The Shooting Gallery: Police Violence MEGATHREAD

[DGuller]

But the statistics only have police offices as the 19th most dangerous job in the country behind jobs like truck drivers and most manual laborers. It is just not the case that the common citizens, or even the criminal population, are out to get police officers.

To be fair, these kinds of arguments are quite flawed.  It's like saying that no airplane has been hijacked in over 20 years, therefore airport security and cockpits doors are a massive over-reaction.  Sometimes the danger you're protecting against appears overblown precisely because you're very good at protecting against said danger.

Maybe being a police officer isn't more dangerous than it is precisely because they shoot first, and call in an artillery barrage, and ask questions later.  If they allowed the perps to get off the first shot, maybe it would be a considerably more dangerous job than it is.

[Tonitrus]

Recent incident causing a fairly big stir in the USAF community:

Police respond to a possible domestic incident at an apartment complex, go to the suspected apartment (later found to be likely the wrong one), knock on door...Airman answers/opens door with gun in hand (pointed at the ground) and almost immediately shot several times.

Bodycam footage here (not really graphic per se, but the shooting is clearly shown):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3D9im0csDM

[Razgovory]

Well, that was... efficient.

[viper37]

I don't know if the link will be visible outside of Quebec...

A bunch of teens gathered in Quebec city, there was underage drinking (not much of a problem), bu then there started being fights and general disorderly conduct so the police intervened and proceeded to some arrest.

This is what pass as police brutality in Quebec:




One of the kid's mother is complaining in medias that her son was "violently" arrested by 4 officers after blocking a car with his scooter and hitting the car window to challenge the cop.

The entire text is here, with the videos:
https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2024/05/11/mineur-arrete-a-charlesbourg--les-policiers-sont-alles-trop-loin-selon-la-mere

[Tamas]

 

[Syt]

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article298247913.html

'Pizzagate' gunman fatally shot by police outside Charlotte in traffic stop
By Jeff A. Chamer Updated January 09, 2025 2:37 PM

The Salisbury man who died Monday after he was shot by two Kannapolis police officers over the weekend was the 'Pizzagate' gunman arrested in Washington, D.C., in 2016 after he terrified people with a loaded AR-15 inside a restaurant.

Edgar Maddison Welch, the man killed, made national headlines in 2016 when he entered Comet Ping Pong, a pizza restaurant in Washington, D.C., armed with an assault rifle and loaded revolver. He drove from Salisbury to the nation's capital in search of an alleged child sex ring linked to Hillary Clinton — something he learned about from a fake news story, The Washington Post reported.

Around 10 p.m. Saturday, Welch was sitting in the passenger seat of a gray 2001 GMC Yukon when an officer pulled it over near Cannon Boulevard, a Kannapolis Police Department press release said Thursday.

The officer recognized the vehicle, having arrested Welch in the past, and knew he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest for a felony probation violation, police said. The press release said the officer spoke with the vehicle's driver and recognized Welch in the passenger seat as two more officers arrived.

The officer that pulled the vehicle over then moved to the front passenger seat where Welch was sitting to arrest him. But when he opened the door, Welch pulled out a handgun from his jacket and pointed it at the officer, police said.

The arresting officer and a second officer at the scene shot Welch after he refused orders to drop his gun. The press release identified the two officers who fired as Caleb Tate and Brooks Jones.

The third officer, not named, did not fire his weapon, the press release said.

None of the three officers, the vehicle's driver, or a third passenger in a back seat were injured.

Welch was transported to a hospital in Cabarrus County for treatment. He was later transferred to one in Charlotte, but died from his injuries two days later.

The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is investigating and both Tate and Jones were put on administrative leave.

'Pizzagate' incident

The conspiracy theory falsely claimed the sex ring was in a back room of the restaurant, according to news reports, and believers pointed to leaked emails between Clinton and John Podesta, her 2016 presidential campaign chief, as proof. The emails were about Clinton's campaign potentially holding a fundraiser at the restaurant, but conspiracy theorists on websites like 4Chan and Reddit said it was all a disguise. And that the emails were coded in a way to secretly talk about the sex ring.

Welch decided to arm himself and investigate the restaurant. Patrons, including children, and employees fled the restaurant in fear upon seeing him and his weapons.

He fired his weapon at a door, but no one was injured as Welch searched the premises for the rumored back room that held the alleged child sex ring — neither of which existed — for 20 minutes. He left the restaurant unarmed and was arrested.

Kannapolis Director of Communications Annette Privette Keller confirmed Welch was the man involved in the Pizzagate conspiracy eight years ago.

In addition to the AR-15 and revolver, Welch also had a shotgun and shotgun shells in his vehicle in 2016. He pleaded guilty to a federal charge of interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition, and a District of Columbia charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, and was sentenced to four years in prison in June 2017.

The judge overseeing his case at the time was U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was then a district judge in Washington, D.C.

Brown Jackson also ordered Welch to three years of supervised release, to receive a mental health assessment, and to stay away from the restaurant. He was also ordered to pay $5,744 in restitution for property damage he caused at the restaurant.

Welch later apologized for his actions in an interview with The New York Times.

"I just wanted to do some good and went about it the wrong way," Welch said. "I regret how I handled the situation."

[frunk]

In my mind I always get Pizzagate confused with the Pizza Bomber, which happened in my home town.

[Barrister]

In my mind I always get Pizzagate confused with the Pizza Bomber, which happened in my home town.

That's quite the story - I've never heard of it.

Not sure why it's the "Pizza Bomber" other than the fact the guy worked delivering pizzas.  The whole "collar bomb" is very evocative though.

[viper37]

Another complaint of police brutality, this time from the lovely coty pf Granby in the Eastern Towmships.

Video first, context after.
You might need a vpn though.

https://www.latribune.ca/actualites/justice-et-faits-divers/2025/01/08/je-pensais-mourir-A2TMIHVZ3BGILFKSPPUCKQCHOQ/


So.  The dude has a bb gun on thr front seat.  A bb gun that looks like a real gun.  We don't see the first part of the video, it only begins when the officers are attempting to break the windows and pointing their weapons at him, ordering him to stop the car, unlock the doors and get out of the car.

The guy keeps playing the moron, saying he hasn't done anything. It's only a bb gun.  The agent calmy explains they have now way of knowing that, he must exit the car.  The idiot touches the gun to show them ot's not real.

Evidently, the officers get even more nervous and adviee him they are going to shoot if he doesn't leave the gun and exits the car.

Our moron of the year has filed a complaint for excessive police brutality following this event as there were no reasons to arrest him violently like that...


Barrister could remind us the rules, but I'm pretty sure immitation weapoms like that still need to b carried securely, like real guns.  And in any case, when a police officer ask you tp step out of the car because he thinks you have a gun, you do it, you let him check the gun...  it's better than the risk of getting shot at....

[Syt]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pardons-two-police-officers-convicted-murder-black-man-washington-2025-01-23/

Trump pardons two police officers convicted in murder of Black man in Washington

WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Republican U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned, two police officers in Washington who were convicted in the 2020 murder of a 20-year-old Black man named Karon Hylton-Brown, the White House said, opens new tab.

In September 2024, Terence Sutton Jr was sentenced to 66 months in prison while Andrew Zabavsky was sentenced to 48 months in prison over "an unauthorized police pursuit that ended in a collision on Oct. 23, 2020, that caused the death of Karon Hylton-Brown, 20, in Northwest Washington D.C.," the Justice Department said last year. The officers remained free pending the outcomes of their appeals.

The Metropolitan Police Department said Sutton, in his early 40s, and Zabavsky, in his mid-50s, were on "indefinite suspension without pay, pending our administration process."

Sutton was found guilty by a unanimous federal jury in late 2022, after a nine-week trial, of second-degree murder, conspiracy to obstruct, and obstruction of justice. The same jury found Zabavsky guilty of conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of justice.

The jury had found that Sutton caused Hylton-Brown's death by driving a police vehicle in "conscious disregard" for an extreme risk of death or serious bodily injury to Hylton-Brown.

It also found that Sutton and Zabavsky conspired to hide from officials the circumstances of the traffic crash leading to Hylton-Brown's death.

The DC Police Union had sought a pardon for the two officers.

Sutton's attorney, Kellen Dwyer, said in a statement cited by CNN that while he and his client were "confident that the D.C. Circuit would have reversed this conviction, we are thrilled that President Trump ended this prosecution once and for all." Zabavsky's attorney, Christopher Zampogna, also thanked Trump.

Hylton-Brown's mother, Karen Hylton, told CNN before the announcement that she was shocked and cried when she learned of the potential pardons.

The incident happened months after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. That murder led to protests against police brutality and racial inequality in the U.S. and around the world.

[HVC]

Looked up the story And found this article . Cop went against policy by pursuing and covered that up, so I'd get being fired, but not sure why they got murder charges, especially the boss.

[grumbler]

Looked up the story And found this article . Cop went against policy by pursuing and covered that up, so I'd get being fired, but not sure why they got murder charges, especially the boss.

The boss didn't get accused of murder, just obstruction of justice nd conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Their faults appear to be those of omission rather than commission, though, so I can see why such heavy sentences would be controversial.

[HVC]

Looked up the story And found this article . Cop went against policy by pursuing and covered that up, so I'd get being fired, but not sure why they got murder charges, especially the boss.

The boss didn't get accused of murder, just obstruction of justice nd conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Their faults appear to be those of omission rather than commission, though, so I can see why such heavy sentences would be controversial.

Indeed, my interpretation was wrong. I can see disciplinary actions such as firing. At the minimum firing, actually, since I don't want cops covering shit up, to the extreme of losing pensions as a deterrent to others (not sure if that's an option with laws and unions getting involved), but multi year jail sentences seems excessive.