He had 5 - 7 seconds to realize that he was the one being shouted at, close his knife and turn partially to his right to catch five bullets in the side.
Posted on 12/20/2010 1:56:55 PM PST by driftdiver
The dash cam video picks up just before Officer Birk exits his patrol car. You see a person cross the street from left to right, then John T. Williams is seen crossing and goes out of view. When Officer Birk steps out of his patrol car, his personal radio microphone switches on.
(Excerpt) Read more at king5.com ...
Perhaps, but the commentary is fresh and exciting.
"You clueless armchair jackboots, I mean armchair cops, don't know what it's like going out every day trying to keep subjects, I mean citizens, obedient, I mean safe."
It's one of those paradoxes. It's going to happen. Stay aware and stay safe. If I saw a guy coming down the street wittling wood, I'd cross the street or go into a retailer until he passed. How do I differ in that process than the cop who shot him? I percieved a possible threat. I reacted in a defensive manner. It's just a matter of scale.
I don't know about her but there are millions of people walking around (and driving) on heavy duty psychotropic drugs for minor emotional problems. It's cheaper for insurance companies and easier for doctors than therapy.
You're F'N kidding right? One inch box cutters were used to hijack the 911 jets!
He didn’t just pull his gun, watch the video in the begining, he pulled his weapon and had it at the ready when he exited the patrol car. He already had his mind up what he was gonna do.
He didn't even identify himself as a police officer. Just started shouting orders to a guy who was walking away from him.
A leather coat with sandwiched layers of insulated foil, one layer hooked to a plus 9volt battery and one layer hooked to the minus terminal will kill a taser. The trick is to look like you’ve been tazered, otherwise they’ll shoot you for real.
Ever hear of the 2nd Amendment?
You think the Leatherman I wear on my belt, sold in Costco, is illegal to wear in public? Wait, it only has a 2 3/4” blade. How about my Buck 119 Knife with a 6” blade, worn unconcealed in its scabbard?
NO, I’m not kidding. Perhaps you should check the statutes.
We have too many sheep, and not enough people.
“A dead perp’s family settles for a lot less than a quadrapalegic perp rolled in front of a jury in a wheel chair.
Wounded = $5,000,000
Dead = $200,000
Need to know anymore?”
In this case, the police had MORE reason to shoot, but the dead 18 year old girl was good for a $40 million negotiated settlement.
He didn't mean to use the gun. He meant to use the Taser.
Whether cops should be allowed to use Tasers or not is a question best left to ACORN and other community-agitation groups.
We all make mistakes.
This one should cost the cop his gun, his badge, his job, and his freedom.
There’s mistakes, and then there’s MISTAKES!
About the only way possible for that shooting to be justified is for the guy with the knife to have lunged at a by-stander. Barring that, that cop will spend many years in jail.
I will say it again loud and clear (and for the 4th incident since the Costco murder), we need more armed citizenry and less cops. Enough spending tax dollars on idiots with egos and attitudes looking for the thrill of busting crackheads or tallying up arrests.
Enough PC police, enough highway patrol citing people for cell phone and carpool violations, enough subjective and arbitrarily enforced laws.
Leave the people alone.
He had 5 - 7 seconds to realize that he was the one being shouted at, close his knife and turn partially to his right to catch five bullets in the side.
“My only point was that the cop was quite obviously dumbfounded when he realized he had shot the guy. “
The BART cop could very well have been dumbfounded when his taser went “BANG!”, the young man still dead and the cop should have gotten more time than 2 years.
As I said before, we live in a police state where if you don’t follow all the rules or stand out in some way (like carving wood, which I used to do all the time as a kid, with a 5 inch fixed blade knife) you will at the least be arrested (best case only your dog is shot) or killed if the cop is having a bad day. I may sound paranoid but I would not be surprised if within my life time things are worse here than they ever were in the USSR. We are going that direction at an alarming rate, losing freedom after freedom all in the name of “safety”.
The pendulum swings both ways, and it is at its leftward zenith. That's why the Lefties in congress are so suicidal about passing their last few bits of legislation. They know their time is up.
Shoot a guy who robbed a liquor store with an uloaded gun, only paralyzing him is a lot worse than killing him from a litigation position. I'm referring to appropriate cases of the application of deadly force.
I read somewhere the the dead guy was an Indian. Maybe the cop knew that a knife in the hands of a man who was trained to use it would be worthy of taking great care and not give the Indian an opening to use it on him. That’s a possibility maybe.
Yeah, he meant to use the Taser 5 times....
The guy killed an innocent man.
Is that what we are supposed to respect as law enforcement? BS
Sorry but I have no faith in the US voter or in our political class. Have you ever seen congress repeal ANY piece of major legislation? It doesn’t happen, ever. My bet is that the only way this will swing the other way is if the US government collapses like the old Soviet Union did. Unfortunately, if that happens we’ll probably end up in a far worse condition than we are in now. Best of luck to you, I really do hope your faith is justified.
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