Posted on 12/11/2017 4:06:18 PM PST by Main Street
A newly-released video shows an Arizona police officer shooting and killing an unarmed man in January 2016 after the man, who was crying and begging for his life, made a mistake in complying with his orders.
The body camera footage was released on Friday by the judge presiding over Officer Philip Brailsford's trial after Brailsford was acquitted on Thursday for the killing.
The victim, 26-year-old pest control worker Daniel Shaver, was staying in the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Mesa, Arizona while on a business trip when police received a call that someone was pointing a gun out of the window of the hotel, Newsweek reported. While Shaver had reportedly been showing off a pellet gun to two guests that night, according to witnesses, he was unarmed when the police confronted him in the hallway of the hotel.
In the video, Brailsford is seen standing by as another officer, Sgt. Charles Langley, commanded Shaver to get on the floor and crawl towards him, all while berating him and intimidating him with death threats. Shaver appeared to be complying with his orders, and can be heard sobbing as he crawls towards Brailsford and Langley. But after Shaver reached back toward his pant leg, Brailsford shot him five times with his AR-15, believing he was reaching for a gun.
"Please don't shoot me," Shaver begged Brailsford, moments before his death.
After being charged with second-degree murder in May 2016, Brailsford was acquitted after less than six hours of deliberation by a jury, Vice News reported.
During the trial, Brailsford maintained that he did nothing wrong.
"If this situation happened exactly as it did that time, I would have done the same thing," Brailsford stated in court.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Thank you for posting clarity.
Why are we seeing this again? Is someone trying to create the impression that there are a lot of these shootings?
This was all talked out last week.
Man was told to keep his hands up. Instead, the suicidal fool puts both of them behind his back. He lucked out the first time, and just got yelled at.
The second time he reached behind his back, looking for all the world as though he were reaching for a pistol, his luck ran out.
Verdict: aggravated dumbassery.
Policy implications: shoot more criminals.
Curtosius Maximus Video commentary on the Daniel Shaver shooting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9PUpP3MN9I
Why are we seeing this again? Is someone trying to create the impression that there are a lot of these shootings?
This was all talked out last week.
Read more closely. They were shown an edited video which cut out the time of the shooting. This allowed the actions of the victim to be described in terms far more threatening than they were, while portraying the barked orders of law enforcement as far less confusing than they were.
As a juror, and as a citizen my assesment is that the editing constitutes evidence tampering.
I can see how the jury would find the guy not guilty. In the dry, reasoned world of the courtroom, with the Judge and Lawyers saying “you must follow the law” the cop is absolutely not guilty. In real life he’s a murdering son of a bitch who will roast in Hell for this.
It was life or death high stress Simon Says and the guy screwed up and it cost him his life. The law says if you move your hands to your waist, cop is justified in blasting you, and for good reason when it’s an actual gangbanger on the street. Action wins over reaction, and there are chilling bodycam videos of an officer’s final moments before the bad guy’s gun comes out of nowhere fast.
When it’s a distraught, panicky citizen that is facing a slew of loaded rifles held by men screaming about killing him while making him crawl like a dog, not so much. But, it is the law.
In this instance the cop used the law to get away with what common sense plainly shows is brutal murder.
The Mesa PD got rid of this maniac, but the decision to defend him and the methods employed in court, probably in order to decrease liability, is pathetic.
Congrats, Mesa PD. You’ve done more harm to the reputation of Law Enforcement than any number of Black Lives Matter morons could do in a decade of rioting.
Agreed.
Thanks for your service.
Just seeing the beginning of the video, the people encountered are treated as enemy combatants, not suspects. This is what you can get when you “militarize” the police. It’s not about hardware, it’s about attitude.
The pair came from around a corner that the LEO couldn’t see, hence the order to crawl forward later on in the vid.
Nevertheless, this pair could have come out of the room that had been adjoining the room originating the complaint. That along with their generally compliant behavior should’ve put the LEO at ease, but they weren’t viewed as suspects.
It may be news to some, but the general public is not combat experienced. Under this treatment, panic kicks off (what the shrinks call the fight or flight response). Once there, it’s a total crapshoot as to what someone will do. Jerky, reflexive movements are a given.
I used the FR search engine using several key words. Nothing came up except a story that was posted in 2015 with a similar title but a different incident.
If I had known it was already posted I wouln’t have posted it. But now seeing how many never even knew about it....I’m glad I did!
All these "good cops" are starting to remind me of "moderate Muslims". People say they're the majority but they sure seem to be awfully quiet.
How come we don’t have a “thumbs up button”. Because I really want to click a button like that!
Even though Shaver had been LYING DOWN, and Officer Shit-For-Brains could see there wasn't a rifle in his basketball shorts. This psychotic retard should have been put right into gen pop, so he could share the horror Shaver experienced before he murdered him.
Jury acquitted. I wonder what the reaction here would be if the perp was Black.
“Order him face down and cover him while a second officer cuffs him and searches him. Bad shoot.”
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Yes, the crawling bit is goofy. I can’t imagine why you’d want to have a suspect moving his body around anyway, instead of doing exactly what you’ve said. I believe SOP is to have a suspect lay, stand or sit still in one spot until they’re cuffed.
wrong
That IS the question, isn't it?
After watching this, I would say, "Sir, I am frightened to death. Please come and handcuff me so we can both feel safer".
It may not work, but at least he would be convicted when the video came out.
No - good shoot according to the “justice” system. The system where the prosecutor the judge and the police are all on the same side doing their best to ensure the cop got off scott free.
First of all I did not see this posted anywhere on Freerepublic. Second, your argument does not make any sense. If it was a good shooting like you imply why are you worried about the public knowing our officers are acting courageously to defend the public?
It sounds like you are concerned that this is a bad shooting and you do not want the public to know about it.
Cops do heroic work and a few bad apples need to be disciplined. The Mesa PD thought this officer was a bad apple for a couple of reasons and fired him. The public needs to know these things.
I am glad you posted. As far as I can tell it was not discussed on this forum. Cheers.
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