Facebook Follies of Friends and Families

[Valmy]

But of course, if I were to violently resist arrest anything can happen. I call that suicide attempt by cop, although I suspect that the suicide success rate differs between countries.

And again, torture to death when subdued seems to be something that happens in developing countries and the US.

I am sure many different interesting scenarios could play out if you do certain things in Sweden.

However the claim was made that so long as you do not break the law you will be left alone by the police, but it is not the job of the police to make that determination only to suspect you have broken the law. Clearly many people interact with the police who did not break the law.

[Threviel]

Well, I haven't read any stories about random guys on the street being killed by cops, it mostly seems to happen when someone has called the cops for some reason.

My point was that if you happen to be arrested by the cops for any reason in any country some bad shit can happen if you violently resist arrest. Which was what happened to the guy in Atlanta.

Perhaps I am misinformed and US police regularly kills random people at random times without any cause besides skin colour?

[Zoupa]

I would say you are misinformed, yes.

[Barrister]

Well, I haven't read any stories about random guys on the street being killed by cops, it mostly seems to happen when someone has called the cops for some reason.

My point was that if you happen to be arrested by the cops for any reason in any country some bad shit can happen if you violently resist arrest. Which was what happened to the guy in Atlanta.

Perhaps I am misinformed and US police regularly kills random people at random times without any cause besides skin colour?

Take Phillando Castille, one of the more egregious examples over the last few years.  From wiki:

Castile was pulled over as part of a traffic stop[25] by Yanez and Kauser in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, a suburb of Saint Paul.[26][9][22] Castile and Reynolds were returning from shopping at a grocery store; earlier that evening, Castile had gone for a haircut, eaten dinner with his sister, and picked up his girlfriend from his apartment in St. Paul.[27]

A St. Anthony police officer patrolling Larpenteur Avenue radioed to a nearby squad that he planned to pull over the car and check the IDs of the driver and passenger, saying, "The two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery. The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just because of the wide-set nose. I couldn't get a good look at the passenger."[28][29] At 9:04 p.m. CDT, the officer told a nearby officer that he would wait for him to make the stop.[28]

The stop took place on Larpenteur Avenue at Fry Street,[3] just outside the Minnesota state fairgrounds,[30] at about 9:05 p.m. CDT.[31] Riding in a [28] white 1997 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight LS[25][32] with Castile were his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four-year-old daughter.[3][4] Castile was the driver, Reynolds was the front-seat passenger, and the child was in the back seat.[33] "According to investigators, Yanez approached the car from the driver's side, while Kauser approached it from the passenger side."[31]

The police dashcam video[34] shows that 40 seconds elapsed between when Yanez first started talking to Castile through the car window and when Yanez began shooting at him. According to the dashcam, after Yanez asked for Castile's driver's license and proof of insurance, Castile gave him his proof of insurance card, which Yanez appeared to glance at and tuck in his outer pocket. Castile then calmly informed Yanez: "Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me."[35] Quoting the Star Tribune description of the next 13 seconds of the video:

Before Castile completed the sentence, Yanez interrupted and calmly replied, "OK," and placed his right hand on the holster of his own holstered weapon. Yanez said, "Okay, don't reach for it, then ... don't pull it out." Castile responded, "I'm not pulling it out," and Reynolds also said, "He's not pulling it out." Yanez repeated, raising his voice, "Don't pull it out!" as he quickly pulled his own gun with his right hand and reached inside the driver's window with his left hand. Reynolds screamed, "No!" Yanez removed his left arm from the car and fired seven shots in the direction of Castile in rapid succession. Reynolds yelled, "You just killed my boyfriend!" Castile moaned and said, "I wasn't reaching for it." Reynolds loudly said, "He wasn't reaching for it." Before she completed her sentence, Yanez again screamed, "Don't pull it out!" Reynolds responded, "He wasn't." Yanez yelled, "Don't move! Fuck!"[35]

Of the seven shots fired by Yanez at point blank range, five hit Castile and two of those hit and pierced his heart.[6] Events immediately after the shooting were streamed live in a 10-minute video by Reynolds via Facebook.[33] The recording appears to begin seconds after Castile was shot, just after 9:00 p.m. CDT.[9] The video depicts Castile slumped over, moaning and moving slightly, with a bloodied left arm and side.[33] In the video, Reynolds is speaking with Yanez and explaining what happened. Reynolds stated on the video that Yanez "asked him for license and registration. He told him that it was in his wallet, but he had a pistol on him because he's licensed to carry." Castile did have a license to carry a gun.[36] Reynolds further narrated that the officer said, "Don't move" and as Castile was putting his hands back up, the officer shot him in the arm four or five times. Reynolds told the officer, "You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir."[3][26] Reynolds also said "Please don't tell me he's dead", while Yanez exclaimed: "I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand open!"[28]

He was pulled over because the officer thought he looked like a suspect in a robbery.  He hadn't done anything wrong.  He did everything he was supposed to do.  He was shot dead anyways.

Officer was acquitted of murder by the jury.

[Threviel]

Yes, but he was pulled over for a reason. That's just a fucked up story. Incompetent police and some idiot walking around with a gun for no reason, just a recipe for disaster.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for police reform and I find the unnecessary killings horrible. I'm just saying that not all police shootings are unjustified, they are not all evil murderers.

[garbon]

Yes, but he was pulled over for a reason. That's just a fucked up story. Incompetent police and some idiot walking around with a gun for no reason, just a recipe for disaster.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for police reform and I find the unnecessary killings horrible. I'm just saying that not all police shootings are unjustified, they are not all evil murderers.

What a ridiculous post. I hope you'll maybe try to make sense with your next attempt.

[Valmy]

Nobody is claiming all police shooting are unjustified nor that all police are evil murderers. Well ok somebody might but that is a very small minority position.

Only that the ones that are unjustified need to be treated like the crimes they are.

[Barrister]

Yes, but he was pulled over for a reason. That's just a fucked up story. Incompetent police and some idiot walking around with a gun for no reason, just a recipe for disaster.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for police reform and I find the unnecessary killings horrible. I'm just saying that not all police shootings are unjustified, they are not all evil murderers.

The reason he was pulled over was "his broad nose made him look like a robbery suspect".  Castille didn't need a reason to carry a gun - he had the necessary permit to carry it.

[DGuller]

Daniel Shaver was another case where it seems like the cop decided he was going to shoot someone that day, and just waited for the pretext to open up.

[Threviel]

Yes, but he was pulled over for a reason. That's just a fucked up story. Incompetent police and some idiot walking around with a gun for no reason, just a recipe for disaster.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for police reform and I find the unnecessary killings horrible. I'm just saying that not all police shootings are unjustified, they are not all evil murderers.

The reason he was pulled over was "his broad nose made him look like a robbery suspect".  Castille didn't need a reason to carry a gun - he had the necessary permit to carry it.

He had similarities with a suspect, why wouldn't the cops check him out? The cop was obviously badly trained and something of an idiot and the whole thing a tragedy.

The victim didn't need to carry a gun but he did because he lives in a weird society where it's acceptable for normal people to go around with lethal weapons for no good reason at all. That the could even get a permit to walk around with a gun is absurd, it's no wonder cops are nervous.

[Syt]

It is a bit sad that they think it is merely because some group finds the statue offensive.

But false equivalency has never once stopped them, so no reason to be surprised here either.

Also, Clinton's and Obama's presidencies were both longer than the Confederacy lasted.

[Eddie Teach]

The Civil War was the longest four years in US history, up until 2016.

[garbon]

Yes, but he was pulled over for a reason. That's just a fucked up story. Incompetent police and some idiot walking around with a gun for no reason, just a recipe for disaster.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for police reform and I find the unnecessary killings horrible. I'm just saying that not all police shootings are unjustified, they are not all evil murderers.

The reason he was pulled over was "his broad nose made him look like a robbery suspect".  Castille didn't need a reason to carry a gun - he had the necessary permit to carry it.

He had similarities with a suspect, why wouldn't the cops check him out? The cop was obviously badly trained and something of an idiot and the whole thing a tragedy.

The victim didn't need to carry a gun but he did because he lives in a weird society where it's acceptable for normal people to go around with lethal weapons for no good reason at all. That the could even get a permit to walk around with a gun is absurd, it's no wonder cops are nervous.

Right so you are a total idiot.

[Zoupa]

There's no point, garb. Let him live in his stupid bubble.

[Threviel]

Right so you are a total idiot.

I believe that if a police officer sees someone that he believes resembles some known hunted criminal it's quite reasonable that he investigates said someone.

I believe it unreasonable that civilians walk around with guns if they have no particular reason to do it.

I believe that many US police officers seem badly trained.

I believe that a society where everyone can be armed with hidden weapons it probably makes police a bit jumpy.

If that makes me an idiot, so be it.