Shocking new video shows unarmed Utah man was listening to headphones when killed by police

Looks like he was lifting his shirt up to show the cop he didn't have a gun.

If cops weren't such cowards, he would still be alive, but the pig was too afraid.

 

Well, until we can get robots to arrest people, we'll have to make due with humans that fear for their own life. If you reach into your pants when a cop has gun drawn on you, you'll get shot more often that not.

 

Oh please. There is nothing cowardly about apprehending armed and dangerous criminals. What would have you done if your life was on the line? It's not a video game where you get 3 lives.

 

Right. So what if you pull a fake gun on a cop and he shoots you? Are you going to whine about his lack of judgement and fallibility?

 

Also, this kid made a FB post the day before saying that he'd rather die than go back to prison. So the fact that he'd defy a police officer who was pointing a gun at him, and reach into his waist band makes me wonder if he was trying to get shot.

 

But you admit that it doesn't matter if the gun is fake, it's about what the police officer can reasonably believe in the situation. Officers are not omnicient and they have to make split second decisions. If the dude reached into his back pocket to pull out a comb to come his hair, you can't blame the cop for that horrendous stupidity.

In this particular situation, his actions were very much like pulling a fake gun. He stuck his hands into front of his baggy waiste band, and menancingly refused to take them out, telling the officer "no, fool". He wasn't fixing his pants.

 

But too often, being absolutely sure is too late. It's not a realistic expectation. If you just take the fake gun for example, what would it realistically take for a cop to stop and verify that every gun that was pulled on them was real and loaded? "Oh, excuse me sir, before we start this gunfight, may I please examine your weapon?"

 

It's not a false equivalency, because you can lead an officer to believe you are pulling a gun on them even without having a fake gun. It undermines your argument that a shooting is only justified if the person really had a gun.

And remember, he didn't just randomly drive up to someone and decide to pull his gun out, he was responding to a report of someone brandishing a gun.

Police are subject to those laws, they can't go around and randomly kill people.

 

Did you watch the video?

 

It's a tough situation. The cop was wrong, poorly trained and far too scared to make rational decisions in times of stress. But sending him to Jail also doesn't solve the problem, it just compounds the situation. Just as I'm not for stuffing our jails with nonviolent drug offenders because all it does is ruin lives and cost money, I'm also not interested in filling the cells with clean cops who make bad stress related decisions. This cop should never have been given a badge and should certainly be fired and banned from future police jobs. But jail isn't the answer.

But the training, monitoring and equipment of this cop needs to be torn down and revamped for future officers. No cop should be allowed to hit the streets with a gun if she/he can't remain calm under pressure. No cop should be on patrol without a less lethal option like s tazor,

This whole situation, and the rash of similar ones needs to be addressed in every police academy and police station throughout our lands. Policy must be more strict and training more thorough. We can find the extra money by cutting down on sending nonviolent lawbreakers to jail.

 

What were they using on that house? I find it real hard to believe that damage was inflicted by flash-bangs.

BTW, you will note that the innocent homeowner's insurance company is on the hook for the damages.