The Forgotten Man: Tony Timpa
If you are saying to yourself, "who is Tony Timpa and who cares?" That's exactly the point! But you should care, because what we learn about his story will teach us about the death of George Floyd, about the state of policing in America, and the state of our news media. The short version of the story is that he died in police custody in Dallas, TX in August 2016. He had schizophrenia and depression. He wasn't taking his medication. But he did have an active cocaine habit. Obviously, he had some serious problems going on. One night while in public he had a sense that he was out of control. He felt frantic and had trouble thinking, but he knew he needed help, so he called 911. The details after that are blurry but what is certain is that police restrained his hands and feet. They put him face down on the ground and one officer kneeled on his back for close to 14 minutes. At some point before the officer got off of him, Tony...