Racist Police Response to Ferguson Protests

[Diemen]

Originally Posted by corianderstem

And then here, as with the man who was shot outside the gas station in St Louis/Ferguson (apologies, cannot remember the poor man's name), they shoot a guy and then just leave him lying there, not trying to administer aid. Or even call for a fucking ambulance.

Even if in either of those cases the shooting was justified, how the hell would they not react to get medical care for the suspect?

First things first, cori. After you've fired 8 shots at your victim and he crumples to the ground, you've got to make sure you yell at him to put his hands behind his back as he breathes his last breaths (seriously, that is some fucked up theatrical bullshit right there). Then you have to make sure you plant a weapon on him. Then you've got to allow enough time to formulate some variation of "I felt threatened" for the official report. Then try to remember if you have the police union rep's number in your cell phone.

Your victim isn't going anywhere. He can wait 5 or 10 minutes for first ai--- shit, he's dead.

[corianderstem]

I just read something that it's not required that police officers be CPR certified. Not sure if that's accurate, or varies by location, but holy shit, why the fuck wouldn't you be?

Also, Go Fund Me has rejected the campaign to fund the cop. GOOD.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/201...harged-murder/

[DaveC]

The person who set it up has also set up a Twitter account, and every tweet is directed at trying to enlist some politician or news media organization's support. What gets me is that they all say one of two things:

"He deserves to be honored for his service"

or

"Murder is too harsh a conviction for one mis-step"

Are you fucking kidding me? A "mis-step" would be him forgetting to check for warrants during a traffic stop and letting someone wanted for robbery go with just a ticket. Shooting an unarmed, fleeing man 8 times in the back and then planting a weapon on him as he lays there dying is not a fucking "mis-step" for christs sake! I can't help but wonder, since he almost certainly would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for the lucky circumstance of someone happening to film the event, what else this guy has gotten away with during his career.

But I totally get the first point. I mean, that Air Force colonel Russell Williams here in Canada did rape a bunch of women and murder (at least) two of them while breaking into dozens of houses and stealing the womens' (and not uncommonly, little girls') underwear, but he did serve for 20+ years before that and even flew the Prime Minister around a couple times, so clearly that's the important thing here. Guys like that should be praised for serving so honorably, really.

Holy fuck, this world makes me despair to such an extreme level sometimes.

[deep]

They can give the money to his wife and family

I do imagine those sights will do some business.

[JJAsi]

You can find a couple articles on the shooting from BEFORE the video as released. They portray the cop as a 'hero'.

Police accounts of the moments that led to Scott’s death weren’t credible in Samuel Scott’s eyes.
“He’s not a violent guy — never seen him argue with anybody. I just can’t see it,” Samuel Scott said.
A statement released by North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said a man ran on foot from the traffic stop and an officer deployed his department-issued Taser in an attempt to stop him.
That did not work, police said, and an altercation ensued as the men struggled over the device. Police allege that during the struggle the man gained control of the Taser and attempted to use it against the officer.
The officer then resorted to his service weapon and shot him, police alleged.
It was not immediately clear how many times Scott had been shot or where on his body he was wounded.

Officers tried to revive him prior to the arrival of paramedics, police said. But their efforts were in vain. He was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Police did not immediately specify whether he was armed.

and here he is casually planting the tazer

[BoMac]

Police officer's dashcam video released in Walter Scott shooting

[cobl04]

Originally Posted by BoMac

Caution: that video is VERY disturbing.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/08...html?referrer=

fuck.

Reportedly the man also held back the release of the video to see how the cops would spin it.

[Irvine511]

It's the officer's body language that's so disturbing to me. So casual. Like, meh, I'm sure this N-word has done something.

[Galeongirl]

This is so incredibly disturbing..

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by Irvine511

It's the officer's body language that's so disturbing to me. So casual. Like, meh, I'm sure this N-word has done something.

This is what boggles my mind.

If I had just killed someone, regardless of if it was in cold blood or 100% totally justifiable "he had a knife to my throat"-style self-defence, I would be so blasted with adrenaline and anxiety and just sheer horror that I would at the very least be jumpy and panicky. This guy just goes about his business like shooting somebody eight times was no more meaningful than taking a shit.

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I can already see where this is going.

The officer doesn't get convicted of murder and goes free. There's outrage from coast to coast about how there's proof that there's no justice for minorities and how cops can do anything they want without worry.

And while some of that may be true, none of it will have anything to do with why he won't be convicted of murder.

South Carolina law apparently requires some degree of premeditation in order to convict someone of murder. That will be almost impossible to prove in this case. Without it, there's no murder conviction.

The DA needs to ensure that the jury is able to convict him off manslaughter so that he can go rot in a jail cell. He's not going to be convicted of murder, not because of a racial divide or cop conspiracy, but because of semantics.

[deep]

you could have a point
but even the right wing conservative radio talkers are writing this guy off

not sure a life sentence would result in riots. also, I expect the Scott family will get a large settlement for wrongful death. Hard to make a case for 'no justice."

I don't think in 2015, 2016 we will have a jury let this off. A hold-out juror, sure.
If he he can get a 'George Zimmerman' defense attorney and jury he will stand a better chance. Could a fleeing Scott have grabbed a gun or knife when he was fleeing? How could the officer know that he did not have one? Had the officer shot him while they were struggling would there be any question? If this one continuous act? Was stopping Scott protecting others that he could be running to harm? Cloud it up, get the right jury.

[Irvine511]

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Originally Posted by deep

you could have a point
but even the right wing conservative radio talkers are writing this guy off

not sure a life sentence would result in riots. also, I expect the Scott family will get a large settlement for wrongful death. Hard to make a case for 'no justice."

I don't think in 2015, 2016 we will have a jury let this off. A hold-out juror, sure.
If he he can get a 'George Zimmerman' defense attorney and jury he will stand a better chance. Could a fleeing Scott have grabbed a gun or knife when he was fleeing? How could the officer know that he did not have one? Had the officer shot him while they were struggling would there be any question? If this one continuous act? Was stopping Scott protecting others that he could be running to harm? Cloud it up, get the right jury.

My point is only that the charge of first degree murder in that state requires premeditation. If there is no premeditation, you can not convict anyone in that charge. If that's the only charge filed, the man goes free. The burden of proof is very high.

Zimmerman went free not because he didn't kill someone, but because the DA was overzealous and only charged him with a charge that was very difficult to prove.

Sometimes people go free cause of racial bias. Sometimes they go free cause the DA is an ass hat. Zimmerman is free cause the DA was an ass hat. I don't want to see the same thing happen here.

The jury can believe that the officer acted maliciously. They can believe that the officer is a racist and only shot because the suspect was black. But if there is no premeditation proven, then they can not convict him of first degree murder.

[Irvine511]

Poor Baltimore.

[nbelcik]

I think a guy on CNN from the community put it best "We're doing it the wrong way. But until we get justice, people aren't going to calm down."


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

[Irvine511]

Looming at my FB feed, it's amazing how different people see different things. Some give up general pleas for peace, others decry thugs and declare their support for law enforcement, others post videos of cops throwing rocks or bystanders inciting the crowds. It's all those things when we live in different Americas.

And that's just my dumb group of friends.

It's all very sad.

[PhilsFan]

The details of the murder of Freddie Gray are horrifying.

[bono_212]

Whole thing is horribly upsetting.

[trojanchick99]

This illustrates why so many in Baltimore are so angry. My heart breaks for the city and the families of the victims of police brutality. http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/police-settlements/