The homicide is between 1:45 and 1:50. Leading up to it the victim is belligerent, indecisive and obviously ‘not right’. The police bring out a dog and he freaks. It then looks like turns his back and starts to walk away, and they all open up on him simultaneously like at a firing range. Frankly, it looks like they shot him in the back as he was retreating. Film is shot from a distance, so hard to see. Fortunately for the viewer it is too distant to be gruesome, but if this is a ‘justifiable’ use and level of force in the circumstances then we are indeed in a Yankee-doodle Soviet.
I am not sure that general knowledge that the target is ‘assaultive’ is an adequate defense just yet.
No tasers (though perhaps per spktyr, maybe that was simply not allowed) and group shooting the knifist in the back.
Yup (and I didn’t want to look, I am not a voyeur of slayings) this is going to be pretty. Barack Obama now has a fairly plausible case of “police acted stupidly” to toss out in his campaign. Get waffling civil libertarians back to his side.
Psalm 144: It then looks like turns his back and starts to walk away,
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I agree. He was walking away.
We’re an irresponsible society when we simply accept official killing as acceptable.
There are many fine men and women in law enforcement. There is also plenty of incompetence.
It did not look like “fear” to me at all. It looked and sounded like they wanted him dead.