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White Police Kills Black Man as He Runs-Away.....

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Campin_Cat
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08 Apr 2015, 6:08 am

http://news.yahoo.com/officer-charged-shooting-death-unarmed-093726770.html

What if there hadn't been a tape of the incident?










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Fnord
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08 Apr 2015, 6:23 am

What if he hadn't run away?



staremaster
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08 Apr 2015, 7:54 am

^^Who knows? But I doubt the cop thought he was in danger when he drew his pistol.



Campin_Cat
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08 Apr 2015, 8:35 am

^^ EXACTLY!!












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Humanaut
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08 Apr 2015, 8:48 am

I think the police should be allowed to shoot fleeing suspects, regardless of them being armed or not.



staremaster
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08 Apr 2015, 9:25 am

^^That could get a bit circular, don't you think? The suspect is running so you shoot after him? I could see that actually making suspects flee because they are afraid of getting shot, as much as it might discourage others for the same reason.



Humanaut
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08 Apr 2015, 9:40 am

Fleeing because you are afraid to get shot if you flee sounds like a contradiction to me.



staremaster
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08 Apr 2015, 9:50 am

^^It's a matter of perspective. If you think someone is ready to shoot you, why offer them a stationary target?



Humanaut
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08 Apr 2015, 11:00 am

A stationary target is an oxymoron in this context.



ScrewyWabbit
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08 Apr 2015, 11:41 am

Humanaut wrote:
I think the police should be allowed to shoot fleeing suspects, regardless of them being armed or not.


You are of course entitled to your opinion, however the Supreme Court (and, thus, applicable case law) is not in agreement with you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_v._Garner



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08 Apr 2015, 11:55 am

Fleeing is an indicator of guilt, which in this case, it was. The suspect had warrants out for his arrest as a deadbeat dad who would have gone to jail for non payment of child support. That's why he ran. If he had stayed and faced the consequences which he himself had created, he'd still be alive (albeit in jail).

The law says the cop can't shoot a fleeing suspect and I can't say what the officer was feeling as regards threat because I wasn't in his head. He screwed up big time and got nailed for it. But the dead guy still had some responsibility for his own fate. He had committed a crime by avoiding his responsibilities to his children and when put on the spot for it, continued to avoid responsibility by running away. Now he has no responsibilities, so presumably, he's better off.


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08 Apr 2015, 12:06 pm

will@rd wrote:
The law says the cop can't shoot a fleeing suspect...

It's time to change the law.



will@rd
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08 Apr 2015, 12:21 pm

Here's how it's done:

Dog Obeys Officer's Command to Get on the Ground - Doesn't Get Shot


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ScrewyWabbit
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08 Apr 2015, 1:17 pm

will@rd wrote:
...But the dead guy still had some responsibility for his own fate...


How do you figure? What crime do you believe he committed whose prescribed legal punishment includes the death penalty? Even if he did commit such a crime, he was still entitled to his day in court, not to be killed extra-judicially when he posed no threat to anyone. As far as I can tell he could only be (partially) "responsible" for what happened only in that his actions (or his bad luck) brought him into contact with the police, and, hey, once the police have a reason to interact with you, there's always some small chance they'll use deadly force against you, and if they do, it must be your own fault that they did, even if they weren't justified in doing it.



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08 Apr 2015, 2:00 pm

will@rd wrote:
Fleeing is an indicator of guilt, which in this case, it was. The suspect had warrants out for his arrest as a deadbeat dad who would have gone to jail for non payment of child support. That's why he ran. If he had stayed and faced the consequences which he himself had created, he'd still be alive (albeit in jail).

The law says the cop can't shoot a fleeing suspect and I can't say what the officer was feeling as regards threat because I wasn't in his head. He screwed up big time and got nailed for it. But the dead guy still had some responsibility for his own fate. He had committed a crime by avoiding his responsibilities to his children and when put on the spot for it, continued to avoid responsibility by running away. Now he has no responsibilities, so presumably, he's better off.



Fleeing CAN be an indicator of guilt, but is more consistently an indicator of FEAR. Fleeing from law officers isn't appropriate, but if the officer gave the man good reason to fear for his life, I would understand that fear perfectly.

You cannot guarantee that this man would be alive if he hadn't fled/resisted arrest. The onus is on the officer, not only because of his responsibility to both serve AND PROTECT all citizens (including the criminals) but because of his actions. I'm glad they were captured on tape and think that whoever did the filming was very brave.



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08 Apr 2015, 6:08 pm

The officer's been charged with murder:

New York Times

He clearly planted the tazer by the body.