Let me repeat something for folks that didn't hear it the first time: Black people did not love OJ.

OJ was basically the Kanye West of the 80s. He even hung out with the Kardashians! He was one of those anti-Black, pro-Reagan, Black Republican type celebrities.

This is not about OJ. At all.

It's entirely possible to show empathy for the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, dislike OJ and suspect his guilt, and be against systemic racism, all at the same time.

The advent of smartphones and body worn police cameras has changed white folks' perception of how often the police lie, brutalize Black people, and plant evidence. It hasn't changed Black people's opinions, because we already knew the truth. We didn't need smartphones. We got the Augmented Reality interactive experience.

You have to understand that at the time of the OJ trial, most of the United States still believed that Black folk were making all of the stories of police brutality up. 🤷🏿‍♂️

With George Floyd, the world witnessed just one police officer cruelly asphyxiate one Black man in cold blood. The star witness in the OJ trial, the cop that found most of the evidence, was a racist that boasted about LA cops strangling about a dozen Black men to death.

"We stopped the choke because a bunch of [N-words] have a bunch of these organizations in the south end, and because all [N-words] are choked out and killed -- twelve in ten years. Really is extraordinary, isn't it?"

And he bragged that he's better than most cops because he has the "courage" to just kill suspects he doesn't like by shooting them in the back, and shooting to kill, not just to stop, and working with a partner to cover up the murder.

And he talked about a particular suspect that he plans to kill if he is ever alone with that person. That would be premeditated murder.

This "highly decorated cop" also bragged about planting evidence against Black people to secure guilty verdicts in the past.

When OJ was arrested, a sample of blood was drawn from him, to compare DNA against crime scene samples. Let's say they withdrew X units of blood. Makes sense.

But instead of that blood being taken from where it was drawn from OJ, directly to the lab, that blood was taken *to the crime scene* by the same racist officer that has admitted to planting evidence in the past. 🤦🏿‍♂️

When the blood eventually did show up at the lab, some of it was "missing." Only Y units showed up at the lab. Y < X.🤦🏿‍♂️

After the blood took this little detour, a bunch of OJ's blood was found at the scene.🤔

But the LAPD's own blood splatter expert testified that this blood was placed there *after the crime*, and was almost certainly blood *from a medical collection tube*.

Because it did not spatter like real normal blood would have, it didn't separate, and because the blood contained the chemical anti-coagulant found at the bottom of blood sample tubes.🤡

When that star witness police officer was asked point blank if he had planted the evidence, he invoked the 5th amendment.

For folks outside the US: The 5th amendment is invoked when a person feels that saying anything further could incriminate themselves.

Instead of saying, "No, I did not plant evidence at the OJ Simpson crime scene," he said, "I'm not answering any more questions, because I might incriminate myself."

That star witness was also caught lying under oath during the OJ trial, committing perjury. Specifically, he lied about his racism.

Most people that are convinced that OJ did it, believe that based on evidence found by this one police officer. It really comes down to if you believe that a cop that has admitted to planting evidence in the past, is caught lying under oath during this trial, and pleads the 5th rather than saying "I did not plant evidence here again," could have planted evidence.

It was a referendum on the fairness of Los Angeles policing.

Many Black people's views on OJ:

* He probably did it
* Had motive and opportunity
* It's often the husband
* OJ is a bad person anyway
* I don't want a murderer to go free. I want people to see how evil LA policing is.
* Johnny Cochran exposed what we've been saying all along
* OJ may have killed 2 innocent people, but cops kill dozens of innocent Black people
* Cops lie in court. They plant false evidence.
* I like Johnny Cochran!

@mekkaokereke

When the OJ jury delivered their verdict, my boss (white), co-worker (Asian), and I (Black) gathered around the radio at the office to hear it. They both gasped. I just nodded.

Do I think OJ Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman? Yes. Do I think he was legally guilty of murder? No.