Arizona Cop Acquitted of...

[Tom]

Time for DOJ to step in - this thug violated civil rights at minimum.

He needs to be off the streets

[classhandicapper]

That was terrible.

This cop seemed to be looking for a reason to blow this kid away. I have no training, but everything about the way this was handled seemed wrong.

The thing that probably got the cop off was the kid reaching behind his back the first time. It provoked a serious reaction from the cop. A cop will not know why you are reaching behind you. Many people keep guns in their pants behind them. So he could have easily been reaching for a gun. That's why he was screaming at the kid to not reach behind again or he'd shoot him.

The kid did not realize the significance of why he should reach behind himself and seemed to be making a move in that direction again when the cop shot him. Tragic.

[Tom]

Coincidence - just watching COPS on TV, and this car is driving erratically, cops purse, but driver will not pull over. Never gets to high speed. He hits a guard rail and eventually pulls over. He gets out, and stumbles to the rail and leans on it. Guy is old and wobbly. Appears to be drunk.

Now, 6-7 cops, guns drawn and trained on him, they move in, one Baboon of a cop screaming like a madman, "Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Now!" over and over.

Then, from the rear, some storm trooper in full riot gear with what looks like an assault rifle trained on the old guy rushes up past them all, like he was storming Normandy. For an old man barley able to stand up against the railing!

The response to this old man rivaled that in Ferguson and Baltimore!

They finally get the guy down and cuff him, and it turns out his diabetic and has not had any insulin that day - blood sugar at 325 and he is in dire straits.

So a squad of jack-booted gorillas has protected society from an old diabetic barely able to stand.

If the TV crew were not filming, I think one of the Roid-Cops would have shot him.

Who do we need to be protected from anyway?
Yes, cops need to be careful, but the also need to use their brains.e
I normally support cops all the way, but this was unacceptable.
All those car and gun-toting crazies were far more of a threat to public safety than a drunk drive pulling over.

Cops need to be trained when to stand down.

(Note- everyone was white, the old man very white!)

[thaskalos]

How can these cops behave like this while knowing that their body cameras are recording these atrocities? Do they think that they can get away with ANYTHING? The "suspect" is on the ground with his hands locked behind his head...and multiple fully-armed cops are yelling at him that they'll shoot him dead if he doesn't "keep his legs crossed" while crawling on his hands and knees?

What a horrible message this acquittal sends to all the citizens out there, who want to avoid getting shot by an over-zealous cop.

[johnhannibalsmith]

I chuckle a bit when I'm watching Live PD and the police are real suspicious because someone is acting nervous around them.

[The Judge]

I kept thinking that another cop was going to step-up and take over it was clear that nothing this poor guy did was enough . He was not a threat.

He was in a deadly game of "Simon Says".

There are thousands of cops can they all make-up their own rules as to what a suspect is suppose to do when confronted?

No matter what, laying flat with hands behind your head and legs crossed left over right not right over left is enough . Not to mention hands raised earlier.

A complete waste of life an innocent father and husband.

[thaskalos]

Where are these desperado-cops when you need them...in gang-infested places like Chicago's South Side? But I guess shooting unarmed citizens is easier on the "nerves".

[newtothegame]

I did NOT read the story and only witnessed the video.
I would like to know what the cops were there for? Who did they think they were running into? Bonnie and Clyde??? The shooter cop told him several times to follow instructions and when the kid reached behind his back, you can see the cop got seriously agitated. Its almost like he thought somehow the kid had a weapon hidden.
Fast forward to the crawl, after being warned several times to NOT reach back, the kid appears to lose balance and reaches back....DAMN!
In no way am I justifying what happened as I believe that cop was in NO danger. Hell the kid was so scared he was even crying!
I'm just thinking of how it transpired.....
Again, knowing what the cop was thinking (Who were they there to arrest some bank robber), as to who his actions were that way....
Insanity!

[RunForTheRoses]

Originally Posted by newtothegame

I did NOT read the story and only witnessed the video.
I would like to know what the cops were there for? Who did they think they were running into? Bonnie and Clyde??? The shooter cop told him several times to follow instructions and when the kid reached behind his back, you can see the cop got seriously agitated. Its almost like he thought somehow the kid had a weapon hidden.
Fast forward to the crawl, after being warned several times to NOT reach back, the kid appears to lose balance and reaches back....DAMN!
In no way am I justifying what happened as I believe that cop was in NO danger. Hell the kid was so scared he was even crying!
I'm just thinking of how it transpired.....
Again, knowing what the cop was thinking (Who were they there to arrest some bank robber), as to who his actions were that way....
Insanity!

There had been reports of someone firing a pellet gun out the window (the kid). That is what triggered the event.

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Originally Posted by newtothegame

I did NOT read the story and only witnessed the video.
I would like to know what the cops were there for? Who did they think they were running into? Bonnie and Clyde??? The shooter cop told him several times to follow instructions and when the kid reached behind his back, you can see the cop got seriously agitated. Its almost like he thought somehow the kid had a weapon hidden.
Fast forward to the crawl, after being warned several times to NOT reach back, the kid appears to lose balance and reaches back....DAMN!
In no way am I justifying what happened as I believe that cop was in NO danger. Hell the kid was so scared he was even crying!
I'm just thinking of how it transpired.....
Again, knowing what the cop was thinking (Who were they there to arrest some bank robber), as to who his actions were that way....
Insanity!

I'm by far no field expert, but it took me all of 2 seconds to realize the couple in charge was of zero circumstance to hurt anybody, nor was is it anywhere near their intent.

IT should have been a 10 second OK, move on about your business type thing. But GI Joe had different aspirations of escalating the event at each and every opportunity possible and had to shoot his gun that day.

[Nutz and Boltz]

In the video, the cop was pissed right away because the two suspects took their time to leave the room. In his mind, I guess, he thought that they might be planning to try to make an escape or shoot him.
I thought the police fire a warning shot, then shoot to disable and only then might they shoot to kill . It seems now days, right away, it's shoot to kill.

[RunForTheRoses]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

That is disgusting beyond belief, that guy was humiliated then pretty much executed. The guy barking out the instructions is an idiot also and needs to be fired. We have an unarmed, law abiding white guy, who wasn't resisting killed by police. Where is the wide spread outrage? Why wasn't this all over the news? I only heard about it recently.

http://www.dailywire.com/news/24470/police-matt-walsh

From the column:

Brailsford was called to a hotel in Mesa back in January of 2016 on reports that someone had been pointing a rifle out of a window. Daniel Shaver, very drunk at the time, had apparently been messing around with a few pellet guns that he used in his pest control job. Exceedingly stupid behavior on his part, but not deserving of the death penalty. Still, Brailsford and the other responding officers could not have known that they were pellet guns, so it's understandable that they were on edge.
But this is where it gets not-so-understandable. Shaver emerges stumbling out of his hotel room. He's told to get on the ground, and he immediately complies. Shaver attempts to follow every instruction shouted at him, but he has difficulty because the instructions make no sense. Here's a verbatim transcript of everything Brailsford told Shaver to do, as he pointed his rifle at him and threatened repeatedly to kill him: "lie on the ground," "put both hands on top of your head and interlace your fingers," "take your feet and cross your left foot over your right foot," "keep your feet crossed," "put both hands flat in front of you" (while they're on his head and interlaced?), "push yourself to a kneeling position" (have you ever tried to push yourself up while your arms are extended all the way in front of you?), "put both hands in the air," "crawl towards me" (with his hands in the air?), "stop," "crawl," "keep your legs crossed" (while crawling?), "put your hands in the air," "keep your legs crossed," "crawl" (so he's supposed to crawl again with his hands in the air and his legs crossed). In the midst of this flurry of hysterical, arbitrary commands, as Brailsford continually reminds Shaver that he'll die if he "makes a mistake," Shaver cries and begs for his life.

[Robert Fischer]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

That was terrible.

This cop seemed to be looking for a reason to blow this kid away. I have no training, but everything about the way this was handled seemed wrong.

The thing that probably got the cop off was the kid reaching behind his back the first time. It provoked a serious reaction from the cop. A cop will not know why you are reaching behind you. Many people keep guns in their pants behind them. So he could have easily been reaching for a gun. That's why he was screaming at the kid to not reach behind again or he'd shoot him.

The kid did not realize the significance of why he should reach behind himself and seemed to be making a move in that direction again when the cop shot him. Tragic.

c'mon man...

[Nutz and Boltz]

I respect "the law" one-hundred percent, but I find it harder to respect "law officers" individually.

[barahona44]

Originally Posted by Nutz and Boltz

I thought the police fire a warning shot, then shoot to disable and only then might they shoot to kill . It seems now days, right away, it's shoot to kill.

The only time a police officer should shoot someone is if their life or the life of someone else is in danger.A wounded suspect is still a danger to others.As for warning shots, most departments either discourage or outright ban the use of them.A bullet shot in the ground can fragment and cause injury to the officer or others and bullets shot in the air eventally return to earth ("What goes up"...) and could kill or wound someone that was in its path.I had an officer who I knew that once told me "If you're dumb enough to fire your weapon,you better be smart enough to kill what you're shooting at".Wounding someone leaves too many unanswered questions such as your marksmanship skills.And this cop wasn't the hot dogging, itchy trigger finger type.