Article>"The suspect had his hand under his shirt. When the officer told him to show his hand, (Jackson) pulled out a gun," Harper said.
...with his foot, I suppose.
Look...I'm not at all arguing that this was a model citizen. I'm just arguing that with the original story as posted, it could very well have been misbehavior by the cops--yet the knees were jerking like mad.
The same circumstances could have been a thug-cop intimidating a FReeper who was carrying legally, and who then set his dog on the FReeper.
Remember how the Philly cops have treated FReepers--myself included. I am very much in favor of good cops, including my family, but that makes me loathe bad cops even more. And unfortunately, it's wrong to make any assumptions that the cops are right these days in PA.
So I take if you were hassled by Philly cops, you are out east, am I right?
Do you 'know' Pittsburgh's neighborhoods and not the 'North Shore' or Golden Triangle shots from Steeler games? There are pretty bad parts of town...Knoxville being one. If you are in the eastern part of the state you also wouldn't 'know' that a number of kids (12 and 13 year olds) have been killed in this area recently in gunplay...gangbangers just shooting up a house or street for whatever reason. Pittsburgh and its surrounding suburbs have a 'Gang Task Force' to try and bust the gangs and clean up neighborhoods like Knoxville. So into the mix you add what happened in the wee small hours of today...and, of course, the police would be wrong. Maybe it will come out (and I am guessing it will) that not only does Jackson have a rap sheet (already noted) but that he also is a member of one of these gangs (and probably 'known' to the Pgh Police). But again...they were wrong to consider him a (how do they put it) 'person of interest' in the original 'gunplay' that brought them out on the call.
I'd like to know how many of the cops on this run were part of the PA NG ~ and where did they serve ~ and did they get honorable discharges.
I would hope people, regardless of whether they were freepers or not, who were carrying legally would have the sense to obey the officers commands.
It would be prudent to inform the officer that they are a legal CCW holder and that they were carrying a "tool of self-defense" (terms suggested by an attorney who specializes in cases involving self-defense)