Words only have the power we ascribe to them.
From my perspective, “Clean shoot” means “Justified” or “Appropriate to the circumstances.”
The cop who took down the Fort Hood terrorist therefore had engaged in a “clean shoot.” Against a U.S. Citizen. Who was a commissioned officer in the Army.
Further, I think we spend so much time as a society getting spun up on wording and semantics that we end up disagreeing over details rather than substance.
For example, you and I both agree this appears to be an unjust shooting of a defenseless U.S. citizen.
Beyond that, does terminology really matter?
“Beyond that, does terminology really matter?”
Yes.
Terminology influences thought processes and how actions are viewed. It is a necessary prerequisite to creating an ‘us vs them’ mindset, it can divide and in today’s day and age there is no such thing as ‘context’. The very use of the phrase ‘civilian’ by police, which I have seen, is an incredibly negative and dangerous use of language. Most of us here understand what you mean by ‘clean shoot’, but were I a lawyer in a courtroom I could use it to a jury to argue that you (the generic ‘you’) have dehumanized a citizen not yet convicted of a crime to the level of an animal or enemy combatant.
You are right, words only weigh what we allow.
It just seems our force is much more geared towards a “clean shoot” than a “clean disarm”
This one is horrible.