Black man fearing US police will kill him flees to Canada

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**Dreadclaw69**

In today's whimsical Funday Friday news

http://news.yahoo.com/black-man-fearing-us-police-kill-him-flees-183703096.html

Ottawa (AFP) - An American citizen has applied for asylum in Canada because he says he fears police in the United States will kill him because he is black, the refugee board said Thursday.

Kyle Lydell Canty, 30, filed a refugee claim soon after arriving in Vancouver in September.

According to public broadcaster CBC, he told an Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) hearing on October 23: "I'm in fear of my life because I'm black.

"This is a well-rounded fear," he said, citing the police shooting of Michael Brown in Missouri and the death of Eric Garner in New York City at the hands of police as examples of black people in the United States "being exterminated at an alarming rate."

An IRB spokeswoman said Canty submitted a significant amount of evidence to the board including media reports, and videos of his interactions with police in six US states where he lived before coming to Canada, including one where he was arrested for trespass in Salem, Oregon after he spent two hours talking on the phone and using free Wi-Fi at a bus station.

He argued that he was harassed or targeted by US police because of his race.

There has been a heightened focus on police brutality in the United States after a string of incidents -- some deadly -- involving law enforcement officials and African Americans.

The latest incident this week involved a white police officer who was filmed manhandling a disruptive black female student in a high school in South Carolina.

Canty represented himself at the IRB hearing. Although he was reportedly commended by the board for presenting a strong case, Canty faces an uphill battle to stay in Canada as only a handful of US citizens are granted asylum in this country each year.

An estimated 200 war resisters fled to Canada during the Iraq conflict and were sent home after their claims were rejected, or now live underground.

Canada previously welcomed tens of thousands of American draft dodgers during the Vietnam War era.

But the Immigration and Refugee Board has said in a decision supported by the federal court that US asylum seekers are not conventional refugees under UN High Commissioner for Refugees rules, nor in need of protection.

Accordingly, their refugee claims have been denied.

**LordofHats**

I totally agree we have an issue with African Americans and law enforcement, but this is just silly. Talk about a wild overreaction.

**Daemonhammer**

<sarcastic joke>
If i lived in the US i would try to run too, all it takes is if a cop dosent like the way i look and the next thing i know i have 5 "warning shots" in my back, go to prison for resisting arrest and have to pay half a million dollars in medical bills.
</sarcastic joke>

**hotsauceman1**

There is a post on facebook circulating around which amounts to
A black guy who was carrying was pulled over bor a broken taillight. Tells the officer he has a gun that is concealed, but has a permit. Officer says he has to disarm him. The man complies gets out. He then finds his card is out of date for the gun. He has Two infractions now. The Officers let him off telling him to get if fixed because he is so nice. The guy is also wearing a black hoodie.
The story amounts to. Be polite to police, understand they have a gakky job and you will be fine.
You see every one of these "Guy got killed by police" and you realize if they where polite, didnt do stupid gak, they would be alive.
I sometimes wonder if, and im gonna catch a lot of gak for this, that black people are internalizing there hatred of police, to the point this stuff is self perpetuating.

**Ahtman**

What is important is that you are using an anecdotal Facebook stories to reinforce your own views, then share them with others!

**curran12**

hotsauceman1 wrote:
There is a post on facebook circulating around which amounts to
A black guy who was carrying was pulled over bor a broken taillight. Tells the officer he has a gun that is concealed, but has a permit. Officer says he has to disarm him. The man complies gets out. He then finds his card is out of date for the gun. He has Two infractions now. The Officers let him off telling him to get if fixed because he is so nice. The guy is also wearing a black hoodie.
The story amounts to. Be polite to police, understand they have a gakky job and you will be fine.
You see every one of these "Guy got killed by police" and you realize if they where polite, didnt do stupid gak, they would be alive.
I sometimes wonder if, and im gonna catch a lot of gak for this, that black people are internalizing there hatred of police, to the point this stuff is self perpetuating.

And there's a check for victim blaming!

**DarkTraveler777**

Ahtman wrote:
What is important is that you are using an anecdotal Facebook stories to reinforce your own views, then share them with others!

LOL. Exalted.

hotsauce, honest question: if you think that black people are creating problems for themselves with their bias towards police is it possible that the police are also creating problems for themselves due to biases they have regarding people of color? Surely if one group can do it then another group could too, right?

As for the whole "policing is hard, be nice to cops or else they'll shoot you" justification you have for police brutality... why do you want to live in a society that has to tip-toe around law enforcement?

Why are you okay labeling police as emotionally insecure loose cannons that require ego stroking in order to be kept in line?

**Grey Templar**

2 wrongs don't make a right. Yes, we have issues with some of the police forces in certain areas in this country. There is also a huge problem on the other side of the coin too.

**Peter Wiggin**

As someone who has lived in the ghetto for a sustained amount of time, and watched who kills who, how many people die per year, and how many of them are killed by police....this guy is a [MOD EDIT - DON'T TRY TO 'WORKAROUND' THE EXPLETIVE FILTER - ALPHARIUS] idiot.

**Xenomancers**

Ahtman wrote:
What is important is that you are using an anecdotal Facebook stories to reinforce your own views, then share them with others!

What is the difference between anecdotal stories about events that actually occurred and news that reports what "happened" when it actually didn't "happen" at all like they said? The answer my friend is one is the truth - and one is a lie.

**Peter Wiggin**

hotsauceman1 wrote:
There is a post on facebook circulating around which amounts to
A black guy who was carrying was pulled over bor a broken taillight. Tells the officer he has a gun that is concealed, but has a permit. Officer says he has to disarm him. The man complies gets out. He then finds his card is out of date for the gun. He has Two infractions now. The Officers let him off telling him to get if fixed because he is so nice. The guy is also wearing a black hoodie.
The story amounts to. Be polite to police, understand they have a gakky job and you will be fine.
You see every one of these "Guy got killed by police" and you realize if they where polite, didnt do stupid gak, they would be alive.
I sometimes wonder if, and im gonna catch a lot of gak for this, that black people are internalizing there hatred of police, to the point this stuff is self perpetuating.

Yep, saw that last night. Its real talk. I'll go ahead and say its NOT just "black people" that are internalizing their hatred of cops. Plenty of idiot white people do that same thing.

Interestingly, latin/hispanic folks and asian folks seem to be a lot more....realistic?....in their view on police. Sikh's too. Now I understand that I'm speaking in broad generalities, but I'm lucky enough to be on a large campus with a huge degree of diversity and I talk to a LOT of folks about this stuff. I'm also not saying that people "like" police, I mean who does? There does seem to be a more polarized opinion w/black & white folks though. Plus a more consistent misunderstanding of the social contract which gives police the right to use violence if you treat them with violence. (most of the time you also have that right if you are in your own home or have no reasonable means of egress when presented with violent threats)

I think thats interesting. <shrug>

**Dreadclaw69**

LordofHats wrote:
I totally agree we have an issue with African Americans and law enforcement, but this is just silly. Talk about a wild overreaction.

With so many spurious claims this one presented to Canadian immigration officials definitely has a special place

**sirlynchmob**

Grey Templar wrote:
2 wrongs don't make a right. Yes, we have issues with some of the police forces in certain areas in this country. There is also a huge problem on the other side of the coin too.

what other side is that? there's a huge problem with cops not using enough force?

**timetowaste85**

I agreed with Hotsauce until the last statement. I've been pulled over in work vehicles recently and a couple times in rental cars. Each time was a different cop. I was polite, friendly, honest and didn't give them any lip or arguments. Only one gave me a ticket, and when he found out what I do for work was super apologetic about it (insisted he had to do one anyway but lowered it to the smallest infraction because he'd had the plate run and it "would be odd if nothing was written"). Was BS, but this was Missouri. I was still polite and wished him a good afternoon when he drove off. With all of those cops, none ended up being jerks after I was polite right away. Treat them with respect and you'll be fine. The 99/100 people who have issues with cops are usually donkey-caves. And cops are people too: they respond in kind.

I'm not afraid that I need to run off to the syrup farmers for sanctuary.

**jasper76**

The thing you learn growing up in the city, is that police are not to be trusted with almost anything.

"We must always remember that the police are recruited from the criminal classes." - Gore Vidal

It is not surprising to me to see dramatic actions from African Americans given that they have never been given a fair shake in US society. The fact that the police are too violent is not the fault of the policed. For Christ's sake, there was just a video of a cop caught red handed beating a 12 year old black girl around a class in front of her peers. It's a new world because now, unlike when I grew up, the people can record everything.

**Tactical_Spam**

What if there really isn't a problem with the police on a wide scale? What if the media makes stuff up to sell more papers and magazines because the American public eats tabloids for breakfast? I mean there were 50 or some guys the Black Lives Matter people were protesting for... 50 people over a decade or so... thats 5 people a year... Our population is 320 million... Not anything significant in anyway shape or form apart from the fact that the media reports only about White Cop on Black shootings and never Black on white shootings...

**hotsauceman1**

Tactical_Spam wrote:
What if there really isn't a problem with the police on a wide scale? What if the media makes stuff up to sell more papers and magazines because the American public eats tabloids for breakfast? I mean there were 50 or some guys the Black Lives Matter people were protesting for... 50 people over a decade or so... thats 5 people a year... Our population is 320 million... Not anything significant in anyway shape or form apart from the fact that the media reports only about White Cop on Black shootings and never Black on white shootings...

Sort like how people think Crime is at an All Time worse when Stats show its actually going down, that people think that police are bad when its just sensationalist news reporting.

**jasper76**

Tactical_Spam wrote:
What if there really isn't a problem with the police on a wide scale? What if the media makes stuff up to sell more papers and magazines because the American public eats tabloids for breakfast? I mean there were 50 or some guys the Black Lives Matter people were protesting for... 50 people over a decade or so... thats 5 people a year... Our population is 320 million... Not anything significant in anyway shape or form apart from the fact that the media reports only about White Cop on Black shootings and never Black on white shootings...

You can spout that gak all you want. Truth is, if you didn't grow up as a minority in a city with institutional racism in the police force, you don't know what you are talking about, nor can you understand the desperation of people in that situation, except perhaps through empathy or sympathy.

**Vaktathi**

I mean...this guys actions might be more than a wee bit of an overreaction, but in some places there's a kernel of truth in thinking like that, and its not exactly a recent phenomenon either

**sirlynchmob**

Tactical_Spam wrote:
What if there really isn't a problem with the police on a wide scale? What if the media makes stuff up to sell more papers and magazines because the American public eats tabloids for breakfast? I mean there were 50 or some guys the Black Lives Matter people were protesting for... 50 people over a decade or so... thats 5 people a year... Our population is 320 million... Not anything significant in anyway shape or form apart from the fact that the media reports only about White Cop on Black shootings and never Black on white shootings...

What if america still has a racial problem?

There's to many to protest them all, over 100 in the first 5 months of this year, oddly enough they are all justified, should it be pointed out otherwise the rest of their police department will stop working to defend the bad cop. see new york. So when you keep the bad cops, and the good cops defend the bad cops, it really is a problem on a wide scale.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/01/black-americans-killed-by-police-analysis
13% of the population, 29% of the victims of police shootings, 32% confirmed unarmed victims.

**stanman**

jasper76 wrote:
You can spout that gak all you want. Truth is, if you didn't grow up as a minority in a city with institutional racism in the police force, you don't know what you are talking about, nor can you understand the desperation of people in that situation, except perhaps through empathy or sympathy.

So if you need to be born black to be capable of understanding what's the point of all the protests and rallies? By not being black we'll never understand in any meaningful way, so in effect it's all pointless?

People can claim it's a color thing which in part it is, but more often it's an institutionalized oppression of people without wealth. The vast majority of people white, black, or other colors that have negative run experiences with the police are poor and don't have legal capacity to defend themselves the way that wealthy citizens do. Sure we all have the same rights on paper, but having rights is not the same as being able to afford to defend those rights with expensive lawyers.

Those coming from a background mired in poverty also tend to have lower level of education which usually results in a lack of knowledge to what their rights actually are.

**Torga_DW**

I think the moral of the story is, be polite to police officers. If they're doing something wrong, sort it out later. I've seen more police behaving badly than not in my lifetime. I'm not sure if it qualifies for refugee status though, it probably should theoretically but practically i can't see it happening.

**SilverMK2**

Was he in line behind all the people fleeing the horror of gay marriage?

**Soladrin**

Genuinely expected this to end with.

"and was killed by a mounty"

**CptJake**

jasper76 wrote:
The thing you learn growing up in the city, is that police are not to be trusted with almost anything.

"We must always remember that the police are recruited from the criminal classes." - Gore Vidal

That is about as stupid a statement as I've read. Try getting hired onto any county or municipality force when you have a criminal record. You MAY be able to with a misdemeanor or two, but that is going to b rare.

So the 'criminal classes' are not fruitful recruiting grounds.

**MrMoustaffa**

hotsauceman1 wrote:
There is a post on facebook circulating around which amounts to
A black guy who was carrying was pulled over bor a broken taillight. Tells the officer he has a gun that is concealed, but has a permit. Officer says he has to disarm him. The man complies gets out. He then finds his card is out of date for the gun. He has Two infractions now. The Officers let him off telling him to get if fixed because he is so nice. The guy is also wearing a black hoodie.
The story amounts to. Be polite to police, understand they have a gakky job and you will be fine.
You see every one of these "Guy got killed by police" and you realize if they where polite, didnt do stupid gak, they would be alive.
I sometimes wonder if, and im gonna catch a lot of gak for this, that black people are internalizing there hatred of police, to the point this stuff is self perpetuating.

As literally one of the whitest guys I know who has grown up in the South, I find that hilarious. You could be the nicest, cleanest cut, Harvard graduate out there with a squeaky clean record, and I guarantee you all it will take is your skin color and an unfortunately timed choice of clothing to get harassed by police, sometimes not even the latter.

I personally have never had a single bad run in with a cop. I get off scott free all the time because I have a slight drawl, a clean look, and am as about as white as they come. 5 minutes of friendly conversation and a couple of jokes and I was off fine for all kinds of stupid stuff (missed a stop sign, forgot my headlights, accidentally trespassed more times than I care to count, etc.)

I have friends who are far more upstanding citizens than I am, who were harassed by cops for doing far less, and several times, not arrested only because I was there in the passenger seat and had to charm the cop into just giving a warning. I've also had to start doing this for friends with California license plates in more rural areas, playing up the "good ol boy" act just to keep the cop from slapping the driver with an insane ticket because they're an out of state plate.

Not all cops are dicks, but you'd have to be insane to not notice this is a legitimate problem this nation faces right now. Doesn't help that the media plays both sides against one another when in reality law enforcement and local communities should be trying to work together in order to end this nonsense.

**DutchWinsAll**

sirlynchmob wrote:

What if america still has a racial problem?

There's to many to protest them all, over 100 in the first 5 months of this year, oddly enough they are all justified, should it be pointed out otherwise the rest of their police department will stop working to defend the bad cop. see new york. So when you keep the bad cops, and the good cops defend the bad cops, it really is a problem on a wide scale.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/01/black-americans-killed-by-police-analysis
13% of the population, 29% of the victims of police shootings, 32% confirmed unarmed victims.

And what percentage of violent crime is committed by that 13%?

The local NPR station did a radio report about cop shootings in my city. Over the last 5 years or so, 6 people were killed by police, 4 White, 2 Black. Roughly equal demographics, little bit higher on the White side. On the reverse, over the last 20 years, every cop fatally shot, which was I think 4 over 20 years or so, were all killed by Blacks. You can argue institutional racism in decades past, nowadays, not so much.

No matter the race, it's pretty easy to spot people that could have a potential to be violent criminals. It's generally not people in a shirt and tie, or pants that fit.

**Peter Wiggin**

MrMoustaffa wrote:

As literally one of the whitest guys I know who has grown up in the South, I find that hilarious. You could be the nicest, cleanest cut, Harvard graduate out there with a squeaky clean record, and I guarantee you all it will take is your skin color and an unfortunately timed choice of clothing to get harassed by police, sometimes not even the latter.

If you dress like a thug and treat cops like dirt, they'll return the favor regardless of your skin tone.

If you observe proper decorum it is VERY unlikely that anything other than a ticket or arrest for outstanding warrant will occur. Oh, and I'm also white as hell and raised in the Deep South.

**sirlynchmob**

DutchWinsAll wrote:
sirlynchmob wrote:

What if america still has a racial problem?

There's to many to protest them all, over 100 in the first 5 months of this year, oddly enough they are all justified, should it be pointed out otherwise the rest of their police department will stop working to defend the bad cop. see new york. So when you keep the bad cops, and the good cops defend the bad cops, it really is a problem on a wide scale.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/01/black-americans-killed-by-police-analysis
13% of the population, 29% of the victims of police shootings, 32% confirmed unarmed victims.

And what percentage of violent crime is committed by that 13%?

The local NPR station did a radio report about cop shootings in my city. Over the last 5 years or so, 6 people were killed by police, 4 White, 2 Black. Roughly equal demographics, little bit higher on the White side. On the reverse, over the last 20 years, every cop fatally shot, which was I think 4 over 20 years or so, were all killed by Blacks. You can argue institutional racism in decades past, nowadays, not so much.

No matter the race, it's pretty easy to spot people that could have a potential to be violent criminals. It's generally not people in a shirt and tie, or pants that fit.

Oh by all means, lets look at your city as a representative of the entire US. How about we just look at Frisco, Texas in 2013, they had no murders, none, so based on that one city, no one is ever murdered in the US. my what a peaceful country you live in.

**Ahtman**

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