If you actually lived in the Phoenix area you'd know it.
If it weren't, this structure wouldn't have been built:
Posted on 12/10/2017 7:10:13 AM PST by JP1201
If you have the stomach for it, I want you to watch one of the most outrageous and infuriating videos I’ve ever seen. It shows the police shooting of Daniel Shaver in Mesa, Arizona. He was crawling on his hands and knees, crying, and begging police not to shoot him. An officer shot him anyway:
The Washington Post’s account is decent, but you have to watch the video truly grasp the strangeness of the requests:
In fact, the Post actually sugarcoats the encounter. At one point an officer tells him “do not put your hands down for any reason,” even saying, “If you think you’re going to fall, you better fall on your face.” Then he says, “Crawl towards me.” How he can crawl without putting his hands down, I don’t know. As the sobbing man crawls, he reaches back towards his pants (perhaps to pull them up) and is immediately shot dead. He had no weapon. He had done nothing wrong. And now he’s dead.
Essentially, what the police told an innocent, law-abiding, intoxicated American was this: Follow my highly-specific, very strange instructions or die. There was no need to make him crawl. The police were in command of the situation. At no point is there a visible weapon. I have seen soldiers deal with al Qaeda terrorists with more professionalism and poise. When a man is prone, his hands are visible, and your gun is trained upon him, he is in your power. At trial, the officer testified that he though the suspect was reaching for his gun, and that if he had a chance to do things over, he’d make the same decision again. In other words, he presented the classic defense. He was afraid, so he fired.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
“He is a disgrace to the vast majority of police out there who are defending us.”
Do you really believe what you just wrote? I mean about the “vast majority?” I wished I could share your feeling, but based on experience, I can’t!
The trial is over and he got off and walked free.
There is a much longer video out on youtube and if one has the patience to watch it, one quickly learns this police team entered into the situation totally and tactically ill prepared. One not having sufficient magazines and needing to borrow from a fellow officer, down to having to send 2 guys back to get the keycard and call the room because they couldn’t be heard yelling in the hallway from 3 rooms away.
I believe the office who shot was scared, but it wasn’t due to Shaver. It was the team and situation were being totally mismanaged.
Mesa should be ashamed of this team.
With the added excitement of knowing all the chambers are loaded, and not knowing where the trigger is...
Too bad there was no video in this case...
Really?
39.76% of the people in Mesa, Arizona are religious, meaning they affiliate with a religion. 14.24% are Catholic; 6.49% are LDS; 7.85% are another Christian faith; 0.37% in Mesa, Arizona are Jewish; 1.12% are an eastern faith; 0.18% affilitates with Islam.
So at less than 7%, Mesa is a “Mormon Town?”
> Putting your hands out to arrest a fall is an involuntary reflex. Killing someone for an involuntary reflex is completely unjustifiable. <
Agreed. To which I’d add: Killing someone for taking a normal action is also completely unjustifiable.
Take a look at this short video, if you can stand it. A cop stops a motorist and asks him for his driver’s licence. The driver tries to comply (a normal action) and gets shot for it.
Click on the upper corner of the red advertisement box in the video to get rid of it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zVnKxdMzEXM
(And to any cop apologist out there: Yeah, I know this guy coulda shoulda asked for permission before moving. But that’s not what the average person would do when under stress. Cop asks you for your licence. The average guy would reach for his licence.)
Agreed.
The vast majority of cops aren’t protecting crap. They are simply armed government road pirates who’s job it is to stop people and extract money from them at gun point which politicians spend on pet projects designed to get them re-elected
“The only conclusion I can come to for that finding, was his move towards his waistband. “
So now a move towards a waistband (sounds so sinister doesnt it?) carries the death penalty? Jesus I am forever hiking up my jeans due to beer belly pushing them down. Hope I’m never pulled over for a burned out tail light.
Todays coppers are absolutely paranoid homicidal maniacs and we are very poorly served by the politicians.
PS I was a revolver cop in suburban Chicago in the 70’s.
> Bottom line though is that the jury did acquit him. The only conclusion I can come to for that finding, was his move towards his waistband. <
That was my conclusion as well. But I have read elsewhere that the jury was not allowed to see that video (why not?).
Profane etching on gun inadmissible in ex-Mesa officer’s murder trial
A judge presiding over the murder case of a former Mesa police officer who shot an unarmed man ruled Friday that a profane etching on the defendant’s firearm will not be revealed to the jury.
A Mesa Police Department internal report found that the words “You’re f—ked” were inscribed on the on the dust cover of the AR-15 patrol rifle Philip “Mitch” Brailsford used to shoot 26-year-old Daniel Shaver.
State prosecutors argued that the words were a testament to Brailsford’s mindset at the time of the incident, but Maricopa County Superior Court Judge George Foster found the evidence “totally prejudicial” and ruled it inadmissible.
From what I can gather from news articles, the jury wasn’t allowed to see a lot of things.
The video, certain witness testimony, the profanity engraved on his gun, etc...
Because most likely the instructions from the judge only allowed them to find the officer guilty only if it could be shown the officer was not afraid for his life. How is this decided? It is decided by what the officer tells them. Along with any evidence that might support that. Any? Yes any, no matter how flimsy. A glance towards a closed door. A gesture towards a back pocket. A step forward. All “could” mean a weapon was within easy reach or distance.
Now the other standard is that a reasonable person would have to believe their life was in danger. That standard does not vary because the defendant is a police officer. They are held to same split second decision making that you would be. Their training does not enter into it. Their duty to protect the public safety does not enter into it. Would holding them to a higher standard mean a higher risk for police? I doubt it. It would however make them answerable for murderous actions such as the killing of Shaver.
I think it was Malcolm X who said, "When Law Enforcement does not obey the law, then there is no law .... except the law of the jungle."
Here is the full encounter that night. From them arriving on scene to the woman telling the cop they shot an innocent man...
One officer has insufficient rounds and needs to borrow from another officer.
They get up to the 5th floor and start yelling for them to exit the room from 3 units down the hallway. Uh? Really? Why are they saying “Occupants?” Why not Daniel? Oh wait...watch...
They never stopped at the front desk to get the room key? find out who rented the room? Access the vehicle license to run a criminal background report before going up there?
Eventually they CALL the room phone from the front desk to notify them they need to step into the hallway
Seems to me a lot went wrong here and it cost a guy his life.
They might. But unless it can be shown that he was targeted because of race, religion, etc. or that the actions leading to the confrontation were in violation of his rights it would be hard to get a verdict against the p.o.s.
Failure to signal when changing lanes? Any link/info to the real story? Thanks.
If you actually lived in the Phoenix area you'd know it.
If it weren't, this structure wouldn't have been built:
There’s a dozen of them on that jury.
With his daughters. He looks like a solid OK guy to me.
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