The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[garbon]

I don't know if that excuses police action against said black person in the cases I listed other than that unfortunate first one.

[Eddie Teach]

I dunno, I have a feeling you'd have an easier time getting your hands on some oxy without a prescription.

[garbon]

Why would I do that? Wouldn't it make more sense to contact the family physician?

[Eddie Teach]

Not if you want large quantities to sell. Your doc's gonna have a paper trail, while losses in the warehouse would be easier to hide or overlook.

[garbon]

I don't think I am likely to want that.

[Berkut]

Look at it this way, if Garbon can roll a pair of dice and he gets shot if he rolls a 2 or 3, I'm not gonna roll those dice just because I'd have to get a 2.

You are less likely to be put in the situation to start: less likely have 911 caller scared of you, less likely to pose a threat while walking in a hoodie, less likely to be pulled over while driving normally, less likely to be called out for loitering suspiciously, etc, etc.

...and less likely to be engaging in a crime, to be brutally honest.

Well ignoring the specifics of him and, I - sure.

Well yeah - generalizations always ignore the specifics. It is what makes them so much fun!

[Eddie Teach]

I don't think I am likely to want that.

Me neither. I'd be terrible at any job involving sales.

[Sheilbh]

I like this notion that we must blindly obedient to all orders from police officers or face immediate execution. Well as long as you are brown skinned.

Yeah. It's what I find most baffling and unacceptable.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I'm not sure I see that being suggested here. I think in general it's reasonable if you fail to put your hands up, and in so failing, also make motions that could be reaching for a concealed weapon, you can expect a negative outcome. I don't think anyone expects to say, be shot in the back if a cop yells at you to "stop" and you just jog away. You might expect to be chased/detained, but not shot. I don't think anyone would expect a cop to shoot you if they told you to quit spray painting a wall and you didn't, or if they told you to say, leave a location where you were causing a disturbance. Expect something to happen? Sure, but people don't generally expect to get shot for disobeying any police order.

But if that order is put your hands in the air and your action is to reach into the folds of your clothes, I think most people familiar with police would recognize this was a perilous action.

[CountDeMoney]

But if that order is put your hands in the air and your action is to reach into the folds of your clothes, I think most people familiar with police would recognize this was a perilous action.

Simply reaching into the folds of one's clothes is not grounds for lethal force.  Officers who have shot individuals for doing that get indicted.  Reaching into the folds of one's clothes and showing the butt of a handgun is a substantially different matter.

But these Cleveland cops can't win with the post-game analysis crowd.  Because they shouldn't have fired until he actually pulled it out.  Or they shouldn't have fired until he actually pulled it out and aimed it.  Or they shouldn't have fired until he actually pulled it out, aimed it and pulled the trigger, and so on and so forth.

[OttoVonBismarck]

But if that order is put your hands in the air and your action is to reach into the folds of your clothes, I think most people familiar with police would recognize this was a perilous action.

Simply reaching into the folds of one's clothes is not grounds for lethal force.  Officers who have shot individuals for doing that get indicted.  Reaching into the folds of one's clothes and showing the butt of a handgun is a substantially different matter.

[/quote]

I'd probably rather be not-shot than be shot and have the cop that did it indicted later, though.

[grumbler]

I like this notion that we must blindly obedient to all orders from police officers or face immediate execution. Well as long as you are brown skinned.

Yeah. It's what I find most baffling and unacceptable.

In general, I find it easier to keep track of the three things that don't baffle you than the endless things that baffle you or you can't understand.  It would probably dave you a lot of time of you only noted the things that you were, in fact, capable of understanding.   

[Razgovory]

I like this notion that we must blindly obedient to all orders from police officers or face immediate execution. Well as long as you are brown skinned.

Yeah. It's what I find most baffling and unacceptable.

In general, I find it easier to keep track of the three things that don't baffle you than the endless things that baffle you or you can't understand.  It would probably dave you a lot of time of you only noted the things that you were, in fact, capable of understanding.   

Damn it Dave, I'm out of time!

[Sheilbh]

In general, I find it easier to keep track of the three things that don't baffle you than the endless things that baffle you or you can't understand.  It would probably dave you a lot of time of you only noted the things that you were, in fact, capable of understanding.   

Aye. But it's the baffling and incomprehensible that marks difference and that's where the interest is.

[garbon]

http://news.yahoo.com/michael-brown-stepfather-louis-head-apologizes-ferguson-riot-150251893.html

Michael Brown's stepfather apologizes for angry reaction to grand jury decision

Facing possible criminal charges for his angry reaction to the grand jury's decision not to charge Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of his stepson, Michael Brown's stepfather, Louis Head, apologized Wednesday.

"Something came over me as I watched and listened to my wife, the mother of Michael Brown Jr., react to the gut-wrenching news that the cop who killed her son wouldn't be charged with a crime," Head said in a statement to CNN. "My emotions admittedly got the best of me.

"This is my family," Head said. "I was so angry and full of raw emotions, as so many others were, and granted I screamed out words I shouldn't have screamed in the heat of the moment. I was wrong, and I humbly apologize to all those who read my anger and my pain as a true desire for what I want for the community."

After the decision was announced on Nov. 24, Head climbed on top of a car to comfort his wife, Leslie McSpadden, turned to the crowd and repeatedly shouted, "Burn this b---- down!" In the hours that followed, Ferguson, Mo., erupted in violent protests. Officials said two police cruisers and at least 12 buildings were set on fire and that hundreds of gunshots were fired during the demonstrations. Eighteen people were injured in the unrest, and at least 61 protesters were arrested.

On Tuesday, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson told Fox News that the department was looking into Head's comments.

"We are pursuing those comments, and there's a lot of discussion going on about that right now," Jackson said. "[We are] currently looking into this as a part of the entire investigation that includes the arsons, looting and destruction of property."

"To place blame solely on me for the conditions of our community and country after the grand jury decision goes way too far and is as wrong as the decision itself," Head's statement continued. "To declare a state of emergency and send a message of war, not peace, before a grand jury decision is announced is also wrong."

St. Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman told the Associated Press that officials are looking into Head's comments as part of a broader investigation into the arson, vandalism and looting that followed.

Head added: "In the end I've lived in this community for a long time. The last thing I truly wanted was to see it go up in flames. In spite of my frustration, it really hurt me to see that. It's time to rebuild. If we are to honor Michael Brown's memory we need to work together to make rebuilding happen. I plan to remain here and do my part in earnest truth."