Grifman
1681
Yeah, that was horrible. Yes, the guy had started his car, and did look like he was going to take off but there’s no way the officer was being dragged by the car. I just don’t understand what was going through his mind, he shot the guy in the head a point blank range in the head.
Yeah, I’ve been following this one, too. The driver was uncooperative and, as you said, did seem like he was about to flee. But that’s not cause for summary execution. It was a totally disproportionate response to a nonthreatening situation. The only danger in the vicinity was the officer.
From the body cam, it honestly looked like a tragedy for all. The cop panicked.
The cop was reaching to open the door and the driver reached his hand out to keep it closed. Cop freaks out, perhaps about the hand, and shoots him in the head. It literally happens in less than a second. I don’t think there was any thought out action on the cop’s part in such a short time. If anything, I’d say the cop had too little training/the wrong disposition for the job.
The dragging excuse is bullshit.
What law enforcement needs is J from the MiB shooting gallery scene. What it gets too often instead are the trigger-happy other guys. They didn’t make the cut in the film, and they shouldn’t in real life, either.
Oghier
1685
It’s like the Walter Scott shooting in SC. In both cases, attempting to flee prompted the officer to kill the suspect.
Timex
1686
Eh, in that most recent case though, I’m not certain that the cop actually meant to shoot him. It’s also potentially less clear whether the car had started moving, as it kind of takes off exactly at the moment the gun goes off. It could even have contributed to the gun being fired.
Certainly you don’t deserve to be shot for a traffic violation, but at the same time when you watch that video, the cop seems to be handling the whole situation extremely well up until the very last moment. He’s definitely not acting like a dick to the guy in the car, or acting unprofessionally in any way. He seems to be pretty cool the whole time, trying to keep things from escalating.
I haven’t seen the video but why did he draw his gun in the first place? If he had the license plate number he simply could have let the guy go and arrested him later.
Timex
1688
Well, watch the video. The guy in the car starts trying to start the car, and they kind of scuffle a bit. At that point, he pulls his gun and it goes off in a matter of a second or so, just as the car takes off down the road. It’s unclear if the car started moving before the gun went off or immediately afterwards, as the camera is shaking around all over the place.
Oghier
1689
They don’t scuffle. The guy starts the car, the cop shoots him, then the car starts moving. The victim’s hands don’t contact the officer.
Here’s how the NYT summarizes it:
Officer Tensing starts to open the driver’s door and tells Mr. Dubose to remove his seatbelt; Mr. Dubose pulls the door closed again and restarts his car. What happens next is a flurry of blurred movements: The officer steps to his left; the engine can be heard revving; the officer reaches into the car with his left hand; he yells “stop” twice; he draws his gun with his right hand and fires once; and then he appears to fall backward.
I also saw the prosecutor say in a televised interview that slowing down the video reveals that the car wasn’t moving until after the shot.
Boy, I sure am glad the presence of body cameras cleared up any disagreement about what happened.*
- Actually, I’m in general in favor of body cameras, but as this case shows, they aren’t the panacea that some in the media seem to present them to be.
Oghier
1691
Not a panacea, as training and personality will still dictate what officers do in these situations. Still, the camera at least provides accountability after the fact, and that’s progress.
Timex
1692
You can watch the video youself in the above link Tin Wisdom posted. They definitely ARE scuffling before the gun goes off.
I mean, yeah, the prosecutor might say that the car wasn’t moving until after the shot, but that’s not at all shown in the video. At that point in the video, the camera is bouncing all over the place. And as summarized in the NY Times piece, you hear the engine rev BEFORE the gun goes off… and that would generally mean that the car actually was moving at that point, unless the guy was pressing down the brake and the gas at the same time.
KevinC
1693
I don’t mean this to be directed at you, so sorry that I’m using your quote, but I hate how just because something isn’t a cure-all in all situations, it’s a failure and a terrible idea and should be abandoned. This goes for everything from body cameras to healthcare to energy and environmental policy.
Body cameras can help shed some light on some situations. On others they can’t. I’d sure feel a lot better if all cops were wearing them, though.
Yeah, without the camera we would have nothing but the cop’s testimony to go on. And he seems to be flat-out lying - whether or not the car was moving, he surely wasn’t being “dragged” anywhere at any time.
Timex
1695
Well, he does kind of get dragged and knocked off his feet as the car takes off.
Having the footage is definitely better than not having it. And it’s possible that it can be used to give us a decent reconstruction of exactly what is going on, even if simply watching the shakey footage doesn’t make it super clear.
Aleck
1696
It may well have happened so fast that he thought he was being dragged. Doesn’t excuse it, of course, and I’m glad there’s a body camera to provide some actual evidence.
Timex
1697
Right now, I’m watching Sharpton’s show on msnbc, and he and the guests on his show are portraying this case in just as biased and disingenuous a manner as anything you would see on fox.
They are describing the actions of the cop as, and i quote, “stepping back and shooting him in the head.” That’s ridiculous. That clearly is not what is shown in the video.
They are also saying that the cop says that he was almost run over, and then go on to say that such a statement is clearly a lie. But it’s clearly not a lie. He absolutely was almost run over. You can freaking see it happen. But they are specifically cutting the video such that it basically just skips over the struggle and the cop falling on the ground as the car speeds away.
This is the problem with “news” in our society today. There are folks who will see this, not see the larger video, and believe the narrative created… And they will entrench themselves into that belief, and t that will prevent any real dialogue.
Now, it seems like there were other cops on the scene down the street. It would be awesome to see THEIR camera footage, as it would clarify a ton of things.
Unfortunately, they may have been city cops, who apparently don’t have body cams.
Sharpton is just as much “news” as Limbaugh.
Much smaller zombie audience tho
The fact that either has a significant following says a lot about the state of our country.
