Cop Shoots Apparently Helpless Man In The Back (Update: Officer quits to avoid IA questions)

Yea I saw the video. Made me sick.


I hope that cop gets the death penalty. Their is nothing worse then corrupt cops....nothing.

Well hopefully he'll be brought to trial, and all the facts, and circumstances of that event will be told.

Until now you are all speculating.

We don't know why the police or whatever security they were we dispatched there. Was it a man with a gun call? We don't know.

From the very little the video evidence offers I'd have to go with involuntary manslaughter (dunno what that carries min of 5 max of 9 or some such?)

But that is judging by the video, and the video shows me the shooter was obvioudsly suprised, and put his hands on his head like an omg what did I do? gesture. Hardly looked like murder.., like the Black out of Uniform cop who shot that other young blackman for no reason at all, that looked like murder(premeditated,probably not, but murder yes) I don't know if you all remember that one, sorry I don't have a link but it was caught on multiple CCTV cameras.

Have to really see how this plays out in a trial when everything is brought to light. Everyones state of mind ect.

Right now it's all speculation, but I think I can safely say, he had no reason to shoot that man.

Here's a video put up today showing some more news coverage of the event. Sounds like attorneys are going after the transit for a multi-million, wrongful death settlement:



[edit on 6-1-2009 by DimensionalDetective]

Originally posted by Nola213
Well hopefully he'll be brought to trial, and all the facts, and circumstances of that event will be told.

Until now you are all speculating.

We don't know why the police or whatever security they were we dispatched there. Was it a man with a gun call? We don't know.

According to the News they were responding to a fight on the train.

There no way around the fact this Man was shot in the back face down, and only minutes earlier he was against the wall begging not to be shot or tasered because he had a baby (thats in the video that doesnt actually show the shooting).

Officer Mehserle (as hes now being identified) still has not given a statement, but by all means has aquired a lawyer.

DD: John Buris filed a 25 million dollar lawsuit today for violating Oscars Civil Rights.

[edit on 6-1-2009 by ATruGod]

Originally posted by zerbot565
excuse my french, but with kids behaving lika a zoo anything can happen,

all i see is arrogant nintendo kids giving the man a hard time.

ofcourse shooting the fellow might have been a bit over the line,


but it put a smile on my face when the kids started shouting.

first they are kings of the concrete boasting and what not but when things acturly get real they act like the children that they are.

Glad you could find something to smile about in that video...

yeah the kids are acting a little crazy, but what if it has to do with what the police were doing? Besides teens, I think cops can some of the most immature people out there. Not that all cops are bad, just some tend to get a little badge heavy...

Were the kids over the line? probably but what do you expect?? The cops on the other hand, KILLED that guy, and i dont think he had a weapon. If he did then the other cops would have been all over him.

BTW most of those cops look young enough to have grown up with video games... probably actually explains alot.



[edit on 6-1-2009 by ManWithGrace89]

I don't see why I keep seeing posts where folks are saying that the cop looked surprised... you folks must be cops.

You can clearly see in the other video (not the Ms. Vargas video, the other one) that he was shot execution style. That's very clear in the video. He's not thinking "oh, my god".

The cop very clearly stood over the victim, pointed his gun to where his gun was actually in his full eyesight, and clearly pulled the trigger. Oh, yeah, and a gun and a taser and handcuffs each feel completely different, in case you didn't notice.

Okay, so now we've seek cops bash into bikers in NYC, taser pregnant ladies, taser blind ladies, punch folks, and now we've seen them kill folks execution style. For some folks here, it's just not enough and they want to say things like "it was an accident" or "but the cop said oh my god", but unless you're some sort of disinfo agent, you can clearly see that something is out of the ordinary here with the cops.

Well there is alot to be said about this story here.. Most of the members here have done a good job in speaking their minds about such a brutal murder.. AS to me thats what this is. Murder.

Granted Im sure the guy who pulled the gun, and shot was dealing with extream stress!!! But this is the kind of stress these people are suppose to be trained in dealing with!!
I mean if you can't handle a group of kids, you really shouldnt be in this line of work.
Granted who knows if these kids where armed or not.. Im sure thats what got this guys blood pumping like crazy..
But even the other BART officers where shocked he pulled out his firearm and opened fire on the kid..

Gezzz.. Thats a little harsh.. I hope he gets justice!

They could have atleast just beaten the kid up like they did when I was younger.. Sure the cops might be a little tuff on you.. But they normally dont outright murder your ass!!!!

Brutal...

Originally posted by Nola213
Well hopefully he'll be brought to trial, and all the facts, and circumstances of that event will be told.

Until now you are all speculating.

We don't know why the police or whatever security they were we dispatched there. Was it a man with a gun call? We don't know.

Do you know what we DO KNOW?

We DO KNOW that a man was faced down, with a guy with a knee in his back and a guy with a knee on his head, and that he was SHOT DEAD IN THE BACK AT POINT BLANK RANGE.

Do you seriously believe there is ANY JUSTIFICATION for this?

I'm simply amazed that some people will defend anything.

Mod Edit: All Caps – Please Review This Link.


[edit on 7-1-2009 by Gemwolf]

reply to post by Wildbob77


My point is that not every copper who murders someone will feel guilty about it.Some killers never do.

Yet in such situations the same line is trotted out,'oh,he has to live with this for the rest of his life.' But what if he is like some people who posted on here,'he was a thug,he deserved it.' Then he has no guilt to live with.

According to the News they were responding to a fight on the train.

There no way around the fact this Man was shot in the back face down, and only minutes earlier he was against the wall begging not to be shot or tasered because he had a baby (thats in the video that doesnt actually show the shooting).

Officer Mehserle (as hes now being identified) still has not given a statement, but by all means has aquired a lawyer.

reply to post by ATruGod


Begging not to be shot.....WTF and the cop kills him....it is almost becoming commonplace. Don't taze me brow.

Where is the outrage?

reply to post by Griff


It sounds pretty dumb and fanciful - but why the hell did we all stop carrying swords?

I'm deadly serious - the served us well for 1000's of years and only this century did we stop carrying them as a matter of course.

It's far too easy to pull a gun and kill someone in haste - that's why I think society is better of without them - a few crack armed police units that come out only when someone is brandishing a gun in a robbery etc. And we make mandatory 25 year sentences for anyone who so much as carries a gun.

With a sword:

A) Everyone had them - and they were not concealed. If you pull your sword on a dude to rob him - he'll probably pull his back.

B) When you use one, there's a big chance you might get cut up too - so you don't do it lightly.

C) Using a sword requires much more skill than a gun, thus you can still take extra measures to protect yourself by getting good with it if you feel you need to.

D) Swords are pretty easy to make when compared to a gun - I have a friend who's a blacksmith and he can make swords VERY quickly indeed. Granted, they aren't the best samurai ornamental mothers - but they do the job.

E) You have much more control over attacking someone with a sword than you do with a gun, especially in a melee situation. If you intend to wound only, your less likely to kill accidentally. And vice versa.

F) It doesn't run out of ammo or misfire or jam.

G) Unlike knives, everyone can see your sword and it's pretty difficult to come up behind someone and jam it in their back without them knowing. It's also quite hard to use at very close quarters like in a street robbery (as is a gun incidentally - ever tried upholstering your weapon if someone has a knife to your throat?).

Everyone should be entitled and encouraged to carry a sword in my opinion. Ban guns outright. It's far too easy to pull a gun in anger/retaliation and screw up your life with one pull of a trigger.

I bet this cop wishes he had been carrying a sword. It's going to be really hard for him in jail. He's gonna be someone's boyfriend.

reply to post by Dutty_Rag


that is what it will become - When all order collapses for a while until people unify. I couldnt agree w/ you more on the sword method.



Hell, I carry a huge gerber knife around with me everyday - despite the fact of only using it in case:


A-survival situation
B- if my life is being seriously threatened.




All aside however (besides this incident because it is a true rage-driven cop) - the best weapons are your hands and feet.

How on earth do you confuse a tazer with a gun???

The kid MAY have been a punk, but isn't that what the police station is for?


There is no call for shooting ANYBODY in the back, let alone a handcuffed man.

I haven't read the entire thread or article but any possibility this guy served time in Iraq? Did he do any time in the armed forces? Either way he might have accidentally pulled the trigger, not intending to do so, hence a mistake was made, far different from a intention to kill, but who knows? Maybe this guy had used psych meds in the past, maybe he might be squeaky clean, who knows? Too bad, hope we don't have Greek style riots, but I think the riots are about other things over there than just the shooting, though as bad as that appears.

A few things.

1) The police were called to the scene because of a physical altercation on the train. The train hadn't left the station because they were waiting on the police to arrive.
2) The ONLY speculation being done here is on account of the possible motives of this cop's actions. Did he intend to shoot him, or didn't he? And yes, on those comments, everyone is speculating.
Personally, I would like to believe that it was an accident, but I can't say that it was.
3) The "argument" that this was somehow; a) a cop that mistook his taser for a gun and b) when he accidentally pulled the piece out the safety had been deactivated inadvertantly doesn't hold much water with me. Not to mention the statistical improbabilities of these chances aligning in such a way.

My speculation: if you rewatch the video objectively you cannot tell me that he didn't first fumble around with that piece a few times before pulling it out and that after he finally did get it pulled, he clearly made sure that he wouldn't shoot either of the officers in the arm. Couple that with two things... One, the cop, if knowingly weilded his pistol, clearly violated the law and commited cold-blooded, and yes, premeditated murder (he had to think about what he was about to do for at least 10 seconds... probably longer) and deserves either life in prison without the possibility of parole or death. Two, if the cop thought he was pulling his taser and those random chances happened to converge in a tragic mistake, he was still clearly neglectful of his training due to two facts; 1) he just attempted to taser a well-subdued man and 2) he nearly tasered the fellow officers who were in contact with the man at the time (see the youtube daisy-chain taser video)... In that case, the officer deserves nothing less than involuntary manslaughter, which should carry a maximum term with no parole. IMO, of course, as that last part WAS speculation.

reply to post by Dutty_Rag


You can't just wish away technology, if that were so then why not make america the first gun free nation, so other nations could eye us with desire to conquer us? Same with nukes. Might makes right undergirds us even if we call ourselves civilized, in the end it just appears as semantics.

reply to post by MegaCurious


Do you expect cops to be superhumans? I mean I get it, I understand this, he clearly screwed up, lost it, he was not using his brain, whatever you may say this proves police are no different from anyone else ,they are not perfect nor godlike, why does that surprise anyone? Sure they are trained and vetted but that process doesn't exclude all of "reality", sometimes some people crack, sometimes they are police or teachers or politicians or MAnson or Bill Clinton or George Bush, we are all killers, we as a society create weapons that can destroy everything, we sell bombs so people can blow up little children in Gaza, what seems to be shocking? We are like broken robots, not yet out of the jungle yet, the world can be dangerous, we are filled with stress hormones of fighting or fleeing, we are still animals and have those reflexes and have along way to go to reach a civilized condition.

reply to post by whiteraven


Why not study this person and see the underlying causes that might lead to a disposition to shoot, why kill him too? Why stop there why not kill his parents for creating him? Seems absurd to punish murder with murder, how can one gain anything from behaving the same way as a society? So should we just murder everyone that murders anyone? Maybe we should rape those that rape? Steal from those that steal? Oh wait we already sanction stealing through the tax theft system. Oh wait we also murder people that don't murder anyone. Seems that we have some problems with our thinking on this planet and are addicted to killing things, so absurd we appear to me.