Title: Cop Charged With Murdering Black Charlestonian Source:
charleston post and courier URL Source:http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150407/PC16/150409468 Published:Apr 7, 2015 Author:Andrew Knapp Post Date:2015-04-07 19:52:57 by TEA Party Reveler Keywords:cop pig thug, son of Gatlin, son of GrandIsland Views:13671 Comments:66
A Charleston cop has been arrested on murder charges after video shows him shooting a black man in the back 8 times as he ran away.
"I haven't seen the video, but I've heard the officers conduct was 110% illegal and despicable."
The video is a waste of time -- it begins as the officer is shooting. As they all do.
In South Carolina, "more than 200 police officers fired their weapons at suspects in the past five years, and none have been convicted, according to an analysis by the State newspaper's Clif LeBlanc".
This officer was charged a year after the shooting as a result of pressure from the black community. I'm sure Ferguson and other recent shootings played a role.
South Carolina allows deadly force on a fleeing felon. Whether the prosecutor can get 12 people to agree it wasn't applicable here remains to be seen.
"It ends with him dropping his taser next to the body from what I hear... that's undefendable"
It was odd, that's for sure.
If there was a struggle for the taser, it fell to the ground, the guy ran away ..., how does the cop explain the taser next to the body? Hell, that's more incriminating than leaving it where it was.
I'm guessing that, after the shooting, he just wasn't thinking straight.
As the black guy starts to run, you can see a metallic line tightening between him and the cop. So a taser attempt was made.
I conclude the cop tried to taser him but that the electrode barb hit some loose clothing and never contacted the skin firmly so the suspect turned to flee and got shot 8 times in the back.
FNC said the video showed the cop retreated back to the vehicles to get the dropped taser. I'm not sure about that.
And they aren't explaining how they got so far away from the two vehicles.
What if the black guy was driving drunk and had a couple of previous DUIs (possibly including a fatal accident)? What if he was running away because he knew he'd face prison time if he was tested for DUI and got convicted? What if he was a truck driver or other license holder and he was running to avoid the breathalyzer and losing his job?
None of that excuses shooting a non-violent detainee in the back but it might mitigate the officer's guilt, despite his manipulation of the crime scene.
If the cop's meddling with the scene shows evidence of guilt, doesn't the black guy fleeing show some evidence of guilt as well?
News reports are fine but a few seconds of video never tells the whole story.
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to let you two play the "hang the dirty cop" role and I'd lick some raw jackboot for a change. : )
"And they aren't explaining how they got so far away from the two vehicles."
My understanding was that there was a car chase. The victim bailed and the cop chased him. There was a struggle and the taser was employed -- ineffectively. A further struggle and the taser fell to the ground.
Now the video starts.
The guy flees again and the cop fires seven shots. Pause. The guy keeps running. All misses? The cop fires the 8th round and he finally falls.
The cop handcuffs him then retreats back to the location of the struggle to get the dropped taser. Why? I have no idea.
The guy keeps running. All misses? The cop fires the 8th round and he finally falls.
It was really lousy shooting. The black guy was too chubby and out of condition to run faster than a speedwalker. He might have collapsed from exhaustion after another 10 steps.
Missing seven times raises some question of whether the cop was endangering the public or property by firing so many shots ineffectively. It was pretty short range against a fleeing (not charging) suspect, a pretty easy shot even by my standards. If he couldn't shoot then, how effective could he be against a competent and aggressive thug?
Maybe we'll find this arises from a lack of competence all around by this cop. Nothing here indicates his competence in judgement or taser use or pistol use at a range of under 30' against a pudgy suspect fleeing in a straight line in slow motion.
Maybe less competent cops do tend to get in more trouble with excessive force. You hear this often about women cops who are considered to shoot people and dogs quicker than male cops do because the women are less physically capable and experienced to mix it up a bit hand-to-hand.
"Maybe we'll find this arises from a lack of competence all around by this cop. Nothing here indicates his competence in judgement or taser use or pistol use at a range of under 30' against a pudgy suspect fleeing in a straight line in slow motion."
Look no further than Darren Wilson who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson. Here we have a giant running straight at the cop who fires ten shots and connects with only half of them -- two in the right arm, one in the upper right chest, and two in the head (by then he was only 10 feet away).
They seem to be trained to shoot their entire magazine of rounds.
Officers are trained to shoot until the threat has ended, regardless of the amount of rounds. This is FACT and uniform for all departments from coast to coast.
If the officer was justified to use DPF, then the amount of rounds are never an issue. I don't believe this officer was justified to shoot even one round... so your above anti LE plug is moot.
