Family says son killed by police in ‘swatting’ was unarmed, didn’t play video games

Based on race. I rest my case.

 

Do you really think that this is the only way things can be?

 

So you've got nothing once again. This is my shocked face.

Do I think citizens should obey the police in a standoff and that is the only way? Absolutely.

 

Don't take lethal action unless you see a weapon. Opinions from an overwhelming majority of police officers say they would never issue commands and then pull the trigger if they mess up and there's no weapon visible. Remember, in the heat of the moment innocent people are going to be very confused and not fully comprehend the situation. They haven't had practice getting arrested or having a gun pointed at them.

By the way, I realize you may not have intended to come across this way, but your posts wreak of "that guy got what he deserved" mentality.

 

So you want to risk more police lives because citizens cannot follow basic instructions.

I would love to see the proof you have of this claim since you conveniently leave out the important fact that this kid repeatedly reached for his waistband where a weapon is traditionally held while refusing to comply multiple times.

Confused? If anything your senses would be immediately heightened and when someone screams at you to keep your hands up multiple times while pointing a weapon at you.

The only people who would assume that was my argument didn't read what I actually said and replaced facts with emotion.

Why are you so willing to excuse a citizen who refuses to comply with the orders of police in a tense situation? Why is that basic concept so distasteful to you?

You want to excuse civilians for not complying and putting police in even greater danger based on a theory that they are confused and I'm not willing to do that.

 

I can and I will.

 

You talk as if cops were some kind of hard-programmed automatons. These guys are supposed to have judgement. I can't figure how come these guys passed their police courses with so little judgement - I suspect their parents were policemen themselves.

 

Then you are allowing your emotions and not facts dictate your response.

The kid refused to comply with orders and repeatedly went for his waistband which is traditionally where a gun would be. Why are you excusing this behavior?

 

What part of refusing to comply with multiple orders and multiple times reaching for his waistband do you not understand?

 

He was in his right. He didn't have to comply to "orders". It was to the police to "comply" to reality. That's what they're supposed to be paid for (the victim wasn't paid).

 

What part of not having judgement enough to be put in any position of authority do you not understand?

Mafia goons would have made a better, bloodless job for crying out loud. What are these officers are, frightened little girls? How come such nervous jackasses ended up with guns in the first place? That's what you call a police?

 

a high burden of proof should be on the state not the individual. That's what a lover of liberty would demand.

 

First, that's in dispute. The other occupants of the house who witnessed the incident say instructions were not given. Second, no weapon was found on the subject. Third, assuming instructions were given did he refuse or did he sh*t his pants? I think you're making some pretty bold claims about facts that aren't known yet. Maybe we should wait and see what the investigation turns up?

 

Umm...because an innocent person died.

 

Exactly. I don't want to open the door to my own house and then play and impromptu game of Simon Says with a guy that has a gun pointed at me in which one mistake gets me killed. I'm pretty sure in the heat of the moment I wouldn't even recognize they were law enforcement officers. I would just think "holy sh*t I'm going to die" and then fight or flight would kick in. I doubt I would fully comprehend what was going on. Does that I mean I should die? I don't think so.

 

Federal training at DHS's Federal Law Enforcement Training Center includes shoot/don't shoot training comprised of many scenarios similar to this incident. State and local police need to have similar training. All firearm training should mandate keeping one's figure off of the trigger until a decision is made to shoot. In this case the cop is guilty of manslaughter IMHO although they often get away with this sort of thing.

 

He "reached for his waistband" is one of the standard reasons given by cops after they execute someone just like a claim of resisting arrest is the standard reason for beating the [expletive] out of someone.

 

this is america, shut up and do as you're told, or die.

 

Don't worry, what you allow the state to do to someone else, it will do to you eventually.

 

Yeah.........no.

 

Not entirely disagreeing, but the anti-cop hysteria I hear from people at times...

 

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

If they wait to check the caller out TOO much, a hostage may die, and if they go in with NO caller check, a tragedy may occur.

This was a bad, new and unusual situation for which the caller should be held HEAVILY accountable.

But as an armchair quarterback, I do think the fact that the call was coming from out of state might should have been a red flag.

As a counter to even this, if the police demanded that everyone identify themselves and give an address every time they called, the police would be called a LOT less.

It's a tough balance, and this ended tragically.

 

But cops don't have to 'use their noggin' when raiding your home...

 

How about you come to terms with that a police officer is a person who does unskilled labor.
It is just what it is. And those people make f*ck ups. And they should be held accountable for all of that.
Currently it's like oops, I accidentally killed somebody over nothing, like... yeah I killed me a mosquito too.

 

I just can't wait for more people to start shooting back at police, once they figure out they are poorly trained licensed tax collectors who have minimal accountability, the better off this nation will be.