What I did after police killed my son

Politico ^ | 8-15-14 | Michael Bell

[yldstrk]

After police in Kenosha, Wis., shot my 21-year-old son to death outside his house ten years ago — and then immediately cleared themselves of all wrongdoing — an African-American man approached me and said: “If they can shoot a white boy like a dog, imagine what we’ve been going through.”

I could imagine it all too easily, just as the rest of the country has been seeing it all too clearly in the terrible images coming from Ferguson, Mo., in the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown. On Friday, after a week of angry protests, the police in Ferguson finally identified the officer implicated in Brown's shooting, although the circumstances still remain unclear.

I have known the name of the policeman who killed my son, Michael, for ten years. And he is still working on the force in Kenosha.

[icwhatudo]

I am trying to understand how someone with his hands cuffed behind his back can be considered a threat. Maybe in the movies, but in real life? Isn’t that why suspects are cuffed in the first place, to remove the danger and control the situation?

Handcuffed man shoots at officers using gun from butt cheeks

[truth_seeker]

“All the facts in the Michael Brown case are not yet known to the general public so it is a little premature to convict the LEO and confer sainthood on Michael Brown.”

And vice versa

In my neck of the woods, the Fullerton PD were filmed, basically beating a mentally ill homeless man to death.

There is a 35 minute video.

The DA, to his credit, got it tried, but the jury let the officers off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Kelly_Thomas

In this case, I believe the police should have been found guilty of something. Perhaps they were overcharged (2nd degree murder).

[Altura Ct.]

Exactly.

[SECURE AMERICA]

So was your son a dirtbag criminal also?
I would not be comparing my son to Mike Brown under any circumstance...

[Mastador1]

"Angry protests" my azz. These people were just waiting for an excuse to loot and steal.

How rude of you impose your cultural standards on others! What your culture calls looting and stealing their culture calls shopping. Please try and be more culturally sensitive to the African Tribal culture.

[icwhatudo]

Perhaps we read different articles. It was discovered that when the officer thought his gun was being pulled it had actually gotten caught on a broken side mirror.

Which is why I said it was a tragic mistake.

As for the officer committing suicide: "The officer who killed my son, Albert Gonzalez, is not only still on the force ten years later, he is also a licensed concealed-gun instructor across the state line in Illinois."

It was a different officer that commited suicide. Officer in shooting commits suicide

I don't see how shooting someone in the temple who's hands are handcuffed behind his back could be anything but murder.

If you and you partner have the quadrouple tazed maniac suspect pinned to a car and your partner yells" He has my gun" maybe you would feel different. By the way, I keep seeing people say he was cuffed at the time. Can you provide a link to that? Thanks

[bubbacluck]

I remember that one. But I think that I wouldn’t be going out on a limb in saying that MOST people don’t conceal carry a gun in their butt.

[Pollster1]

When I’m angry, I steal armloads of cell phones from people with the same skin tone as the person I’m angry with. Doesn’t everyone?

[icwhatudo]

"You really need to give a link, because the posted article clearly states that the cop who shot this guy’s son is still on the force. It discusses another cop who committed suicide, but that’s essentially an aside.
So, we don’t know where you got your info,

It was another officer involved...not the shooter: Officer in shooting commits suicide

but nevertheless it is hard to see how you can put a gun to a handcuffed person’s head and pull the trigger TWICE and call that self-defense or justified.

Can you provide a link that says he was handcuffed? Not saying he wasn't, just keep seeing it mentioned but no links provided.

Cops aren’t allowed to kill people just because they’ve p*ssed them off. If they can’t handle those rules of engagement they need to find another line of work. I’m sure there are mercenary armies all over Africa who’d love to have their services.

Are they allowed to shoot if they fear for their life and think the perp has a gun? I see defense of that situation all the time on FR for homeowners...does it not extend to police?

[Utilizer]

They are the exception, and I wish that the media would quit trying to convince people, especially Freepers, that they are the rule.

I used to believe that as well. Sadly, personal experiences with certain LEOs over time have proven that such is not the case.

All due respect to the few percent that are not simply uniformed JBTs, but there are valid reasons why so many people, including FReepers, have such poor opinions about Law Enforcement Officers.

Mark Steyn has an excellent article about it on his website.

The next time you get pulled over and verbally insulted while threatened with arrest, you personally might have the option of calling one or more of your LEO friends/relatives to help you out if the situation goes in an unexpected situation.

The rest of us are merely "Uncaught Perps", and at the mercy of the uniformed gang that has the written authority to permanently terminate us without any credible concern about retribution.

Sympathies for your uncle, but nazi germany never had it this bad. Remember the old B/W movies where you were flagged down at a checkpoint and told brusquely: "Your-Papers-Please!"? Well, today it is "License, registration, and proof-of-insurance" -in a bored tone. Plus, you had better not be recording a video of the event or your experience will quite quickly become a lot more... shall we say: "interactive", since the LEO will instantly begin looking for a new and creative means to arrest you just for mucking up his routine instead of meekly accepting the citation.

All the rest of us normal Uncaught-Perps do not have the ability to call a friend in the LEOs camp to help us out. Instead we have to hope that we have enough money to hire a good defense attorney or pray that the occifer is having a good day and on a coffee-and-doughnut high and let us go.

Some of us will not be so fortunate. Probably most of us.

You probably should give thanks that you are a supposed Scion of a Noble House (LEOs)... but for the majority of the populace, such as I, we have no such protectors, and the results can be almost as bad as having an ex- who works for the IRS.

With the IRS, at least, after ten years they have no more legal means to keep coming after you.

Mostly.

[icwhatudo]

I remember that one. But I think that I wouldn’t be going out on a limb in saying that MOST people don’t conceal carry a gun in their butt.

Agreed...and I don't think I wouyld be going out on a limb saying a perp grabbing hold of an officers gun is a huge danger when fighting hand to hand. Remember, this guy was tased 4 times and was fighting off 3 cops when one of the cops yelled "he has my gun". A little different from a "trigger happy" cop out to shoot for no reason.

[Hulka]

Agree.

[definitelynotaliberal]

I advocate shooting a perp who has an officer’s gun after he has been fighting with 3 cops having already been tasered 4 times because it’s likely that in that state he might kill the cop whose gun he has taken.

[Hulka]

Most sane and legal firearm owners don’t.

Criminals do.

[Utilizer]

But there are just too many stories about defenseless, innocent people who have done nothing wrong, or even people who may have done something wrong but at not posing a threat at that time, and they are just being killed with impunity by cops.

You are forgetting the one posted just a couple of days ago where the police sent a SWAT team to invade some poor grandmum's house while her teenage grandkid was in there because they had been getting some "credible threats" against the department/occifer/chiefLEO or something.

Later it was determined that the "threats" were probably being sent from someone close by that had hacked onto the grann's wifi and sent them.

Really? An entire SWAT team has to break down some poor grann's house because of some threats? What kind of response justification is that?

[Utilizer]

Bewdy. I'm on the shooter's side on this one.

Some people are just too evil to allow to continue living.

[Utilizer]

I also go back to the fact there were three cops there, unless this kid was strong beyond normal, three cops should be able to get him on the ground and subdue him...without putting a gun to his head...

You raise a valid point there.

Unless they were girl cops. (I have not seen the vid of this yet). :)

[icwhatudo]

Watch the video at 1:38 and then freeze it at 1:42. Looks like the man is moving towards the cop and about to throw a punch with his right hand. When the cop strikes him the confrontation goes back to just words. Then at 1:48 the drunk Gonzalez, who was accused by the store owner of trying to steal beer, reaches out towards the cop at which point the cop strike him twice and throws him to the ground and cuffs him. Apparently Gonzalez was also combative with fire rescue and medical staff and had to be sedated because of his “belligerent and violent” actions. Gonzalez admited he was drinking but said he was just "using words" (like F-you over and over apparently) We can argue over whether too much force was used, but to say he was no threat at all seems a little bit of an exaggeration. The video clearly shows the drunk reaching out toward the officers not once but twice.

[icwhatudo]

Anyone got a link to the perp being cuffed at the time of the shooting?

Not claiming he wasn’t, just a lot of freepers said he was and I am just not finding it. Thanks

[jocon307]

Excellent example.

And I still remember something that just completely aggravated me at the time. During the siege at Columbine HS the SWAT team arrived, and then they waited outside, for what I don’t know.

So, I’m sorry to say this, but this is what bullies do. They push around grandmothers and drunks, but avoid confronting real bad guys if at all possible.

It reminds of the French, thinking their Muslim problem is women wearing headscarves in public schools, when it is actually men setting cars on fire and killing Jews.