Posted on 03/28/2018 2:26:40 PM PDT by Ennis85
A US police officer shot dead an unarmed man walking in traffic with his trousers down, and his family says it looks like "premeditated murder".
Police dashcam video shows Danny Ray Thomas, 34, walking towards the officer on a road in Houston, Texas, last Thursday before a gunshot rings out.
Deputy Cameron Brewer repeatedly shouts "get down on the ground" before firing. Both the officer and victim are black.
Mr Thomas' family say he suffered from depression after his children died.
His sister, Kita Thomas-Smith, attended a Houston City Council meeting on Tuesday where she tearfully urged politicians do to something about "police brutality".
Mayor Sylvester Turner told her: "I certainly feel your pain. We are certainly sorry for any life that is taken."
Outside city hall, Ms Thomas-Smith told the Houston Chronicle of the dashcam video. "It feels like premeditated murder.
"He was clearly walking, not running, toward the deputy not trying to hurt or harm him."
Deputy Brewer, who had a Taser with him, has been placed on administrative leave as police investigate the shooting.
Houston Police Department said in a statement last week that Mr Thomas was found "walking in the middle of the intersection" of a busy road in the city.
Deputy Brewer noticed him with "his pants around his ankles, talking to himself and hitting vehicles as they passed by".
"Thomas then struck a white vehicle, and the driver exited and engaged in a physical altercation with the suspect," Houston police said.
The Harris County Sheriff's deputy saw the fracas and stopped his car to intervene.
"Fearing for his safety, the deputy discharged his duty weapon, striking Thomas once in the chest," said Houston police, which is leading the investigation.
In a different video taken by a bystander and published by the Chronicle last week,
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Dunno. Pretty sure its officer discretion as to which weapons they decide to use. Not all have tasers. Some may have pepper sprays. I do wonder why he didnt pull the taser though first.
This is my rifle
This is my gun
This for shooting
This is for fun
Oh brother.....
“that would be cruel.”
How cruel would it be if I closed with him, used my thumbs to pop his eyeballs out, then smashed them against his cheeks?
That okay with you?
Your arguments are completely without merit.
OK, it wouldn’t be cruel. One day, somebody you love or even yourself will be out wandering, dazed and out of their reasoning and be confronted by a thug with a badge. Do you want them to be blown away? Do you want that for yourself? You have zero empathy. That’s a trait associated with something, now what might that be? Oh, that’s right, a sociopath.
Without having been there ...all we can do is speculate...I’m positive the officer is not pleased in ANY way that he felt that he had to use deadly force. Sometimes tazers don’t stop persons on certain drugs etcc....just a thought?
Since a taser wasn't used there's no point in speculating about it. Toxicology screen will tell the tale as far as what was going on with him. His wife had murdered his kids, he was depressed, likely on medication. I know interactions with SSRI inhibitors can produce peculiar psychological side effects. I'm not willing to view this man's life as expendable over the police who are purportedly there to protect the public. He was a member of that public. He had no weapons, nothing in his hands, no place to hide a weapon, his pants were around his feet. Some claim wildly that he was running at the officer. With his pants around his feet? Some of these FReepers who think this was a good shoot really worry me. Police who can shoot at will and get off by claiming to feel threatened will lead to a government that will do just that, and it'll not just be done to an addled black man wandering in traffic with his pants down. It'll be done to political opponents of the current regime. Such idiotic short-sightedness, I'd really hope not to see it here, but there you go.
So your saying the cop feels good about takin’ the dude out?......my first post was about how if the officer were white this would be all over the airwaves....I have empathy and sorrow for this man....and I may speculate anytime I please thank you.
You’re certainly entitled to engage in pointless speculation and by no means did I attempt to deprive you of it.
Well its not like cops havent shot people in diabetic comas not obeying commands, or having other medical or mental issues. Generally those thoughts do not cross their mind in assessing situations.
Some places you have to have someone hit before you can fire back.
Wow that is terrible,......rules from those who have a fundemental lack of understanding.
“You have zero empathy.”
And you have zero intelligence, you leftist troll, you.
Thank you...that’s all I wanted to hear...have a nice day!
Uh, yeah, it did happen in the 70s and the 60s before it. It just wasn’t as numerous and it didn’t get anything like the media coverage such incidents get now.
Or what did you think that the Rolling Stones were singing about in 1973’s Heartbreaker???? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doo_Doo_Doo_Doo_Doo_(Heartbreaker)
Yup. NYPD shot and killed a 10 year old boy.
We have an acronym for them
I believe that the vast majority of police are good, decent men. What I fear is a police state.
tell that to the woman who ran at the white house with her two kids in the car a couple of years ago. You can chat with her at the cemetery.
The overwhelming majority are. That why when we have incidents like this shooting of an unarmed man in Houston, or the shooting of an unarmed man in Sacramento, or the shooting of an unarmed woman in Minneapolis, it's important that there be a penalty paid by the officer who, either through panic or incompetence, killed someone unnecessarily. We owe that to all the good officers who do their very dangerous job competently and correctly. And the tragedy is that in all too many instances there is none.
Hard case... Prayers for all involved.
These days a few grains of fentanyl can kill you if you aren’t treated immediately after exposure.
Cops are facing threats unimagined only a few short years ago.
Prayers for our men and women officers in harm’s way.
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