What Makes Violence Legitimate? Who Gets to Decide?

-

 

By Chaddrick Thomas


Violence is everywhere.

In our headlines. In our prisons. In our schools. In our foreign policy.

But somehow, we’ve convinced ourselves that some violence is righteous, and some is criminal.


The only difference?

Who’s holding the power when it happens.

The Double Standard Is By Design


A protestor breaks a window, and the whole city goes on lockdown.

But an officer kneels on a man’s neck for 9 minutes and gets a press release saying “incident under investigation.”


A teenage boy throws a punch and gets tried as an adult.

But a politician signs off on airstrikes that kill entire families and gets reelected for being “strong on national security.”


The message is clear:

Violence is only legitimate when it serves the state.

Legitimacy Is a Lie Wrapped in a Uniform


They call it law enforcement.

They call it national defense.

They call it public safety.


But it’s all just packaged violence.

And the people who deliver it are protected, praised, and paid—while people like me are discarded as if we invented aggression.


I didn’t invent violence.
I just wasn’t authorized to use it.

Who Decides What’s “Too Far”?


If a government assassinates someone, it’s strategic.

If a battered woman fights back, it’s “excessive.”

If a community organizes patrols to protect themselves from police violence, it’s “militant.”

But if the police roll up in riot gear, it’s “standard procedure.”


See, the issue isn’t what was done.

It’s who did it.


That’s what legitimacy means in America—the violence we’re supposed to ignore.

The Real Question Isn’t “What Did You Do?”—It’s “Who Are You to Do It?”


When people like me commit violence, they don’t ask what happened to us.

They don’t ask what we were trying to survive.

They don’t ask what trauma we carried, what options we didn’t have, or what system funneled us into that moment.


They just ask: “How many years should we give him?”


But when cops kill, when soldiers kill, when systems kill—

They ask: “Was it justified?”


And that’s the whole problem.

CALL TO ACTION: Reclaim the Right to Define

  1. Stop letting the state define what violence is and isn’t.

  2. Ask who benefits from the labels “legitimate” and “criminal.”

  3. Demand the same context and compassion for community survival as they give to the state.

  4. Challenge the idea that uniforms, gavels, and titles make brutality more acceptable.

Next Up: “The Fear of Redemption: Why They Can’t Let Us Be Human”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Lawyer Fell Asleep During Trial—And the Justice System Let It Happen

-
Image
  By Chaddrick Thomas In the fall of 2003, I sat in a federal courtroom in Tampa, Florida, on trial for bank robbery. It was United States v. Chaddrick Thomas, Bobby Lamar Albritton, and James Range. Three of us on trial. Four former co-defendants turned government witnesses: Scotty Carpenter, David Vicker, Ava Jackson, and Nene Burns. The odds were already stacked. But nothing—nothing—could have prepared me for what happened next. My court-appointed attorney, Thomas Ostrander, fell asleep during trial. Repeatedly. Not Just a Quick Nap—He Was Snoring He didn’t doze off for a second. He wasn’t just tired. He slept. Hard. He snored in open court. He missed witness testimony. He missed cross-examinations. He missed pieces of my life being carved away one statement at a time. At one point, I nudged him awake and he jumped up shouting, “No questions for the witness, Your Honor!” But there was no one on the stand. The U.S. Marshal, Lisa Alphonso, saw it. The Court Security Officer saw it...
Read more

The Church That Never Let Go:

-
Image
  A Love Letter to Antioch Missionary Baptist Church By Chaddrick Thomas There’s a scripture in Proverbs that says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17). After more than two decades in prison, I can tell you with every fiber of my being that these words are not just poetry—they’re a living truth. For me, that truth has a name. It’s not just an idea or a concept. It’s a place. A people. A home. That truth is Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Plant City, Florida. I grew up in the pews of that little church on Horton Road. I sang in the choir, my voice cracking as a young boy trying to keep up with the seasoned saints. I didn’t know then what that church would come to mean to me. Back then, church was just Sunday tradition. It was fried chicken after service, choir rehearsal during the week, and Vacation Bible School in the summer. But now, as I sit in a cell surrounded by concrete and steel, I realize something I didn’t see befor...
Read more

“Survival for Sale: How Colorado’s Prison System Turned Human Needs into Behavioral Currency”

-
Image
  By Chaddrick Thomas When you think of prison incentives, you might imagine rewards: extra phone time, a bonus commissary item, maybe early access to rec. But in Colorado, incentives don’t enhance your life. They determine whether or not you survive it. This isn’t a system built on growth. It’s built on control. And the DOC’s weapon of choice? Necessity. The Bait-and-Starve Blueprint Let’s be clear: nothing about this is accidental. Years ago, incarcerated people across Colorado’s prisons had access to basic, humane standards of living: Decent food with some variety and nutrition Mattresses that didn’t destroy your spine Educational programs that were hard-earned but fairly accessible A basic expectation of medical care—even if flawed Then came the Incentive Pod system. Quietly, strategically, and systematically, the Department began to strip these essentials from general population units. Food quality declined. Mattresses were replaced with glorified g...
Read more