Posted on 03/21/2018 5:34:46 PM PDT by Mariner
Sacramento police shot Stephon Clark dead Sunday night within seconds of encountering him next to his grandparents’ home in south Sacramento, video released Wednesday by the department shows.
About six minutes after the shooting, after backup arrives, an officer can be heard telling another officer, "hey mute."
Sound then cuts out as officers apparently turn off their microphones. But video continues and the officers can be seen speaking to each other and to at least one civilian on scene for about two more minutes before the video ends.
“We asked, ‘Can they do that,’” said Les Simmons, a pastor and social activist in Sacramento who viewed the footage with two of Clark’s family members Wednesday afternoon prior to its public release. “They all just muted their mics. … It was a moment of, what are they doing? What are they saying?”
Sacramento Police spokesman Sgt. Vance Chandler said, “there are a variety of reasons why officer have the opportunity to mute their body worn cameras.”
Chandler referred a Sacramento Bee reporter to the department's general orders for details.
Simmons and Clark’s aunt, Saquoia Durham, said after viewing the videos, they believe the fatality could have been avoided.
"As soon as they did the command, they started shooting. They said 'put your hands up, gun' and then they just let loose on my nephew,” said Durham.
"They didn’t give him a chance to put his hands up or anything, and then when they shot him down, they knew they messed up,” she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Textbook good shoot.
There's not even a lawyer in Sacramento that would take that case.
Well it was textbook, I’ll give you that.
Other than the victim being unarmed it was a great shoot. </sarcasm>
I thought the perp fired first. Why would this be a bad shoot?
The perp didn't have a gun for one thing.
Is BLM all over it, demanding the cop be fired and prosecuted?
Its not an issue if the decedent was white...
It was at least 30 seconds after the first shout of show me your hands was called out. He had up to a minute to ditch the gun and surrender with his hands up. Clean shoot.
Maybe they should be.
Its not an issue if the decedent was white...
Does the race really matter so long as the cop goes back to his family at night?
Have they determined if Clark was the guy walking down the street with a crowbar smashing car windows, the reason police were called in the first place?
“Good shoot” or not, there is still no excuse for them “muting” the audio. None.
They are public servants, often the only visible part of government that most people see for months or even years at a time. Their every working moment is on our dime, we have the right to see what they are up to, especially just before, during and immediately after their use of deadly force.
There are exceptions like undercover operations of course, but for the most part, their actions should be recorded. The recordings nearly always show them in a good light, so I don’t understand their reluctance. Many other worksites on private property are constantly recorded, while police are out in public spaces the vast majority of their time. Why should they be any different?
Except that no gun has been found. But say, for the sake of argument, he had a gun and ditched it. It still means that he was unarmed when the police shot him.
Right, so would they not have found the ditched gun? Shooting an unarmed man holding a cellphone sure sounds like a screwup. Half the people in the world today are walking around holding a cell phone. That cannot be a justification for shooting him.
Lesson here: if you’re accosted by the police at night, drop whatever is in your hand immediately. Even if it’s a priceless Ming vase.
Textbook good shoot? you're joking right? Where was the threat that justified deadly force? They shot a man holding a cell phone. These cops had no business firing their weapons. Shooting when you can't POSITIVELY identify a weapon is 3rd degree manslaughter at the very least. Any civilian would be facing murder charges. Why do cops that have more training and do this for a living get a pass?
The officer "thought they had a gun" is NEVER an excuse for lethal force.
There can be if he pointed it at them.
In that case, a cop is going to shoot first and ask questions later.
SOP.
“</sarcasm> “
Admit it, you would have pulled the trigger too.
As would any reasonable person.
When your running from the cops, through private yards in the middle of the night...it’s best to not have anything in your hands.
As would any reasonable person.
And you would be facing felony charges. Because you aren't a cop.
SOP.
Just ask that cop in Minneapolis.
“The officer “thought they had a gun” is NEVER an excuse for lethal force. “
I sympathize with that position, in the abstract.
But given the totality of the circumstances in this shoot I believe any rational person would have pulled the trigger.
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