Pack of poorly trained animals, the way they spoke about it beforehand like they are playing GTA, sickening
Current Affairs The " another shooting in America " thread
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Pack of poorly trained animals, the way they spoke about it beforehand like they are playing GTA, sickening
Mr. White
Player Valuation: £8m
Do explain...
...do justify your 'poorly trained animals' comment! What did they say that 'sickened' you? Did you not hear the discussion, at length, of how they wanted to open the door quickly and snatch his gun away?
In this clip, despite being heavily edited by THE GUARDIAN, the officers came across as quite professional to me.
the whole event sickened me rather than the language and tone of the conversation, but the tone was telling and gung ho. The police are an extension of other problems with american gun violence but a problem all the same, and the willingness to empty a gun into individuals is both a product of the gun culture in america but also poor training, many elements of american police work fall too much into shock and awe territory, their traffic chase tactics, crowd control tactics and disarm and approach tactics and all result in violence and all too often the loss of life, further distancing the police from communities, the black communities in particular. This opinion has been reinforced to me by american security specialists and former police, but whatever, thats as far as 'justifying' my opinion to you as I will go. Far far too many have died at the hands of the police in the US, and far too many didn't have to
Not sure it’s professional to put 25 bullets into a sleeping man who is just coming around. They have been called to check he is okay and seemingly they barely even try to check on him other than saying they will try to snatch his gun but “you know what to do”. Didn’t try to wake him, asked him to show his hands after 6 men shot him at once. The Guardian video may be edited but from what I’ve read that actually makes the police come off a bit better.
One of the policemen involved is currently under investigation for killing an unarmed man in a separate case. The way the American law enforcement behave towards people of colour is consistently shown to be abhorrent. And maybe if the US took a better approach to gun ownership and legality then maybe officers wouldn’t be so quick to shoot people.
While not condoning their actions overall, to simply try and wake a suspect while they have a loaded pistol (or at least one in the chamber) on their lap...
... has its own significant risks to the officers. Does that justify their comments, demeanour and the final action? Well it's more than questionable.
I feel that the full video does show some movement within the car towards the direction of their firearm, which will rightly or wrongly possibly excuse the officers.
If that had been a white man sat in a silver Mercedes I am 99.9% certain they wouldn't have put 25 bullets into him for moving a bit when he woke up.
I'm not suggesting that you're incorrect as there's certainly still significant racial issues in the US, including with some forms of law enforcement. You may be right.
However, it is also very easy to jump to assumptions. Like I said, I am not defending their actions or the outcome but a balanced perspective is always needed.
I suspect that they will argue (in mitigation) that he was unresponsive in a vehicle, with a loaded firearm visible and in reach, where access wasn't straightforward.
Why was he unresponsive? It's easy to mention medical issues or prescribed medication, but I am sure they will also suggest perhaps alcohol or illegal drugs.
They'll argue that there were 'suspected' movements towards the firearms and that he was not complient with Californian law regarding transportation of a firearm.
Does that excuse their actions? Well, that's for prosecutors or a jury to decide. I admit the evidence doesn't look great yet it's not a clear-cut, racial execution.
Race may have played a part, although if you remove the colour of the victim's skin then all the above mitigation would still be there and importantly, relevant.
Yet, what is also still present is the blasé attitude to firearms that so many have in the US, including police officers. Their job must be difficult...
... however the threshold to use a firearm is way, way below what I would be comfortable with. Shoot first, ask later? I tend to think that's the mentality.
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
But, the Constitution.
Rotten to the core
Brave woman, RIP Lori
Terrible this is.
I have several friends in Poway. One of them lives close to there.
Apparently the shooter went to the university close to me too. Cal State San Marcos.
And he apparently is responsible for damage to a mosque in Escondido the city between Ramona and San Marcos.
TheBigIguana
Player Valuation: £100m
7 people shot in a single incident in Baltimore today. It won't even make the news outside of the area and will be gone from local news by the middle of the week. Decent chance no one is ever charged. That's the everyday state of gun violence in America.
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