1723

I mean, this is just purely bad police work. They assumed they would hit a jackpot on this raid, based on some unproven evidence, said they had enough to move on it, and figured even though they hadn’t gone through the proper channels, it was still doing the right thing. They wanted to hit this house, so they made up the evidence needed for the warrant.

Dangerous, deadly B.S. And it sounds like the officer is going to be charged for this.

1724

I dunno, with that set of facts I’d be looking for evidence of some link or relationship between the cop and the victim.

1725

I would think this means.

That they will be.

1726

Yeah, the likelihood of them getting some dream bust off this seems almost nil.
Which begs the question of why some of the cops lied so much to make this happen?

1727

Definitely a possibility that crossed my mind.

1729

Well they can get away with it most of the time, and anyone that questions a cop is often painted as some sort of deviant.

1730

Maybe, but this seems extra wonky. It’s two older white people in Texas who’s neighbors never had any problems with them.

1731




A boy can dream.

1732
1733

Falling asleep while black? Shot 25 times?? Jesus. No matter the guy’s color, this is just insane. Cops opening up and killing without even bothering to wait for a threat of violence against them to actually occur.

1734

That’s such a crazy story, I’m not sure what to say about it. Dude was asleep in a Taco Bell drive-through while his car was still running, with a loaded gun in his lap! I get the conclusion that 25 shots is overkill, but would we be okay if it was 1 fatal shot? The consultant quoted at the end seems to think that would have been okay.

In hindsight, the best course of action would seem to be clear the area, and then wake him up using a bullhorn while ducked behind some sort of bulletproof cover.

If I was a cop on the scene at the moment he woke up, I’m not sure what I would do. From the story, it seems like he woke up unexpectedly. I don’t find it unbelievable that the guy could have reached for his gun after being jarred awake.

It’s so crazy that I personally don’t jump straight to the conclusion that the outcome was racially influenced.

1735

So what law do you think he broke being asleep in a car with a gun?

1736

I don’t know, I’m not a cop. But I don’t think that cops only get involved when a law is clearly being broken. Let’s go ahead and assume that no law was actually being broken or at least that there was no probable cause to assume a law was being broken.

Are you suggesting that the Taco Bell employees shouldn’t have called the cops or that the cops should have either a) refused to respond or b) left when they could not clearly identify a current violation?

1737

I think the main point is that the cops (6 of them) had time to formulate some sort of plan…ANY plan…to avoid killing this guy. Like maybe unlocking his car via the broken window. And maybe not being in his direct line of sight, followed by blowing the fuck out of him when he woke up. The bodycams will hopefully shed some light on what really happened here unless they mysteriously malfunctioned.

1738

I’m suggesting that there are hundreds of scenarios where someone might be in a car, with a gun, and almost none of them require lethal force. It’s not just an overreaction, they executed this guy and for what, being in a car with a gun and being unresponsive. I had no idea we gave the death penalty out for that. Well I sure hope the next gun owner with an medical emergency of any kind doesn’t just get straight up shot because the stats say we have a lot of gun owners out there, and chances are a few of them will require help at some point.

1739

I disagree that unlocking his car through the broken window and then reaching in to try and take the gun would have clearly avoided the possibility of him waking up mid-attempt. As I mentioned before, in hindsight, I would think that clearing the area and waking him from a safe distance/position would have been best, but I don’t know how much time passed from when they showed up to when he was shot.

Basically, I’m not certain that a better approach would have immediately jumped out at me, had I been in their situation.

On the racial issue, a lot of the stuff you read about is clearly racially-influenced: there’s amble examples of white dudes doing the same thing and not getting shot (e.g., jaywalking or some other commonplace thing). I’m not sure if there’s been many instances of white dudes being in the same situation, period. It’s such a crazy scenario that I can’t be sure that it wasn’t the crazy scenario, rather than the color of his skin that lead to the unfortunate outcome.

1740

I’m sure there have been white men with guns in their cars that were not executed.

1741

They have issues in this area. Nothing new really.

1742

I think the more critical question isn’t how he ended up there (since this information wouldn’t be available to the cops), but whether you think the cops should have done anything about the situation, other than either leaving him alone or waiting patiently from a distance until he woke up naturally.

Basically, I’m asking if you think it was unreasonable for them to intercede. If it isn’t unreasonable to intercede, how do they go about that in a safe way?

1743

You’re either ignoring the facts here or intentionally being argumentative. I’m frankly not sure which.

So we can’t at least start from the common ground of this was a crazy scenario?