The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[derspiess]

Does it matter whether or not the driver should've been pulled over?

Technically the cop had reason to pull DuBose over.  He was driving without a license plate on the front bumper (he had one on the back). State law currently says you have to have them on both front and back, but that is something that is usually overlooked.  When he pulled DuBose over, he asked DuBose for his license and DuBose wouldn't answer whether he had it or not.  Then the cop noticed an open (?) container of alcohol in the floor of the vehicle.

If he fails to comply with very simple orders given by the police and then tries to drive away with a cop hanging in the window he's not without fault in this.

It's not clear to me that the cop was hanging in the window while the car was moving, and if he was I wonder how he was able to shoot his pistol at DuBose. 

Going straight for your gun in this situation is way way too much though. Also leaning inside the car (I guess to turn the engine off) also is pretty fucking stupid.

The best I can piece together was that the cop was opening the door to begin the arrest procedure (I've seen a video where the correct procedure was detailed).  DuBose then pulled the door back to shut it, then some sort of scuffling ensued and the cop shot DuBose.

[derspiess]

Also, interesting to note that the lawyer for the DuBose family is one of the lawyers that defended Zimmerman

[Barrister]

Does it matter whether or not the driver should've been pulled over?

Technically the cop had reason to pull DuBose over.  He was driving without a license plate on the front bumper (he had one on the back). State law currently says you have to have them on both front and back, but that is something that is usually overlooked.  When he pulled DuBose over, he asked DuBose for his license and DuBose wouldn't answer whether he had it or not.  Then the cop noticed an open (?) container of alcohol in the floor of the vehicle.

If he fails to comply with very simple orders given by the police and then tries to drive away with a cop hanging in the window he's not without fault in this.

It's not clear to me that the cop was hanging in the window while the car was moving, and if he was I wonder how he was able to shoot his pistol at DuBose. 

Going straight for your gun in this situation is way way too much though. Also leaning inside the car (I guess to turn the engine off) also is pretty fucking stupid.

The best I can piece together was that the cop was opening the door to begin the arrest procedure (I've seen a video where the correct procedure was detailed).  DuBose then pulled the door back to shut it, then some sort of scuffling ensued and the cop shot DuBose.

Everything the cop did seems to be fine, up until he shoots a fleeing suspect.  You don't get to do that.

[jimmy olsen]

He also lied about it and the thin blue line back him up.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/07/29/the_sam_dubose_police_report_is_full_of_falsehoods_from_ray_tensing_s_colleagues.html

The Sam Dubose Police Report Is Full of Falsehoods From Ray Tensing's Fellow Officers

By Jeremy Stahl

After University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing was charged with murdering Sam Dubose, an unarmed black man who had been pulled over on a traffic stop, it was clear that the police body cam video of the shooting played an enormous role in the indictment.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said a prosecution became urgent "especially after we saw the tape."

"I think it's a good idea for police to wear them," Deters said when he was asked if there would have been a prosecution without the video. "Because nine times out of 10 it clears them of wrongdoing. And in this case, it obviously led to an indictment for murder."

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley added that "this case is going to help the cause of body cameras across the country."

Mark O'Mara, a lawyer representing Dubose's family, was even more forceful.

"If we didn't have a video, I do not believe we would have had an indictment," he said.

In a press conference Dubose's sister, Terina Allen, gave the most emotionally powerful argument about the importance of having the recording from Tensing's body camera.

"If it were not for that video camera, Sam would be no different than all of the other [unindicted police shootings of black men], because the second officer was ready to corroborate every lie that the first officer said in the report," Allen said.

Allen raised the important point that Tensing's story that he was dragged by the car before shooting—which Deters roundly rejected and cannot be seen anywhere in the video—was backed up by his fellow officers.

Reading the initial police report after having watched the video is a frightful lesson on the lengths to which officers will go to protect one another.

In the report, Tensing tells the reporting officer—Eric Weibel—that "he was attempting a traffic stop ... when, at some point, he began to be dragged by a male black driver who was operating a 1998 Green Honda Accord."

"Officer Tensing stated that he almost was run over by the driver of the Honda Accord and was forced to shoot the driver with his duty weapon," Weibel's report continues.

Later, "Tensing repeated that he was being dragged by the vehicle and had to fire his weapon."

As Deters noted, and as you can see by slowing the video down, Tensing fired almost immediately as Dubose's car began to roll away.

Tensing's claim that he only shot after he was dragged, though, was supported by a second officer who claimed to be on the scene named Phillip Kidd.

"Officer Kidd told me that he witnessed the Honda Accord drag Officer Tensing, and that he witnessed Officer Tensing fire a single shot," Weibel's report reads.

Tensing also claimed to be injured by Dubose. But Deters contradicted that as well, saying, "No, he wasn't dragged. He fell backwards after he shot him in the head."

Again, Tensing's fellow officers backed up the claim of injuries at the hand of Dubose. In dispatcher audio of the incident, the New York Times reported that you can hear another officer saying Tensing was injured. In the report itself, the responding officer seems to attempt to back up his colleague.

"Looking at Officer Tensing's uniform, I could see that the back of his pants and shirt looked as if it had been dragged over a rough surface," Weibel wrote. "I suggested to Officer Tensing that he should go to the hospital for an examination."

The video shows Tensing chasing the car, which went out of control when Dubose was killed, after firing his shot, not being "dragged over a rough surface."

Deters made a point to emphasize that the video clearly demonstrates that the shooting was not standard operating procedure, or the appropriate split-second decision of a cop who was just trying to protect himself. "He wasn't dealing with somebody who was wanted for murder. He was dealing with somebody who didn't have a front license plate," Deters said. "If he's starting to roll away just, seriously, let him go. I mean you don't have to shoot him in the head."

The police report and the various embellishments or outright lies Tensing's brothers in arms told in order to back up his account are the clearest evidence supporting Allen's belief that her brother's killer would not be facing prosecution without a video.

But it's not the only evidence. As the Washington Post's Wesley Lowery and Mark Berman noted, "Police officers are rarely charged after fatally shooting people. A Washington Post investigation found that thousands of police shootings over the last decade have resulted in a few dozen officers being charged."

According to a Post database tracking police shootings, more than 550 people have been shot and killed by cops this year alone and only three officers had been charged with crimes. In two of the previous shootings where cops were actually held accountable in some way, there was video evidence.

As for what happens next for officers Kidd and Weibel, who supported Tensing's false account, Deters said the city was "looking at the issue" at the urging of the Dubose family.

Weibel's report did get one thing right—perhaps the most important thing. It concludes by saying "Officer Tensing stated that the incident was caught on his University issued body camera."

[sbr]

This is why I have no problem generalizing and calling all cops racist murdering pig fuckers.

[Barrister]

This is why I have no problem generalizing and calling all cops racist murdering pig fuckers.

and I have no problem calling you a fucking asshole.

[DGuller]

I think it's time to charge cops under RICO statutes.  The thin blue line is not materially different from mafia omerta, and should be combatted with the same tools.  I would even be in favor of lenient pleas for the murdering cops if they sell out their co-conspirators as part of the deal.

[DGuller]

This is why I have no problem generalizing and calling all cops racist murdering pig fuckers.

and I have no problem calling you a fucking asshole.

I think there is more than enough evidence to claim that the vast majority of cops will commit felonies to cover up for their racist and murdering collegues.  Not sure about the pig fucking collegues, though, there haven't been too many public cases about that.

[Barrister]

I think it's time to charge cops under RICO statutes.  The thin blue line is not materially different from mafia omerta, and should be combatted with the same tools.  I would even be in favor of lenient pleas for the murdering cops if they sell out their co-conspirators as part of the deal.

[Barrister]

This is why I have no problem generalizing and calling all cops racist murdering pig fuckers.

and I have no problem calling you a fucking asshole.

I think there is more than enough evidence to claim that the vast majority of cops will commit felonies to cover up for their racist and murdering collegues.  Not sure about the pig fucking collegues, though, there haven't been too many public cases about that.

[DGuller]

Yes, Beeb, we all know that you personally know many cops, and that they are all upstanding citizens who will never tolerate even their collegues tying their ties with an improper knot.  I do not doubt that you truly sincerely believe that.

[Barrister]

Yes, Beeb, we all know that you personally know many cops, and that they are all upstanding citizens who will never tolerate even their collegues tying their ties with an improper knot.  I do not doubt that you truly sincerely believe that.

[DGuller]

Do you have anything substantive to say?  I mean, in this particular incident, we have cops falsifying their reports.  In the South Carolina case, we have at least one cop on tape participating in the cover-up.  We also appear to have very few cases of murders by cops brought to light due to the testimony of their collegues rather than due to videos that surface.  Do you have anything to say about that, or are you going to continue with your Pat Lynch schtick?

[Barrister]

Do you have anything substantive to say?  I mean, in this particular incident, we have cops falsifying their reports.  In the South Carolina case, we have at least one cop on tape participating in the cover-up.  We also appear to have very few cases of murders by cops brought to light due to the testimony of their collegues rather than due to videos that surface.  Do you have anything to say about that, or are you going to continue with your Pat Lynch schtick?

I'm going to continue with how I treated Jaron back in the day:

[DGuller]

I won't speak for everyone authoritatively, but if I had to guess, I would say that you're not fooling anyone with your "Jaron treatment".