Man shot on video, cop acquitted
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...208-story.html

Watch the video. They screamed a string of orders at a terrified man. They screamed threats to kill him. Repeatedly. Any reasonable person would expect he'd become too stressed and confused to comply perfectly. So they shot him.

Jury would not convict on manslaughter. Should have, in my opinion.

They had no reasonable reason to be so crazy tactical with this guy. All they had was someone reporting seeing a rifle. No shots had been fired, he didn't have the rifle when he came out of the room, and he hadn't said one threatening word.

All the threatening words came from the cops. Including the ones engraved on the shooter's gun. "You're fucked," it said.

Man shot on video, cop acquitted
 

I watched the video and law enforcement made it very clear that if he diid not do exactly as they said he would get shot. Sure, he was scared and stressed..... so was the other person who was held by law enforcement and complied without getting shot.

No doubt the whole thing was tragic but after looking at the Video I can understand why a jury decided as they did.

Surely there was an alternative course of action. Pepper spray? Taser?

Don't know just how I would of voted if on the jury. But loos like manslaughter so far.

Like I tell myself and others in case of interaction with Police. Keep your mouth shut eyes down. Comply completely. You can't talk your way out of going to jail, that is what Lawyers are for. Most all of the time when you do you end up hurt.

This fellow should of just laid down with his arms out and not moved. The Police should of been trained to handle this better IMHO! But you give AR15 tactical training, gear and something happens in the brain.




Barney

In this country we are free men and women. Why should we automatically become sniveling wormlike creatures the minute someone in "authority" tells us to? Without any apparent reason for doing so? Have we become so authoritarian that we now just automatically prostrate ourselves to any "authority" figure screaming on command?

We're allowing "authority" much to much control over our lives in this country. That's bullshit and exactly how freedom is lost forever.

She wasn't as drunk and her pants weren't coming off? She was lucky.

This was like a field sobriety test, with screaming and death threats thrown in, and summary execution the penalty for failure.

As I said, I don't see the justification for full tactical response to this guy. They treated him like he was a proven psycho killer. All they had was a phoned-in report of seeing a gun. Not a report of shooting, and they had seen and heard nothing wrong.

It is wrong to make any fear event that happens in a cops mind, or that is said to have happened, the justification for summary execution. What we see here is the result. We have to claw our way back from this place.

Ever had a weapon pointed at you?
Does not matter if it is a "good guy" or a "bad one", same reaction applies. Shut up, eyes down, comply.

Being a JW only works in the movies a vast majority of the time.







Barney

Man shot on video, cop acquitted
 

I believe the full tactical response was because someone reported the man had a long gun of some sort.
Given recent occurrences and the location, I am not surprised they responded that way.
It was not like a sobriety test at all. The officers were responding to what was described to them as a man with a weapon in an area where there could be many potential victims.
I think the incident is tragic but I agree with Oerets, when there is a gun pointed at you, comply completely.

It is not even illegal to 'have a long gun.' And this happened back in Jan 2016, long before the attack in Las Vegas you are thinking of, so Las Vegas freakout is not an excuse. Absent actual observed lawbreaking, they were out-of-line, imho.

He was trying to comply as best he could.

What would have been so bad about getting him spread-eagled and motionless, and then going to him? Why this 'crawl to me' domination ritual? Cop mentality looks like a sickness, I kid you not.

I did not see anything about why he wasn't spread on the floor and handcuffed instead of murdered. Anybody?

Putting Las Vegas aside, I think there have been plenty of incidences of violence that would make any officer be on high alert when told he is approaching a person with a gun
Besides, I was not referring to Las Vegas specifically, but rather all the recent violent gun incidents collectively.

Do not call him a person with a gun. He was not a person with a gun. He was a person suspected of possibly having a gun. His pellet gun, the reported long gun, was obviously not with him in the hallway.

It was reported to the police that there was a man with a gun in a window.
That was the information law enforcement was operating on. They did not know what kind of gun or if the person still had the gun on him when they arrived. They responded according to procedure and the officer that fired the fatal shots was found not guilty.
You have every right to disagree with the procedure and laws that led to this outcome. You also have every right to work to change those procedures and laws if you feel so passionately about it.

The news story I linked to in message one speaks of a report of a man pointing a rifle out a hotel window. I would hope the police would have that much information. I don't say there's no reason for suspicion that he had another gun, I sure the situation demanded it. I just say that any gun besides the rife is nonetheless only a suspected gun.

I could be much more critical of the police procedure that I have been, I assure you. I actually think the procedure recorded in the video may have been designed to maximize opportunity for police to legally shoot suspects. It is needlessly provocative and humiliating, and further, it provides much scope for events to occur by mistake that the police can say were threatening.

My contributions here are a small way of doing just what you suggest--mobilizing support for change through the political process. I know with you personally, my opposition only increases your commitment to your position, that's in general how people are. But I most hope some number of readers are encouraged or even increased in their desire for reform in this area.

So, how does posting here change the laws and procedures?
I do not see how that could be effective or efficient.
Have you thought about really dong something.... like working with a group to actively advocate for change? Have you attended public hearings prior to legislation to voice your opinion?
Posting here is fine, but from what I see this is a small group of individuals who already have set opinions and who do not implement laws or procedures.
My point is.... I respect your opinion, and I support your right to discuss it and stand behind it, but I also encourage you to actually do something substantial about it if you feel that passionately about it.