Posted on 10/06/2013 11:46:55 AM PDT by nickcarraway
It's been two days since 34-year-old dental hygienist Miriam Carey was killed after she rammed her car into a barricade in front of the White House and led security forces on a chase toward the U.S. Capitol, and some are asking whether the use of deadly force against her was truly necessary. While the first accounts of Carey's death said she exited her black Infiniti before she was shot, investigators now say she was still in the vehicle when officers fired the fatal bullets. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Terrance W. Gainer told reporters that Carey "was trying to make a U-turn [toward the officers] between a United States Capitol Police security booth and some planters in the middle of the street on Constitution Avenue. Capitol Police officers and uniformed Secret Service officers shot at the car with semiautomatic pistols." D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier indicated that the car was not moving at that time and confirmed that officers shot at Carey beforehand, near Garfield Circle, when the car was still moving.
As has been noted, D.C. police have a policy against shooting at moving vehicles "unless deadly force is being used against the officer or another person...For purposes of this order, a moving vehicle is not considered deadly force." But when speaking to the Washington Post, Gainer acknowledged that the location of the incident complicated the situation: "The thing that’s distinctive about this is it was not your typical traffic violation...We operate in an environment under the constant threat of attack from suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices." He added, "Whenever there are bullets flying, there are risks. I think these officers minimized the risks to others." (Carey was unarmed, so — appropriately discharged or not — the only bullets flying were those of the security officers.) The New York Times points out that it is "not clear" whether the Secret Service or the Capitol Police share the D.C. Police Department's policy against shooting at moving cars. Spokespeople for both the Secret Service and Capitol Police declined to provide the Post with more information regarding their organizations' protocols.
Scores of experts have weighed in on the matter, though they mostly (and understandably, given that many details are still unavailable) seem unable to say whether it was handled correctly. Geoffrey Alpert, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina who spoke to the Times, said, "[Carey] had to be stopped. The question is, were there better ways to stop her? I don’t know what the answers are." William J. Bratton, who has led the Boston, L.A., and New York City police departments, also pointed out that D.C. offers "a different set of challenges than most police agencies. It’s truly an exceptional city with exceptional security circumstances." (He also said it was hard to judge the situation because we don't know if Carey "disobeyed commands" form officers.) Chuck Wexler of the Police Executive Research Forum told the Post this was "clearly an out-of-control situation" and said that "it's very important to think, what did the officers know at that point in time versus what we know today," which he said was a reference Carey's widely reported history of postpartum depression and possible psychosis and the fact that her 1-year-old daughter was also in the car.
In an interview with ABC News, Carey's sisters said she was not violent and attributed her struggle with mental illness. They also said the police should have acted differently. Valarie Carey, a retired NYPD sergeant, said, "Officers had enough time to assess the occupants of the vehicle. They actually not only put someone at harm's way, but they took someone's life." "She had no political agenda. She didn't hate her country. She wasn't a terrorist. She was on medication," said another sister, Amy Carey Jones, a registered nurse. "Mental illness really should have more attention."
It comes down to this. The car stopped. They ordered her to surrender. She didn’t. As a consequence, they shot her to death.
No doubt at all that this was unjustified.
The capital was on edge. They really thought the folks were going to start a violent uprising over 0bamacare and/or the ‘shutdown.’ They expected trouble. They killed a mentally disturbed woman. Her daughter is now without a mother.
If this had happened in a lily White suburb you can be sure the usual false reverends would be there now picketing and shouting. But DC is half minority, and they were acting under orders handed down from the administration.
The woman needed help, not bullets.
XXX Damn it! didn’t anybody see the video? The car is stopped, window partially open, cop aims and fires. She wasn’t firing at them. She had no gun. Damn it! there are no racial points to be made on this - is that why 0bama didn’t say “If I had another daughter, she’d look like Miriam”?
One dog barks (BANG!) The rest of the pack starts barking (BANG! BANG! BANT!)
What “fact” in your post was known to the police at the time of the shooting? All they knew was the driver repeatedly behaved with what could be reasonably construed as lethal intent. What you cite was only learned after the fact.
The real tragedy is that there were so many people that knew she had a problem...but everyone is helpless BEFORE an event.
Compare the result of this unarmed woman to what happened to the people who took aim a previous presidents: Reagan, even Kennedy?
The difference is?
Not nuts means....We’re gonna sue!!
I’ll only say this. If you really believe a car could be filled with explosives, shooting at it at close range doesn’t seem like the best plan.
It is if they’re attempting to hit you with a car.
No problem. Constitution is a living breathing document. We can change it any time we want. Not an issue. She caused us anxiety so we ended her. She forfeited her rights when she made us chase her......
etc etc etc.
Certainly the WP wouldn’t be asking any questions if it was a white male conservative.
What’s the big deal?
Guarantee it would have been 24/7 on the Cable News networks.
None of this seems to have been well thought out by the various police agencies. I’m surprised they haven’t drilled on something just like this. She wasn’t a golden retriever or a 107 year old bed ridden gunman. Behold affirmative action in action (!) from the usurper in chief to the underlings who staff the capital city.
She was murdered in cold blood. Everyone involved is busy obfuscating until they can get all their stories straight and have (doctored) video to back them up.
We don’t live in the country we were born in anymore.
Her car was”Stuck”and she was unarmed with a baby on board!Why did they EXECUTE HER??????????????????
I my humble opinion, I believe that Ms. Carey was in a state of panic. New barriers had been recently installed as part of a DOD training exercise just a couple of days before hand.
It is possible that Ms. Carey, realizing that she entered an area she didn’t want to be in, confused with the multiple barriers, tried to extricate herself. In a panic, and confused, she fled. For this—she was murdered by the State apparatus. TO be applauded as Heros for saving the whole of Washington from a confused and panicked mother was kinda sick. Police State here we are.
yeah, bravo to our heros that fired round after round, clip after clip into an unarmed mother with her child looking on in horror. A cookie for all of them.
The family could care less about her. They are only after the money from a settlement. They already had lawyered up and are positioning themselves for a financial settlement — how pathetic.
Not picking a fight, here, but you don't think a "delusional mind" is a threat?
...but not after the car is stopped.
My understanding is they shot her after she got out of the car.
Weird press conference too:
“We can’t say notin’”
>>This woman was unarmed and there was a baby in the car!<<
Sorry but that isn’t a qualifier these days when women abort babies as easily as they decide to change hairstylists. I observe women every day treating their child (presumably) as if the kid was a constant annoyance.
As for “ a moving vehicle is not considered deadly force.” Ask a victim of a hit and run if the vehicle is a weapon or not.
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