Rapper Willie Bo shot 25 times in his car by 6 police after falling asleep in Taco Bell drive-thru

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/02/20/rapper-willie-bo-shot-25-times.html

“Overkill is an understatement,” the family’s lawyer said.

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Six officers “fearing for their safety” opened fire in about four seconds, police said.

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They used the magic phrase. Exonerations all around!

Mark my words - not one cop will suffer any consequences for this.

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Like Tamir Rice’s murder - police rolled up, and just started shooting.

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didn’t we cover this particular item on BB already last week, and the subsequent BBS thread was a shit storm as expected?

This is definitely another time warp on multiple levels happening.

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6 cops, 25 bullets that hit him, comes out to a bit over 4 bullets per cop. That’s not counting any that missed. That’s also around 1 bullet per cop per second, if every bullet hit him. Fucking hell. That’s OK Corral type shit.

If they were “fearing for their safety” and he never even got a shot off, then cops in that area must be twitchy as fuck.

Yeah, but this is a followup with more information. Sort of. So… prepare for the new shit storm I guess? Batten down the shit hatches.

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I think it’s going to be a long time before the official coroner’s report is released on this one, to help the Vallejo PD diffuse the stink cloud over their notoriously ham-fisted law enforcement.

Their Yelp reviews are worth a perusal.

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Bay Area rappers getting shot while sleeping in their car is unfortunately not an uncommon experience.

(Spice 1 lived, though…)

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Not only that, but there’s no way that 6 officers could have the same vector (ie. face the same way), which means that they were putting each other in great peril from stray shots, ricochets and shrapnel from the vehicle. But I understand; an awake black man will always be the greater threat.

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See, what I mean, @anon72705028? Both headlines lead with the word “rapper”, which has nothing to do with the case at hand. Could you imagine the headline reading “Dock Worker Shot 8,000 Times by Cops While Waiting in Line at Wendy’s”? Sure, if he was shot in the studio or on the way to a gig or something, but in these cases it has no bearing whatsoever. Same as the presence of a gun as @taconami points out.

ETA: Some reference Karl Lagerfeld dead at 85

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Okay.

They shot a sleeping dude is the real problem here, tho.

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Goodness grief…

Armed reponse should always be your absolute last resort, when all other avenues have been exhausted or you can genuinely argue you were in iminent risk of mortal danger…

This, like many others, does not apply here. In a sane country, unless they can adequatly explain their actions, every officer who fired should be removed from service then charged with murder…

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Yep, yep, yep! It’s really not rocket surgery here!

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I could easily imagine reading.

  • “Actor Joe Doe shot 8000 times by cops while waiting in line at Wendy’s”
  • “Comedian Joe Doe shot 8000 times by cops while waiting in line at Wendy’s”
  • “One time presidential candidate Joe Doe shot 8000 times by cops while waiting in line at Wendy’s”
  • “Man shot 8000 times by cops while waiting in line at Wendy’s”

It is normal for headlines to indicate how we might know a person. If it didn’t say “rapper” it wouldn’t even have his name.

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to that point…I mean I get no one wants to be near the window/door if this dude were to wake up and start firing (not likely to happen but I get not wanting to take the chance). But two actual thoughts come to mind…

first off…couldn’t they knocked on the window from afar or possibly woken him up from a distance? they have sirens…turn them on. Use the old Romeo/Juliet method and toss some pebbles at the window? Hell…use a long extendable grabber!!!

Second…I get the “I don’t want him firing at me when he wakes up” stance…but isn’t it not a concern when you dress like a stormtrooper? I mean what’s the point of the body armor if not to protect you from being shot at?

The part here that I know isn’t lost on you or I but others seem to be glossing over…the LEOs in this case did exactly the thing they claim they were afraid Willie Bo would do. They panicked…and as a result this young man is dead.

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Any word from the NRA? They must be hitting the talk shows and filling the airwaves with intense indignation by now.

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