Well, I wasn't originally going to post anything but this thread has been at times comical.
First, as a law enforcement officer, if there are members here who think there is some kind of systemic "brutality" happening, feel free to step up and take calls with me. I will not say "brutality" doesn't exist; after all, human beings are policing their fellow citizens, and human beings are never perfect. But I will say it is very rare when consider the levels of "brutality" and criminality among the general population. Agencies (the vast majority) do their very best to screen out undesireable candidates for LEO positions. But no screening system is perfect (since the system is created by law enforcement).
I also have no problem if Kaepernick wants to protest. I just think it's laughable that he's protesting something that respects the lives of the military members (and not necessarily our government) who gave portions of -- or the entirety of -- their lives defending our freedoms... but then claims he loves the U.S. military. He has a factually inaccurate opinion about law enforcement in the U.S., but he can have that opinion. It's just that his "protest" has nothing to do with his factually inaccurate "opinion" or his "life experiences".
I can say, though, after getting into a law enforcement-only FB discussion yesterday (along with some other ponderings I've had about law enforcement versus some supposedly victimized class of citizen), I came away a bit shocked. I might start my own "off topic" thread about that later. What I realized is that no matter whether a use-of-force situation is justified or not, whether protesters/rioters are correct or not, it is that there are some blacks in this county that FEEL the way they do about law enforcement. The facts are mostly irrelevant when it comes to emotions. So the question is, what really is the causation for some blacks feeling the way they do, and how do communities and law enforcement reach out and make changes that will have a positive affect on those perceptions? I'm thinking this has more to do with socio-economics and not law enforcement, along with poor minorities being used as pawns by politicians on a near-constant basis.
Personally, I wished we could stop putting some kind of label on people for racial reasons, since race is predominantly based on geography. The only people who benefit from creating racial cliques are the politicians (and lately, it is mostly the liberal politicians doing so).
Just my rant/$.02.