This cop did nothing to deescalate the situation. It was him and five others armed with rifles, yet he acted like the obviously terrified man on his hands and knees, crying, begging for his life was some kind of major threat to everyone around him.
Officer Tacticool was looking for a reason to pull the trigger on his personal rifle, and he found one.
I just love the herd mentality that has become so pervasive here as of late. Had I actually sat in the jury and I heard nothing compelling to sway my decision of guilty, that is what my vote cast would have been. Alas I am only privy to a video that sure looks like guilt to me, and an article that may or may not be holding back information that came out in the trial to sway my belief.
Nonetheless, the jury that did hear his case voted for acquittal. Not a hung jury, and obviously not guilty on any of the charges they were instructed to choose from.
There are many times I think the jury got it wrong, such as the Kate Steinle verdict, and they are often hard to swallow. An innocent found guilty on the flimsiest of evidence, and the, by all appearances, the guilty being acquitted.
I have stated before & will state again, it is obvious that this person does not need to be in law enforcement.
You do bring up an interesting point, if in fact it is accurate, that there were 5 officers at the scene. That fact alone would & does sway me to believe there was a better way to have taken this person into custody safely for all concerned. I don't remember reading that fact, but then sometimes I skim over some articles. I do know from the video that there was at least one other present, not because I saw that other officer but by the fact the girl surrendered herself and it wasn't to the officer holding the AR-15.
My gut feeling on this.
A cop with his operator AR, spent weeks playing operator in the desert, now has a chance to try it out.