Big props to Jeremy Saulnier who wrote and directed Rebel Ridge. Recommend.
The film covers so much of what is wrong with US policing, in an action packed drama movie. It also covers the evil and racism in the system vs the individual. I don't think a cop calls a Black person the N-Word once in the whole movie.
*Civil asset forfeiture
*Cash bail and prison violence
*Why Black folk don't give statements
*The power of sheriffs in small towns
*Violence of the war on drugs
I love that millions of people will watch the movie, and go:
👩🏼Wait, the civil asset part is made up right?
🧔🏿♂️No, that's totally real.
👩🏼OK, but they can't just like, pull you over and take your money if you can prove that it's yours, right?
🧔🏿♂️No, they can.
👩🏼OK, but like... that doesn't happen very often in real life right?
🧔🏿♂️No, it happens a lot. Cops steal more through civil asset forfeiture than all other forms of burglary combined. Mostly from poor Black folk, as depicted in the movie.
2/N
@mekkaokereke Definitely the first time I ran across a description of civil asset forfiture (many years ago) it was so bonkers I thought the description had to be wrong...but it wasn't.
