What Happened Before The Video

It is a familiar trolling question following the release of video that show police beating, yelling at, manhandling, stomping, tasering, choking and, of course, shooting Black men and women:

“What happened before the video?” someone invariably asks, as if there is something that justifies the brutality we witness with every new video.

The question is posed as a faux concern and purposeful deflection to the horror of the latest video of police brutality.