Legal experts debate the Dallas PD's decision to use a bomb-wielding robot to end the standoff with shooting suspect Micah Xavier Johnson; we ask you to weigh in about how you've talked about last week's shootings with friends and family; and an explanation of California's new Racial and Identity Profiling Board
Was the use of a ‘robot bomb’ to end the standoff with the Dallas shooter ethical?
In interviews over the weekend, Dallas Police Chief David Brown defended his department’s use of a bomb mounted on a robot to kill suspected Dallas shooter, Micah Xavier Johnson, arguing that he would approve the use of the tactic again if given the chance.
Johnson is suspected of killing five police officers and wounding seven others at a march against police violence against African Americans last Thursday in Dallas. The incident is believed to be the first time law enforcement in the US have used a robot to kill a suspect.
But was use of deadly force via a ‘robot bomb’ ethically sound in this circumstance? Why couldn’t police have used some kind of non-lethal gas or other agent to knock out the suspect rather than kill him? Does this new tactic of using robots as a lethal weapon blur the lines between policing and warfare?
Guests:
Lt. Col (U.S. Army, ret.) Jeffrey Addicott, professor of law and director of the Center for Terrorism Law at the St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, TX
Gloria Browne-Marshall, Associate professor of constitutional law, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
LA police and citizens mobilize after violence in Dallas, Baton Rouge, and Falcon Heights, MN
After last week's three violent tragedies, community leaders and police officials say race relations and police-community relations are a "powder keg."
Protests continued over the weekend in cities across the country, including Los Angeles - much of it tied to high profile police killings of African Americans in recent months and years. The local chapter of the activist group Black Lives Matter is conducting non-violence training seminars with its protestors, renewing its commitment to nonviolence.
The LAPD's Community Relations Division has asked for a community forum to be held this Wednesday at Supervisor Ridley-Thomas' Constituent Service Center.
That forum is part of the Future of Policing sessions conducted by The Institute for Nonviolence in Los Angeles.
LA has seen horrible race relations in the past – are the conditions such that it could happen again? What might prevent it?
Guest:
Frank Stoltze, KPCC Correspondent covering criminal justice and public safety
How have you discussed last week's shootings with friends and family?
The shooting deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and five Dallas police officers made last week an emotional one for many Americans.
The shootings raised complex issues regarding race, violence, and the role of police in our society.
Discussions about these tragedies have not only taken place in the news, but also around the dinner table.
Presenting frightening and confusing acts of violence to children can be difficult. Talking about issues that are tragic and divisive with friends and relatives can often require sensitivity. You don’t want to confuse or offend, but you also want to be able to speak candidly.
How are you navigating these delicate conversations? How have you talked about the shootings with your children? Your friends and relatives? How does the way in which we talk about these tragedies affect our relationships?
CALL US AT 866-893-5722 to share the conversations you’re having with friends and family.
AirTalk election 2016: Candidates' response to recent violence, Trump meets with GOP, and the Dems evolving platform
In AirTalk’s weekly political segment, a look at how the recent shootings in Texas, Louisiana, and Minnesota have impacted the presidential race and political rhetoric.
As the country searches for a unifying voice amid the outrage that followed police-involved shootings in Baton Rouge and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota and then the killing of five police officers last Thursday night in downtown Dallas, Texas, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have struggled to be that voice, thanks in no small part to their unpopularity with voters.
We'll discuss what the candidates' responses have been, how the public has received them, and what the candidates should be saying at a time where issues like race and community policing are dominating the national conversation.
Elsewhere, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump met with House GOP leaders behind closed doors as he and the Republican Party keep working to get on the same page as November's general election approaches.
Also on today's political roundtable, a look at how the Democrats' party platform is coming together, what role Bernie Sanders will have in dictating it, when he's expected to endorse Hillary Clinton, and a wrap-up of California's primary election now that all the votes have been counted.
Guests:
John Iadarola, co-creator and co-host of the daily infotainment talk show ‘ThinkTank’ part of The Young Turks Network
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco
CA gov't group to end racial profiling kicks off work amidst turbulent times
The Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board was created by law last year, aiming to end racial profiling by police officers after a slate of officer-involved shootings of unarmed black men.
The new group was sworn in by State Attorney General Kamala Harris on Friday, as the country reeled in the wake of a week of violence that saw two black men shot by police, and 5 police officers killed by a sniper in Dallas.
The board has until the end of the year to come up with recommendations on how police collect data and information during routine stops.
Guest:
Ben Bradford, state government reporter for Capital Public Radio; he tweets
Are the recent shootings prompting people to go on a ‘social media diet’?
With the shootings in Dallas, Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights last week, everyone has an opinion on who’s to blame, and they aren’t shy about posting to social media.
A constant wave of conflicting ideas on the root of these tragedies and how they were handled can become overwhelming for some. And hearing the bad news time and time again on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram could cause people to turn away from their feeds altogether. So has this slew of posts on the shootings incited people to go on a social media “diet” or “cleanse”?
We already have conversations on the recent news in the home, on television and news publications, so has the bombardment of information about the shootings caused you to abstain from social media? Are you glued to your phone, or has the surge of posts on the shootings caused you to swear off social media, at least for the time being.
So has this slew of posts on the shootings incited people to go on a social media diet?
Brant Burkey, assistant professor of communications at Cal State Dominguez Hills, talked with KPCC's Larry Mantle on Monday. Burkey said the advent of social media has brought with it a “promise of democratization,” but he suggested that this has led to increasing polarization in discourse that turns off some to social media. Burkey said it is important to be exposed to viewpoints different than your own, but reminded listeners they can select who and what is in their social network.
Brant Burkey: Information shouldn’t always agree with you. It’s great to get all these different opinions, but you also have to be very selective as to where the source is coming from and the perspective -- whether it agrees with you or not.
Larry Mantle: How would you urge people to curate social media to deal with what you’re raising?
Burkey: Part of it just has to do with being selective of who is in your social network, and that’s one of the easiest things that you can look at. If you’re finding that vitriol is just a bit too much to bear, you can just always just de-friend someone. It’s a simple process that you can go through through Facebook. You can choose not to follow certain sources or certain people, and ultimately you can just choose not to look.
Isaac, a self-described ‘Facebook provocateur’ from Hollywood, also said that there is value being exposed to viewpoints different than your own on social media. He tries to provide such viewpoints to his friends.
“The reason I do it is because I find that my social circles are so overwhelmingly lopsided in one way that I work to try and present the other perspective,” he said.
May, a caller from Pomona, sees a different value in social media. She said that social media provide a forum for debate that can inspire activism and facilitate organizing.
Larry Mantle: How do you feel about social media in times like this?
May in Pomona: I don’t want less of it, I want more! I can’t get away from my computer. [The proper role of policing in our society] is a debate that we have been talking about in this country that we haven’t been able to have a public forum for for many years -- since Ron Settles, since Eula Love. We need more, not less.
Still, many AirTalk listeners saw value in stepping away from their social media profiles.
Antoine, a caller from Long Beach, said that his ‘social media diet’ provided him with perspective.
Antoine in Long Beach: When I was in the military I took about a six-to-eight-month hiatus —this was back in 2010 and you know there was a lot going on. All of a sudden I came back with a fresh set of eyes in being able to discern what the real information was and the false information was. Of course it is subjective, but I just feel like nowadays I’m forced to take a position to the right or left as opposed to taking a rational decision as an American.
Larry Mantle: It sounds like when you came back from that hiatus, you felt like you had a [better] sense of yourself?
Antoine in Long Beach: Exactly. I was able to really prioritize what I thought were my moral and political views, that I think should be not necessarily be enforced, that I that I think should be heard. At the same time, I don’t think that it should be so overwhelming that I block out all other conversation. That dialog needs to be open.
Has the bombardment of information about the shootings caused you to abstain from social media? Are you glued to your phone, or has the surge of posts on the shootings caused you to swear off social media?
Guest:
Brant Burkey, Ph.D., assistant professor of communications at Cal State Dominguez Hills, specializing in journalism and media studies, new media and culture