Here's a video of the incident. Honestly, I'm not sure of my opinion on this one. I do know that I am starting to get tired of reading all the back
and forth on these incidents. It's pretty clear that the majority of the people have their mind made up ahead of time; either they will say the cops
were in the right in every incident of a police shooting, or they will say the cops were in the wrong in every incident of a police shooting. Very
little critical thinking seems to be going on with most. Everyone has their mind made up before they even know what happened.
It's nice we have a real video clearly showing basically what happened, but you can't really see into the car which makes it difficult to have a real
feel for the situation. But here are some thoughts. It is true that as he got out of the car, it seems he was putting his hands into the air. So
that's certainly what people who are going to say the cop was wrong are going to point to. However, I just cannot wrap my mind about why he was
getting out of the car. I mean, right or wrong, the cop could not have possibly been any more clear. "If you move I will kill you. I'm telling you,
you will be dead if you move." So then the guy says, "I'm getting out of the car," and shoves the door open right at the cop who is saying "No you're
not." Again, I'm not sure of my overall opinion. But I just can't wrap my head around what was going through the guy's head. A cop is pointing a gun
at you, saying if you move he will shoot and kill you. So you barge through the door? I literally cannot understand what thought process someone could
possibly have that would lead them to do that.
'Thankfully,' the shooting cop in this instance was black. The new thing apparently is to bring race into virtually every single incident. At least in
this incident it wasn't a black guy getting shot by a white cop. Although, amazingly, a huge amount of the comments I am reading about this incident
still are bringing race into it. Now I am someone who tries to be as reasonable and unbias as I can when analyzing things. I am aware that it is my
tendency to see the cop in a negative light, because I disagree with a good portion of how we utilize our legal system, and the cops are the enforcers
of our laws. Being aware of that though, I still try to be as unbias as possible when analyzing things. So I'm not at at all a 'defend cops no matter
what, and act like they can just kill anyone that doesn't have an obey everything attitude with a smile' kind of guy. I know the guy who was shot, was
previously charged with shooting cops. And the police officer who shot him, was clearly aware of who he was, cuz he kept calling him by his first
name. And I just can't stop thinking about, and being unable to answer...why did he get out of the car?
edit on 22-1-2015 by TheJourney
because: (no reason given)
edit on 22-1-2015 by TheJourney because: (no reason given)
edit on 2220150120151 by Domo1 because: (no reason given)
Just a heads up, when you enter a YouTube video only enter the part of the line after the = sign and before the &.
edit on 2220150120151 by Domo1 because: (no reason given)
I think this has been posted already, but I'm too lazy to find it. Not sure how to feel about this one. I'm siding more with the police though. You
see a gun, the person doesn't follow commands for that long and then suddenly and abruptly exits the vehicle, I can imagine anyone being very afraid
for their life.
The officer in question has had prior contact, and may have been very aware of this individuals priors (including shooting at police).
edit
on 2220150120151 by Domo1 because: (no reason given)
Yeah, pretty sure cop knew he was since he called him Jerome. I would remember arresting someone that had a history of shooting at police.
Really in this situation I can't see how the cop acted incorrectly. He wanted to see his hands, kept telling the guy to show his hands, there was a
gun in the glovebox, the guy was clearly not complying, then the guy rushes out the car door. The driver did it right.
If a cop is ordering you to show your hands and not move, don't jump out of the car like that.
I tend to agree, if it was me, moving after I was told not to with a gun pointed at me would be a very bad idea. Probably wouldnt be an issue tho cuzz
I would most likely faint dead away pretty quick. The police need to rethink the shoot anything that moves policy that seems to be the new norm tho
IMO.
edit on 23-1-2015 by regor77 because: (no reason given)
I tend to agree, if it was me, moving after I was told not to with a gun pointed at me would be a very bad idea. Probably wouldnt be an issue tho cuzz
I would most likely faint dead away pretty quick. The police need to rethink the shoot anything that moves policy that seems to be the new norm tho
IMO.
I totally agree that there seems to be a growing trend in police abuse of power, and a disturbingly high rate of accepting the notion of 'just obey
authority no matter what, and if you don't whatever happens is your fault.' But, this really does seem to be a unique situation, in terms of pointing
there guns and talking about killing and all that. This guy apparently has previously been charged with shooting multiple cops, and the cop knew him
personally, calling him by first name. And he had a gun on him. It is a unique situation, it's not as if they just pulled their guns on some random
person saying 'don't move or I'll shoot.'
edit on 23-1-2015 by TheJourney because: (no reason given)