The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[mongers]

How often do American cops use warning shots?

It was fired in 1966.

[garbon]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/15/nyregion/nypd-plainclothes-cops.html

N.Y.P.D. Disbands Plainclothes Units Involved in Many Shootings

The New York police commissioner announced on Monday that he was disbanding the Police Department's anti-crime units: plainclothes teams that target violent crime and have been involved in some of the city's most notorious police shootings.

Roughly 600 officers serve in the units, which are spread out across the city and work out of the department's 77 precincts and nine housing commands. They will immediately be reassigned to other duties, including the detective bureau and the department's neighborhood policing initiative, the commissioner, Dermot F. Shea, said.

Mr. Shea said the plainclothes units were part of an outdated policing model that too often seemed to pit officers against the communities they served, and that they were involved in a disproportionate number of civilian complaints and fatal shootings by the police. He said the department now depends much more on intelligence gathering and technology to fight crime and "can move away from brute force."

"This is a seismic shift in the culture of how the N.Y.P.D. polices this great city," Mr. Shea said. "It will be felt immediately in the communities that we protect."

A positive after the PBA of the NYPD had their latest attempt to appear like the victims:

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/15/nypd-officers-poisoned-shake-shack/3196868001/

NYPD says 'no criminality' after officers fall ill after drinking milkshakes at Shake Shack in Manhattan

The New York Police Department said "no criminality" had occurred after investigating whether three of its officers were poisoned after drinking milkshakes on Monday night at a Shake Shack restaurant in Manhattan.

The officers complained of "not feeling well" before being hospitalized and later released, the NYPD said in a statement to USA TODAY, and Shake Shack said via Twitter that it was "horrified" and working with police.

Chief Rodney Harrison, NYPD's chief of detectives, tweeted early Tuesday: "After a thorough investigation by the NYPD's Manhattan South investigators, it has been determined that there was no criminality by shake shack's employees."

The Detectives' Endowment Association, the labor union that represents 20,000 active and retired New York City Detectives, had earlier condemned the incident as an attack on police, claiming on Twitter that the officers were "intentionally poisoned by one or more workers."

'The major stumbling block': Powerful police unions stand in the way of structural reform, experts say

"Police in New York City and across the country are under attack by vicious criminals who dislike us simply because of the uniform we wear," DEA President Paul DiGiacomo said in a statement. "Emboldened by pandering elected officials, these cowards will go to great lengths to harm any member of law enforcement."

The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York said on Twitter, "When NYC police officers cannot even take meal without coming under attack, it is clear that environment in which we work has deteriorated to a critical level. We cannot afford to let our guard down for even a moment."

In a statement, the PBA added, "All PBA members are advised to carefully inspect any prepared food items they purchase while on duty for possible contamination."

The incident came amid ongoing national protests against policy brutality, spurred by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, and rising calls for police reform or defunding.

[Barrister]

A large part of the Twitter experience depends on who you follow. If you stay away from "controversial" accounts, and focus on topical ones (like the excellent https://twitter.com/PulpLibrarian ) relevant to your interests, then you will generally be fine.

I follow several controversial accounts.  It's still fine - just never, ever read the tweets that follow.

[Syt]

Also true.

[Berkut]

How does the fact that the guy would have a police taser in his posession when he ran away make him more dangerous to police or others?

We live in a society where it is perfectly legal for him to carry around and own an assault rifle with a couple hundred rounds of ammo at any and all times.

Police cannot use the *possible* threat of anyone as justification for shooting people - otherwise they should just start shooting everyone the moment they step out of their precinct hall, because every single person they see MIGHT be armed at a level a couple of order of magnitudes more dangerous than one guy with a taser.

[PDH]

Because he was black.

[Maladict]

A very Dutch moment in my city today: Cops get called about someone driving around pointing a gun at people. They force the car off the road, and take aim at what turns out to be an 18 year old. They talk him into surrendering, the weapon turns out to be a BB gun. No charges are made, but he has had to agree to a talk with the two police officers on their request, so they could explain how shaken up they are about having had to point their gun at an 18 year old.

[Syt]

A guy was practice shooting a crossbow yesterday in a public park. Police told him to stop doing it. He received a fine.

[Malthus]

A guy was practice shooting a crossbow yesterday in a public park. Police told him to stop doing it. He received a fine.

When I was a kid, I made a crossbow out of a car spring (my dad helped). I brought it to school with me.

The teacher loved it, we had a recess in which I got to demonstrate it in a little park outside the school.

So much about that would not be possible today. 😄

[Barrister]

A guy was practice shooting a crossbow yesterday in a public park. Police told him to stop doing it. He received a fine.

When I was a kid, I made a crossbow out of a car spring (my dad helped). I brought it to school with me.

The teacher loved it, we had a recess in which I got to demonstrate it in a little park outside the school.

So much about that would not be possible today. 😄

Crossbows are not prohibited in Canada.  But I do doubt the teachers would let you take it to school.

[Syt]

In semi-related riot news:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-16/suspects-charged-killing-santa-cruz-cop-and-oakland-federal-officer

Suspect in killing of 2 Bay Area cops tied to right-wing Boogaloo group, prosecutors allege

OAKLAND —  An Air Force sergeant suspected of killing a Santa Cruz County sheriff's sergeant will be charged, along with a Millbrae man, in the fatal shooting of a federal security officer last month in downtown Oakland, federal officials said Tuesday.

Steven Carrillo, who was charged last week in the killing of Damon Gutzwiller, the sheriff's sergeant, was aided by 30-year-old Robert Justus, of Millbrae, in the killing of 53-year-old federal security officer David Patrick Underwood, officials said. Justus drove a white van and acted as the getaway driver in the May 29 Oakland shooting, officials said.

Officials said Carrillo harbored a hatred of law enforcement and had ties to a right-wing Boogaloo group that believes a second American Civil War is coming soon.

Underwood, a 53-year-old Pinole resident, was guarding the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in Oakland amid protests nearby over police brutality and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The white van was captured on a surveillance video, officials said, which revealed that the gunman had slid open the van's side door to fire the weapon.

Carrillo, 32, was charged last week with Gutzwiller's murder and numerous other felonies. His arraignment has been postponed until next month.

An Air Force sergeant and leader in an elite military security force, Carrillo was armed with homemade bombs, an AR-15 rifle and other weapons and had a desire to harm police when he launched a deadly attack on unsuspecting officers, the Santa Cruz County sheriff said Monday.

Officials said Tuesday that Carrillo and Justus were not part of the protests and were taking advantage of them to carry out their attacks.

Brian Levin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, said Carrillo on social media including Facebook posts had become increasingly disturbing.

Levin said he said he shared memes about the so-called "Boogaloo" movement, a right-wing extremist group that anticipates civil war. Levin said the far-right groups are now more of a threat to government and law enforcement.

"Our research shows 27 far-right extremist connected homicides," Levin said i. 2019. The FBI arrested three associates of the Boogaloo movement in Nevada, recently and they were charged with inciting violence with Molotov cocktails at protests.

Levin said Boogaloo followers range from ultra libertarians to white supremacists but they all share a belief in a second Civil War coming.

"They are Second Amendment insurrectionist," Levin said. "The boogaloo boys believe in arm insurrection and include attacks on the police."

FBI Special Agent in Charge Jack Bennett said that Carrillo used a private made firearm - a so-called ghost gun built using an unmarked receiver to kill the federal officer. Bennett would not say whether Carrillo made that gun or someone else.

But yeah, Antifa are clearly the danger.

[The Brain]

A guy was practice shooting a crossbow yesterday in a public park. Police told him to stop doing it. He received a fine.

When I was a kid, I made a crossbow out of a car spring (my dad helped). I brought it to school with me.

The teacher loved it, we had a recess in which I got to demonstrate it in a little park outside the school.

So much about that would not be possible today. 😄

Crossbows are not prohibited in Canada.  But I do doubt the teachers would let you take it to school.

Canada is still considered a crusade zone?

[Valmy]

Boogaloo? As in American Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo?

[Tonitrus]

Boogaloo? As in American Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo?

Apparently, yes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boogaloo_movement

Naming and identity
The term boogaloo alludes to the 1984 cult film Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, an unsuccessful sequel to a poorly reviewed predecessor.[2] Following the film's release, the phrase "2: Electric Boogaloo" became a verbal template appended to a topic as a signal of pejorative parody.[17] The boogaloo movement adopted its identity based on the anticipation of a second American Civil War, popularly known as "Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo" among adherents.[5][18]

[Valmy]

See when you name things like that it is hard to take you seriously.