Posted on 02/15/2011 7:50:56 PM PST by The Magical Mischief Tour
King County prosecutors have decided not to file criminal charges against Seattle police Officer Ian Birk in the fatal shooting of woodcarver John T. Williams, according to sources familiar with the decision.
Prosecutors have been confronted with a steep legal hurdle in deciding whether to charge Birk with murder or manslaughter. State law shields police officers from criminal prosecution when they claim they used deadly force in self-defense, unless it can be shown they acted with malice and a lack of good faith.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
So be careful out there.
Knock me over with a feather.
See, the shooting was Justified. I believe this Punk Officer was
looking for an excuse to kill someone if only to see what it felt like.
He should be serving life IMO.
Wow. I don’t know anyone who thinks this was a good shoot. I’m afraid the you know what is going to hit the fan on this now.
This cop needs to be fried. Watch the video. He blatantly murdered that guy.
America is a police state. We have no right to criticize any other nation for their supposed shortcomings in human rights.
D*mn! That Patriot Act sure has some unintended consequences.
They need to be more careful with this or folks will get the message to go down shooting in self-defense.
Wasn’t the woodcarver deaf as well? Saw the video on youtube. Frightening.
Did you believe that there would be?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/video/mediacenterbc3.html?bctid=715145081001
Animal farm.
Disgusting. Total “lack of good faith”. Horrific.
And yet, totally not surprising.
All I heard was “Put the knife down” and 3 seconds later shot dead. If it was a gun, maybe, but a knife???
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Are any of them willing to let this cop spend the night in their own homes?
Here's your problem ~ for those of you who didn't get the picture. This is the part of town where they have all the social services agencies in Seattle. It's not unusual to encounter deaf, blind, lame, or mentally disturbed individuals on the street.
The cops know the routine. They know or should be expected to know the various "regulars" who make their way through the area going to and from meetings with doctors, encounter groups, parole officers, drug rehab clinics, and so on.
Given that environment what we have is a cop jumping out of his car, running after a regular with gun drawn, telling him to drop his knife (which he apparently did) and then just shooting him dead.
I suppose the prosecutors, who also work in that vicinity, can now feel safer ~ or not.
I don't think they thought this through all that well.
Any government employees, or men who own suits, who work in that part of Seattle should seek jobs elsewhere. The government just improved the odds for getting killed if you catch my drift. The locals there are going to drop you first rather than take the risk of your having an otherwise disinterested interest in them.
The article gives quite a few details.
Definitely a miscarriage of justice, IMHO. I blame the Prosecutor for failing in his duty.
If you were a peasant getting accosted by outlawed thugs, the Bruisers in Blue would be there "presently"...
This cop had some kind of motive for this ~ and I think a few hours of waterboarding would probably help us discover it.
Now he'll have to volunteer for it, but we'll tie him down anyway. Not taking any risks with this guy ~ he's killed once without provocation, he'll probably try it again.
They always do.
Absolutely! That punk looks like a neo-Nazi to boot. WTF was he doing listening to civilian radio while on duty, anyhow?
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