Here in California last year our police surrounded a guy in a van and fired 100 rounds and completely missed the guy.
Must have been a lot of warning shots!
I'd be troubled with all this militarization of our police as well.
Mayor Giuliani would never have preemptively thrown his own police officers under the bus in order to kowtow to a slug like Sharpton.
It is tragic that Sean Bell is dead, but Reverend Al needs to keep in mind that it is because he tried to run over a black police officer who had identified himself as such. It was this black police officer who fired the first shots, and an hispanic officer who fired most of them. Instead, Sharpton sees this as the perfect opportunity for race-baiting.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
If a black cop does the shooting, blame the chief. If the chief is black, blame the mayor.
But don't EVER blame the black criminal.
And certainly, don't wait for the facts.
The department's policy prohibits shooting at moving vehicles states "unless deadly force is being used against the police officers or another person present, by means other than a moving vehicle.
How many kmiles has Bloomberg walked in the shoes of a police officer. What he should do is shut up and let the investigation go forward, instead of playing suck up to Al Sharpton.
This story smells. If there was a threat of a gun why did the police wait? Why not take them down outside the club? Waiting for them to get into an escape vehicle or gain access to the weapon first makes no sense.
So goes the story; but in truth; they were armed. . . the victims just happen to be IN it. . .
This driver was using his car as a weapon. . .bigger than a gun; and more threatening as it takes less skill to 'aim' and kill. The driver - now - victim, made the 'move' first by running into a policeman, for God's sake.
Bottom line; the car they were in; WAS used as a weapon; and the police responded to the threat.
Sorry; but they should have walked home. . .or had someone pick them up. . .called a cab OR. . .whatEVER.
And someone should tell Rangel; Sharpton and the 'et al's to go fly their kites somewhere else. . .
. . .because "Stuck on stupid' has consequences. . .
Bloomberg's fault.
Some have opined that he was deeply disturbed BEFORE the gunfire. ;-)
"unless deadly force is being used against the police officers or another person present, by means other than a moving vehicle."
The fallacy of that policy is that the moving vehicle itself can constitute deadly force. If someone was running over people on the sidewalk, wouldn't the police be justified in firing at the driver?
2 QUESTIONS!
1. Did anyone in the press or the "protest group" of race baiters like Sharpton and Jackson ask about the status of the police officer who was the target of the driver who was using his vehicle as a deadly weapon?
2. Were any of the shooting officers African-American?
You Watch! That idiot Bloomberg will have the NYPD running around with billyclubs in no time.
Whatever happened to the olden days when cops carried "throw-downs" so they could avoid messes like this?
Oh, now "one of the dancers" says that the minivan came around a corner and "smashed into" Bell's car?
Obviously, the lies are escalating. I'm getting tired of the headlines and leads that depict a "groom" in his tux & tails running down the church steps with his blushing bride, friends and family throwing rice and birdseed, flower children strewing rose petals and blowing bubbles, doves being released into the afternoon sky and a bunch of cops coming out of nowhere to ambush the happy couple and assassinate the new hubby.
If this was some drunk redneck outside some "Boars Nest" bar in Podunk, AR, we would have never heard about it.