You don’t kill someone for not stopping. You stop them…
Edit to add: If you are that much of a wimp and so scared of people that you feel someone walking away from you is a danger to you then you should not be designated a protector and servant of the people. Leave that job to people who don’t jump at shadows.
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‘… DA who cleared him said “Taylor’s shooting was justified not because he posed an actual threat, but because (Officer) Cruz reasonably perceived a threat.”…’
If a civilian (not a jackbooted thug with an inferiority complex & an in-born sense that his authority should be respected) “reasonably perceived a threat” by an unarmed stranger on the street walking calmly away from them & shot them dead, what do you think would have happened.
F@k this s!t !!! Soooo, angry.
Shouldn’t we hold Officers of the law to the same standards as everyone else? if not even higher, since after all, they ‘are authorized to use deadly force’?
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^ This. A common argument for everyone in our litigious society is, if you have to defend yourself from an attacker, best kill them unless you want to spend the rest of your life in court. It’s also one of the reasons you always hear the same refrain from murderous cops, “I feared for my life.”
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At 0:32 we see Taylor turn around and face Cruz when he obviously hears and responds to Cruz’s yells.
At 0:34 he walks backwards away from Cruz responding to “get your hands out” with “no, fool”.
At 0:36 Taylor is still moving and jerks his hands out and gets shot.
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The victim had a blood alcohol level of 0.18. Maybe he was trying to avoid a ticket for public intoxication.
His inebriation surely led to his confusion, which was exacerbated by the music he was listening to.
Still, I don’t see this a justifiable homicide. It looks like manslaughter to me. No matter what, that is a bad cop who should not be on the streets with a badge and a gun.
Edit: Oh wait, the victim had a felony arrest warrant outstanding against him.
Taylor was facing a felony arrest warrant when police challenged him
outside the store, according to court records. Gill cites Taylor’s
Facebook entries as proof that he knew about the warrant, which was for
an alleged probation violation.
Taylor wrote on Aug. 7, “I feel my time is coming soon, my nightmears
are telling me. im gonna have warrants out for my arrest soon … ill
die before I go do a lot of time in a cell.”
On Aug. 9 he wrote: “I finely realize I hit rock bottom. im homeless I
havnt slept in two days … as I walk thrw this vally of shadow of
death I am fearing evil. its about my time soon.”
Asked if Taylor may have wanted the police to kill him, Gill said, “Maybe, maybe not.”
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/58472404-78/taylor-cruz-hands-gill.html.csp
There’s a lot going on under the surface here.
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I agree that removing the officer from their position is the right thing to do, and maybe if there was predefined punishments for any killing of unarmed men it would give more than a second of consideration shooting to kill. Literally half a second longer and Taylor doesn’t die. He get’s arrested, but he doesn’t die.
The 911 call is disgusting though. Basically “I see black people” with the knowledge that claiming there was a gun sighting the police had to respond.
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Ok, but then how would this not be an instant-win lawsuit for negligence causing death / failure to provide first aid?
You are a trained professional whose job includes providing first aid.
You are standing over a person who needs first aid - regardless of the cause of that need.
You do not provide any aid.
Individual dies.
There’s no guarantee that actually providing first aid would have helped in this (or any other) situation - but doing ANYTHING AT ALL is surely better then nothing.
Up in Canada, good samaritan laws cover civilians who try to provide first aid - but as I understood it, you’re instantly legally liable if you are employed in any position where providing first aid is part of your job duties, and you fail to act in a situation where they are required. Pretty sure it covers everything from day care workers to police.
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This is a distinction without a difference. Bloodthirsty monsters believe just as much as poorly-trained cowards that violence against innocent people is justifiable.
There is actually a major difference. You can address the second group’s behavior with proper training that does not enhance the fear.
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That’s fine, but we’re talking about what we have, not what we could have, and there is absolutely zero indication that training and hiring criteria are to change.
But without changing these, especially the training, nothing will change.
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Again, sure, but training is not about to change. That would require departments to admit that change is needed, which implies that there’s a question about justifiability, and police do not appear to be open to giving up these rights to murder. Which if you take my point, makes them bloodthirsty monsters.
But yes, things could be different in some alternate universe, which leaves us to argue whether it’s possible and how.
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It’s still not racist to seriously distrust the motives of a good number of policepersons, right? I mean there are a couple of good ones, I guess, but as a group, I wouldn’t go to their parade, is all Ima tryin’ ta say here. Hell, I even dated a chick who dated a cop once. I couldn’t even tell. Not, really.
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he’s right, but
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You seem absolutely positive that there is no chance he was singing along with some ridiculous song in his headphones. Nice work, seances, if one can land the jobs.
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You must be new to Boing Boing. You NEVER disagree with the status quo on this website, no matter how reasoned your viewpoint is, or you’ll get shredded. The article asks for outrage, you give it. Black and white all the way.
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He was WALKING AWAY. He was not armed.You’re a murder-astrologist.
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I agree, but
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I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic, but that’s a really interesting take. There are people who used to say the same thing about black people.
Are cops the new hate figure for the Boing Boing crowd? I don’t recall seeing any positive cop stories on Boing Boing in recent memory to balance out all the (admittedly awful) ones.
I agree that cops have to change their training and attitude, and it’s good that such incidents are called out. But Boing Boing’s single minded vilification of all things related to law is not healthy for anyone. And it seems that anyone who disagrees with the party line gets ridiculed and abused.
Not cool.
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It’s pretty insulting to be all “We’re so abused” when you’re talking about people who are defending racist murders. Cops have argued for their right to murder, rape, and rob - “good cops” are forced out of the system. They don’t exist. Cops have argued they should be allowed to ACTUALLY abuse people, and those who are ok with that should be ridiculed.
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