Posted on 12/17/2010 9:51:53 PM PST by Orange1998
A dash cam video from the officer who shot and killed Native American woodcarver John T. Williams was released Friday, showing Williams ambling slowly across the street in a crosswalk before the officer opens fire.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=956_1292627716
(Excerpt) Read more at liveleak.com ...
“Nietzsche says there are two kinds of people in the world. People who are destined for greatness, like Walt Disney and Hitler. And then there’s the rest of us.
“He called us ‘the bungled and the botched.’ We get teased. We sometimes get close to greatness, but we never get there. We’re the expendable masses. We get pushed in front of trains, take poison aspirin, get gunned down in Dairy Queens.” - Jack Lucas, “The Fisher King”
This is unbelievable. Poor man. I wonder if he had any clue at all what was going on when he died.
If I still lived in Seattle, I’d be out there on the street protesting with whoever else I could get together.
Seattle FReepers? Whatcha gonna do?
Call the Mayor's office: (206) 684-4000
Totally misleading title. Audio of shooting, yes. Video, no.
This cop had the opportunity to keep at least 20 ft between himself and the whittler and get some reaction from him before opening fire.
Well, a man with a knife can travel 21 feet in a second, or something like that, how fast can a man with a knife backpedal? Hey, police academy is HARD!/s
Get your fact straight dumb*ss. 21 feet from standing in 5-7 seconds, the time it takes a very highly trained and very very accomplished Officer to clear a level 3 holster, average I have seen over the years is closer to 9 seconds.
This cop is a disgrace and should be tried for murder.
Did the LEO have his weapon drawn before he passed in front of the video cam?
The cop started out INSIDE a motor vehicle. He had more than a fair chance of escaping any attack.
The friend was profoundly deaf.
One evening he had an "encounter" with the guards at the main entrance.
One thing led to another and all at once he was dead.
His crime? Best the investigators could tell is that he yelled and made strange noises.
That's what the profoundly deaf do on occasion. In this case the guard(s) decided they needed to grab him and subdue him, and then he started thrashing his arms around, so they choked him.
Being a cop I’ve defended cops on this site before. But there is no excuse for this. I throw this cop under the bus.
I don’t know if he just saw this guy walking down the street or if he got sent there on a complaint. But, there doesn’t appear to be any pedestrians, other than the woman. It’s not every day you see a guy walking down the street carving on something, I see the need to stop him, especially if the police got a complaint.
This cop was way too quick on the trigger. Other than failing to drop the knife after a few quick warnings, there is nothing to suggest that this guy was dangerous or aggressive.
I may have missed it, but I did not hear him, or anybody else call for an ambulance.
If I’m on the jury, this cop goes to prison.
Since when is whittling a crime?
The guy was minding his own business and just walking along. The cop was clearly looking for a confrontation to show off his macho.
The cop involved needs a few hours in the electric chair.
Contrast this call to the cop in Dayton, Ohio who battled with the robber inside the store. The robber tried to grab the cops gun a few times. That cop would have been justified in shooting, in fact I believe I may have fired. The cop was trying to fight with one hand and had the gun in the other hand. That could have gotten real ugly.
You can see why I can’t be on the jury ~ besides not living in Seattle. Did you notice that woman continuing to walk away while the cop keeps firing on the guy ~ she’s calm, cool, collected ~ happens every day in her world ~ but is she deaf as well? I looked up Seattle Deaf Center and found there’s an area downtown filled with social welfare agencies, police headquarters, traffic court, deaf center, blindness center, etc. and using Google.com (Earth) you can easily find several street corners that look just like the one where Mr. Williams was shot. Try: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS375&q=1620+18th+Ave.,+Suite+200+Seattle,+WA+98122&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=1620+18th+Ave+%23200,+Seattle,+WA+98122&gl=us&ei=6rUMTaSTMIOdlgeWtOisDg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ8gEwAA
From the time Birk makes initial contact by yelling “Hey,” seven seconds passes before he fires.
Williams’ friends say he likely did not hear Birk yelling.
“He was deaf in one ear, so he probably didn’t understand what the officer was saying,” said Lila Lewis.
Shortly after the shooting, you hear a female witness yell to Birk, “He didn’t do anything.”
Birk responds, “Ma’am, he had a knife and he wouldn’t drop it.”
Birk’s attorney says Williams was a threat.
“He was walking around downtown Seattle. He was inebriated and he had an open knife in his hand,” said attorney Ted Buck.
I was wondering if she was the one questioning the cop as to why he shot. The cop responds: ‘He had a knife and wouldn’t drop it.’
That is no reason to shoot. I can’t imagine that a whittling knife is very big and I don’t believe that this cops life or anybody elses life was in danger when he started blasting.
Is there any evidence given that the victim had threatened anybody with the knife prior to police arrival?
He was walking around downtown Seattle. He was inebriated and he >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>I watched the man cross the street, negotiate the step up from the curb, no stumble or hesitation.The only threat was to the cops ego.
Why do I see the need to stop him? Because if the cop was sent there and clears like this: “Just a man with a knife whittling some wood” and this guy walks down the street and starts whittling someones face, guess who gets in trouble?
That’s the problem today, people see someone walking down the street with an open knife, carving on something, they think he may be a bit nutty. I can’t remember, in my 25 years, someone doing this. Or just walking down the street with an open knife.
If I was walking down the sidewalk, unarmed and not a cop, and saw a guy walking towards me carving on some wood, I’d give him a wide berth. Especially in the city I live in where they bring in mentals from all over the state to be near the mental health facility here.
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