior.
Not true Andy. Woke is merely the expression that all men are created equal but not always treated equal so be woke to that.
This is a tragedy given this guy just got released after 16 years of false imprisonment and the cop yell’s you’re going to jail. Still no call for violence but I can sympathize with the tragic circumstances. It’s a black guy in a new truck being asked strange questions about any outstanding warrants and demands to get out, put hands on truck like a bit more than a speeding situation.
I lived an intemperate youth and have been pulled over a number of times for excessive speeds, often in excess of 100 miles an hour. Once, drunk as a skunk, I ran so many stop signs and ribs that a 10 car police blockade was set up for me. Never, have I been asked to place my hands on the hood, although, on the last escapade, the policeman did asked me to step away from the window of his car, since I was breathing on him. No one ever asked me about outstanding warrants, it was Maryland, so I was not going to jail for speeding, or apparently, reckless, driving. Just saying.
Still, investigation needs to be done, cops history needs to be added, and a judgement will be made, probably for the cop. Unfortunately, I think the question will come down to the reckless driving, and thus the jail time, and I don’t think the reckless driving is on the police cam.
There is nothing connecting this to the woke movement. IMO except stupidity.
PS :-). Stupidity for either side wielding the double-sided woke axe.
I agree with your assessment of the situation, I did not see any woke. However, the news cast is different. This was not a news cast, it was an advocacy cast. CBS Miami did not give the details fair and balanced nor did they say what Cure had said. The majority of the news segment is not news, it is an advocacy effort loaded with terms like “innocent”, “wrongly convicted”, “funny, kind”, “can’t believe it happened”, etc. And again, there was no balance because their was no advocacy or mention of the officers patience in repeatedly asking for Cure’s cooperation, patience in not tasing first, patience in warning Cure multiple times that he was going to be tased, patience in not responding harshly to Cure’s statement, “I ain’t doin shit!”, the news did not even mention this statement. No mention of the sheriff keeping his distance and not crowding as a form of intimidation. No mention of the officer not treading on his neck to subdue him. No mention of the officer’s professionalism.
Some people would interpret this news video imbalances as “born equal but treated unequally” which they view as “woke”. In this case, the unequal treatment is how the news advocated for one and not the other. Woke to me simply means aware and informed. Unfortunately we have seen some rather skewed examples of woke that seem to forgive poor criminal behavior, and advocate for the criminal and not give equal advocacy to the law and the criminal’s actual behavior.
In the case of Andy’s comment, it is woke rubbish. He is actually demonstrating woke in his negative global statement of the right wing folks while failing to mention the left bias of the media, and that the left considers any police action used in apprehending persons under arrest or with outstanding warrants to be racist when the arresting officer is white and arresting a person of color. So Andy’s statement is another example of created equal, free speech rights, and unequal treatment of right wing versus left wing.
Woke is white people apologizing for being white. My niece taught school in the Washington DC area. The black students who tried to make good grades and be successful students were accused by their peers of acting white. Why? Does anyone know?
Dan, because they are frustrated and envious. You can relate, right?
Do you have statistics on this or is your sister some sort of national expert on the subject?
Anecdotal data is just that. They are nice stories, especially when you’re back them up with actual actual statistics. Otherwise, they are just stories.
You still haven’t answered my question. But I believe my niece. But that’s neither here or there. I was a hell raising underachiever in school. But I continued my education later on and became a damned good working man and a fairly good musician. I’m saying that many of us have made bad choices in life. Unfortunately the guy that got shot in Georgia blew all of his chances. A damned shame. But I’m not second guessing the police officer. I wasn’t there But I believe that people can live longer by making better choices in life. Like don’t make a cop feel threatened
The term “acting white” is an ironic legacy of the Desegregation Era. Read all about it at *https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/acting-white-charge-origins/594130/* “Acting white” may have envy associated with it but it appears to be an expression of “Hey bro, you be in the wrong culture!” because learning and academic success in the Desegregation Era was viewed by black people (and many white people) as a “white activity. So acting white means you are doing a white activity.
Interesting that Yahanna of the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a black supremacist sect, did not consider Obama to be black but “African of white descent” and advised African Americans not to vote for him. (Basically the SPLC thought Obama was “acting white”.
Now if you google “are there statistics on the use of the phrase “acting white” you will find an interesting article at *https://www.nber.org/digest/jan06/acting-white*” from which I got the paragraph below that is relevant to Dan’s comment.
“The resulting popularity indexes demonstrate that “the relationship between social status and achievement is categorically different between racial groups, a difference that is robust to changes in specifications, data sub-samples, and definitions of social status or achievement.” At a GPA of roughly 2.5, racial differences begin to emerge, and Hispanic students lose popularity rapidly. Popularity peaks at a GPA of about 3.5 for black students. Whites continue to gain popularity as their grades increase. The social cost of “acting white” is more severe for black males than for black females. It is larger for blacks in public schools, but nonexistent for blacks in private schools, “a finding that may partially explain why black kids in private schools do especially well.” Finally, the burden imposed for “acting white” is greater for students with more interracial contact. Blacks in more segregated schools “incur less of a tradeoff between popularity and achievement.” The toll for “acting white” is “particularly salient among high achievers and those in schools with more interracial contact.”
Another interesting article for stat lovers is at *https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/1/5/14175116/acting-white-myth-black-kids-academics-school-achievement-gap-debunked*
Frank, you act very white.
CBS News in Miami leans slightly left. At most, I can see the story doing that. I do not see it as advocacy at all. All of the facts are accurate. The facts left out, perhaps, were because they were in early, they did not know them, or were not certain enough of them to go to print.
I reject your expectation that they would report on things that didn’t happen. It’s actually a sad testimony on our times when you were looking for a “did not tase early” response from the news. You are already concluding the fact that cops usually tase early in your opinion and it’s newsworthy when they don’t. Weird times.
So no, I do not see this overt advocacy, the facts are right, perhaps it could’ve been a little more comprehensive, but I’m not sure the timing rejected those facts as not being sustainable. As media bias says, they leaving a little left, but are highly factual.
I would agree that the headline is as you have stated. I think that went a little too far, a little too sensational. FYI: I use media bias/fact check for all of these ratings.
The definition of advocacy has nothing to do with the accuracy of the facts and everything to do with “public support for an idea, plan, or way of doing something”. Look up the definition. Certainly this piece publicly supported the goodness and compliance of Cure when the reality was much different in his action and the statement “I ain’t doin shit”. In this instance Cure was getting “advocacy” in the form of a news segment. The statement that he cooperated with the officer is not factually correct but the advocacy still exists! Thus you are in error when you say “… the facts are right.”
I have no opinion on cops tasing. I was merely stating it as an advocacy for the sheriff that he exercised the virtue of restraint in his repeated warnings that he was going to tase but held off and did not immediately tase the man.
Perhaps listen to the news segment again without your biases and you will see it a bit differently. :>)
Sorry, I don’t see your bias in the story nor the advocacy except in the headline. I read, didn’t not listen except to the cam. Tis our opinions.
I ain’t doing shit meaning; i do not comply or i did nothing worthy of arrest?
Plus, tape is exited or not complete
There may be a Cure dash cam too.
My kids roll with dash and rear view cams. I roll with middle age middle class pos hybrid. No worries. Truck is 25 years old. I will never see 90 mph.
Frank,
You listen to enough politicians and commentators on Foxnews talk about woke and it becomes pretty obvious that they define woke as to be anything that is not right wing. When they are asked to define woke they are completely unable to do that, as none of them have the faintest idea what it means, other than not being right wing.
Stupid is as stupid does.
Since racism is not a problem in America anymore we should quit looking for a klansman behind every tree. And all people should be accountable for their actions. White or black.
Andy, yes, I think the funniest thing you can do is to ask a right winger to defined woke. Those clips are priceless. Almost as good as explanations of the rigged election.
Speaking of a different kind of woke, 5 down, 14 to go! I think we know know WHO rigs elections. Think those might have been tears of joy Jenna was crying. Sydney too seemed relieved to get the weight of the crime off their chests. A tsunami is coming. Jenna gets to Ghouliani, his goose is cooked and a plea may not be in the offing. He’s not a credible witness. But he better run to Willis: NOW!
But Powell gets to Trump and he wisely is distancing himself from her saying not his lawyer. Smart move to void any potential attorney client privilege.
Trump meets Cohen today. Revenge on steroids and these two liar’s literally face off. Will Trump sit on his hands? Cohen will probably be good; he’s been practicing for years for this.
Me thinks you are loving it all just a little too much Frank!!! :>) But I agree that it is good reality tv and beats Survivor any day of my week! LOL
I feel for Cohen, Tom, and very seldom does a little guy get to get a chance to do the boss that done him wrong. My wife had one, I had a few, but I’m a bit feisty, but rare and in our case, unanticipated. He was found guilty, and Trump is obviously co-conspirator number one and he’s guilty too. Cohen went to jail, got out ob Covid release, and Trump went out of his way to put them back in jail. That’s harsh and family affecting. That’s a yuge red line in my book.
So yeah, I am enjoying it on behalf of Michael Cohen. He is armed, ready, and at this point incredibly well practiced at public speaking. And a lawyer. I am betting that there’s a good chance that he will beat Trump, who just will not be able to sit on his hands and will take the bait. I am sure that Cohen knows exactly how to get under his skin. We will see, I just wish there were cameras.
As far as it, enjoying it, no, I am not quite there yet. But wait, there’s more. And I truly think the dawn is breaking. I think we are near to the time it’s right to move on, forget Teump, and focus on Trumplicants and sending them back under the rocks they slithered out from.
The real guilty party is the person that gave way to this action and condoning it.
He and the people he is paying, or on ” THE TAKE ” should be locked up.
George Soros, Joe Biden.
Lets not forget the Cackling Clown Kamala.