“He was walking away from the police, in defiance of their orders”
I don’t understand why some black males feel they don’t have to obey policemen. They must feel it diminishes their manhood to do so.
Whenever a policeman gives me an order, I do exactly what he says. Policemen are deputized by organized, elected, constituted authority. That same constituted authority has provided methods of redress, and it is not on the streets based on personal interpretation of the situation at hand.
It seems, despite the outcry, that they have immense confidence that the policemen will react with restraint. Otherwise, why would they be so blatant in their actions (I am referring to those who have that mindset). You have to assume they are in a minority.
I was once stopped by a policeman on the outskirts of a small town for supposedly speeding (five over the speed limit). He seemed to be the type that was desirous of a confrontation. He seemed very dangerous (as in, turned purple with rage when I asked where the speed limit sign was). When I realized that, I said not another word.
I figured out a long, long time ago that getting into an argument with a police officer is never a good idea. You can’t seriously hope to win.
Not complying is even dumber. They’ll just get more cops and use more force. You can’t win. You have to do something really stupid to get yourself shot by a cop. Do people really believe that when someone pulls a gun on a cop, the cop thinks *oh wait, that’s a white dude pulling that gun on me. I’ll hold my fire*.
You’re right. If a citizen feels abused by an officer, there are legal avenues of redress, but it’s not on the street, escalating a confrontation into a tragedy.