“The scenario is almost carbon copy. So why is one considered murder and the other justifiable?”
Really? REALLY? Bin Laden versus a REPORT of someone with a rifle, who clearly does NOT have a rifle as he is crawling on his knees. Someone who killed thousands versus someone who hadn’t harmed ANYONE.
Carbon copy? In what world?!
“he cornered the guy, and the guy reached into his waist after being told to keep his hands clear”
A team of armed men with bulletproof vests had the guy in a hallway. The guy was crawling and his shorts were coming off as he tried to comply with conflicting commands. So they opened fire?
“If that’s the case, then can you explain how a jury found him not guilty if it is so obvious?”
Because cops are held to a different standard. Always. As government agents, they have limited immunity which often seems to hit 99% unlimited. The legal standard of proof for a cop is very different from a normal citizen.
In a SWAT raid in Tucson, the highly trained SWAT team fired so many rounds, so wildly, that bullets went through FIVE houses. They then refused to allow a medic to approach the body for over an hour IIRC. Unknown if he could have been saved. They could also have simply arrested him as he came off shift at the mines, although that wouldn’t have been as satisfying. They also had no evidence of wrong doing. The widow received millions and the cops had no punishment.
Why did the guy die? When people forced his front door without announcing themselves (well, they said police but there was no way the dead man could have heard them from the rear of the house), he responded by heading to the front door with a gun in his hands.
I’d have done the same thing. I’d have been killed too. When will cops be held accountable for grossly bad judgment? Judgment that would get any non-cop a prison term?
“Someone who killed thousands versus someone who hadn’t harmed ANYONE.”
Then I have to assume your problem is not with the killing, it is with the reason it was done. Both Bin Laden and this guy were killed inside their home, unarmed, and not trying to resist. The only difference is that the guy in Mesa did not do what he was told and made a move the police considered threatening. Bin Laden did his as an act of war. This country has done that too. Don’t like it, get laws changed. It’s your representation. Vote different and/or get others to vote with you.
“When will cops be held accountable for grossly bad judgment?”
Problem here is that according to a jury, it wasn’t. And the reason is not that it was based upon judgement, but upon expectations and the training to make that a reality. Change the training and the expectation, and you create a different expectation. But until then, the team did as they were trained and expected to do. But you can’t blame the people for doing what they are told to do. Blame the people that made the laws that created that expectation. Change the laws because you can’t put them in jail. And if the team does not conform to the training and expectation, then put them in jail. Prior to that, it’s legal and the people living in the area determined that with their vote and not saying it was wrong with the jury that called the case.
But I might warn you, if you take the capability of the police to protect themselves in so many times they need it, you won’t have anyone but thugs in the police force. And then any expectation is cancelled.
rwood