I will say this: I have looked at several accounts of this incident from a variety of sources with differing perspectives and biases.
Bottom line is that an unarmed driver was shot by police and the only excuse offered by the police is that he was going for his blue and yellow drill.
As much as I want to sympathize with the police and as much as I detest Al Sharpton, I have to say that this can’t possibly be a justified shooting, based on the underlying facts as conceded by all sides.
From that point, it only looks worse and worse for the police. There really isn’t a positive spin to put on this fiasco.
“The police chased (us), sticking their middle fingers at us and screaming obscenities, said 36-year-old Diane DeFerrari, a bartender who sat in the passenger seat of Polancos car.”
and
“DeFarrari told the New York Post that with rifles drawn, the police officers pulled over the vehicle and ordered Polanco and his friends to put their hands up. But in an instant before Polanco had time to take his hands off the steering wheel he was shot dead.”
and, from the NY Slimes:
“On Friday evening, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly visited Ms. Reyes (the victim’s mother) at her Corona home to express condolences.”
Anyone ever hear of a Police Commissioner personally visiting a bereaved and expressing condolences in any case of a justified shooting?
That was the bartender's account. And was he reaching for the drill or wasn't he? Were his hands on the wheel or not? Why do I feel like Eddie Murphy in the movie "Trading Places":
BILLY RAY VALENTINE: Beautiful. I suppose you'll give me this TV set for free?
MORTIMER DUKE: That's right.
BILLY RAY VALENTINE: Everything here is mine? I guess the stereo's mine too?
MORTIMER DUKE: Absolutely.
BILLY RAY VALENTINE: This is too much. I could really dig this. You know why? This happens to me every week.
Bottom line is this thing is so full of holes from every angle and both sides, as presented in this story, that we could simply make it up as we go along, and be able to draw just as many conclusions from it.
This has the same kind of stench as the story of the LAPD and the banker Brian Mulligan. At least the LAPD didn’t kill Mulligan.
Just beat the hell out of him.
This will be the key for the shooter and his union.He was reaching for a drill."Hey,all I know is that he was reaching for something and I feared that it could have been a firearm.When one is stopped like that they should know that they only move their hands when ordered to by the officer" would be the argument.
But who in God's name reaches for a *drill*? A firearm? Maybe.A knife? Maybe.Pepper spray? Maybe.Hammer? Maybe.But a *drill*? I'd be surprised if the guy did,in fact,reach for *anything*.