1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,480 Speaker 1: So just a quick heads up. This episode talks about 2 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:09,800 Speaker 1: police violence. You're listening to Disinformed, a mini series from 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 1: There are No Girls on the Internet. I'm Bridget Todd. 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:19,799 Speaker 1: So if I sound tired or emotional right now, it's 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:23,799 Speaker 1: because I am. I saw something happening online and I 6 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: felt just called to respond. That's how I put it 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: to my very patient producer, Tari, who agreed to scrap 8 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: the episode she had all set to publish today so 9 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:37,959 Speaker 1: that I could. So here's what's going on in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. 10 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: Dante Right, a twenty year old black man, was shot 11 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: and killed by police during a traffic stop, and I 12 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: don't know, this just really got to me. Right was 13 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: initially stopped by police for having expired tags, and the 14 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: stock got confrontational after police spotted an air freshener dangling 15 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: from his rear view mirror, which is a traffic violation 16 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: in the state. Now you might be thinking, why in 17 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: the hell do you need police to have this kind 18 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: of confrontation for something as simple and small as an 19 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: air freshener. I know it sounds ridiculous, but this same 20 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: thing has happened to me multiple times. And if you're black, 21 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 1: I probably don't need to tell you that these kinds 22 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: of low level traffic stops can turn violent or deadly 23 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: pretty quickly. According to Harvard School of Public Health, black 24 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:25,839 Speaker 1: people are more than three times likely as white people 25 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: to be killed during a police encounter, and studies have 26 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: also found that black drivers are far more likely to 27 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: be stopped by police than white drivers. So yeah, just 28 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,839 Speaker 1: driving around your own community as a black person can 29 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 1: be a death sentence. When Dante, who you know, at 30 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: twenty years old is still so young, was being pulled over, 31 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: he initially called his mom for help, and something about 32 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: that just really breaks my heart. In an emotional press 33 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: conference following his death, Dante's mother, Katie Wright, shared her 34 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: heartbreak and it's really hard to listen to and to 35 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: need everyone to know that he was my life. He's 36 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: my son and I can never get that back. Does 37 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: the most stake. The Brooklyn Center of Minnesota police chief 38 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: said that Kim Porter, the police officer who killed Dante, 39 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,639 Speaker 1: meant to use her taser but grabbed her gun instead. 40 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: But if you've ever held a taser and a gun, 41 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: I've held both, you know they feel really different. So 42 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: how does a police union president and a twenty six 43 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: year veteran of the police force, like kim Porter, make 44 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: this kind of quote mistake. Dante's dad is not having it. 45 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:37,799 Speaker 1: Here's what he had to say on Good Morning America today. 46 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: I cannot accept that I lost my son. He's never 47 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: coming back. I can't accept that a mistake. That's not 48 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: that doesn't even sound right. You know, this officer has 49 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: been on the force for six plus, for twenty six years. 50 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: I can't accept that now that officer kim Porter, she 51 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: resigned this afternoon. But to be clear, this is actually 52 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: a pretty common thing that officers do when they expect 53 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: to be fired, because it can be kind of a 54 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: defensive move to prevent facing further discipline like losing your pension. 55 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: And right now there is absolutely nothing stopping her from 56 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: joining a police force someplace else. And all of this 57 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: is pretty hard to watch, especially when you consider that 58 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 1: it's happening in Minnesota, just a few short miles away 59 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: from Minneapolis, where the city is currently gripped by a 60 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: trial for officer Derek Chavin for killing George Floyd, another 61 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: unarmed black man whose death sparked a massive global racial 62 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: justice movement this past summer. Y'all. It's just a lot, 63 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: this moment, the black death, all of it. And here's 64 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: where it gets even worse for me, because we can't 65 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: even have this moment without bad actors on social media 66 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: coming in to exploit our pain. This afternoon, when I 67 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: logged into Twitter, I found a handful of big, influential, 68 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: verified far right accounts comparing Dante Right, who was shot 69 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: and killed for just driving his own car, and Ashley Babbitt, 70 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: the white woman who you might remember was shot and 71 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: killed by police while she was pushing her way into 72 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: the capital during the insurrection. On January six, popular conspiracy 73 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: theory podcaster and convicted felon dnish to SUSA tweeted, why 74 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: do we know the name of the cop who killed 75 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: Dante Wright but not the name of the cop who 76 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: killed Ashley Babbitt. These kinds of sentiments were echoed by 77 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: many big far right accounts, so much so that Ashley 78 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: Babbitt's name is currently trending on Twitter right now as 79 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: I record this. Instead of letting a community that's already 80 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: been through so much more in this loss, bad actors 81 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: are trying to seize on the conversation and use it 82 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: to distort and downplay the insurrection. On January six, one 83 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: person tweeted, Ashley Babbitt innocently entered an open capital as 84 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: part of a legitimate protest, a capital purposely left mostly 85 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: unprotected to entice them in. She was unarmed, as we're 86 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 1: all protesters on that day, an unarmed insurrection. She was 87 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,840 Speaker 1: shot dead for her opinion. Who killed her? I mean, 88 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: there's just so much wrong with that statement. And as 89 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: much as I see the worst of what humanity has 90 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: to offer online from following the darkest corners of the 91 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: Internet for this very podcast day in and day out, 92 00:05:14,839 --> 00:05:18,919 Speaker 1: I have to say this just hurt. And this is 93 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 1: what I mean when I say discourse on social media 94 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: has reached a point where sometimes it seems impossible to 95 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: have any kind of real dialogue, even about things that 96 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: are important or impactful. And it should also just go 97 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: to show how brazen bad actors are on social media. Now. 98 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: I don't believe that anyone deserves to be killed by 99 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:41,840 Speaker 1: the police, full stop. But to compare Ashley Babbitt, someone 100 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: who was forcing her way into the capital through a 101 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,040 Speaker 1: broken window during a violent and deadly insurrection, and Dante Right, 102 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: someone who was just driving his car, minding his own 103 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: business is so deeply disingenuous that it's insulting. I am insulted. 104 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: We should all be insulted. And peep the way these 105 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,360 Speaker 1: bad actors are trying to use race to further stoked 106 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: this division. They say, the officer who killed Ashley Babbitt 107 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: is a black man, and we know the officer who 108 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: killed Dante Right is a white woman. The Daily Wires 109 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: Matt Walsh tweeted, if everything else was the same, but 110 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: Ashley Babbitt was a liberal black woman and the cop 111 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:16,919 Speaker 1: who shot her was a white man, there will be 112 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: murals painted in her honor across the country, and that 113 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: cop would be on trial for murder. It's so obvious 114 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:25,479 Speaker 1: what they're doing, and by now we should recognize this 115 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: as a page right out of the bad actor playbook. 116 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: These people sees on conversations that are already racially or 117 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: politically charged and flatten them out and distort them until 118 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: it seems impossible to have any kind of meaningful conversation 119 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: at all. They want to divide us, They want outrage. 120 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: They zero in on our tensions and our pain points 121 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: and poke at them until they throb I talk so 122 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: much about disinformation, what it does to our discourse and 123 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: our democracy. But this is its true cost. Even in tragedy, 124 00:06:55,480 --> 00:07:01,600 Speaker 1: even in death, they exploit. Nothing is sacred, nothing. It's sick. 125 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: It makes me sick. I'm tired, y'all, and I'm sure 126 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: y'all are too. I'm sick of having to defend our 127 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: humanity again and again to people who are hell bent 128 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: on using our pain, our lives, and our identities and 129 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: our deaths to score cheap points and push false narratives 130 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: that end up hurting us. All my friends that color 131 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: of change or organizing Text enough to five five or 132 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: check the link in the show description to get involved. 133 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: If you enjoyed this podcast, please help us grow by subscribing. 134 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: Got a story about an interesting thing in tech, or 135 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: just want to say hi. We'd love to hear from 136 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: you at Hello at tangoi dot com. Disinformed is brought 137 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: to you by There Are No Girls on the Internet. 138 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,040 Speaker 1: It's a production of I Heart Radio and Unbust Creative. 139 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland is our executive producer. Tarry Harrison is our 140 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: supervising producer and engineer. Michael Lamato is our contributing producer. 141 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: I'm your host Bridget Todd. For more great podcasts, check 142 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: out the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever 143 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts.