DougB1946 wrote: Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:36 am
Nobody on this forum was on site at the shooting to actually see what happened, so nobody here knows what happened. Fortunately , nobody here will be on the jury. I wish the elected officials would shut their mouths until after an investigation was completed but lately, the elected types seem to prefer throwing the cops under a bus immediately to appease the loud people. I believe Minneapolis would have avoided riots by suspending the four cops and calling out the guard immediately while conducting a thorough investigation . Maybe even calling the feds in. Like it or not, the elected ones duty also includes protecting the rights of cops and announcing "guilty as charged" before an investigation brings charges is not their job . When the knife came out, it ceased being a shoplifting case. I hate trial by media.
There are multiple videos and eye-witnesses, including the other cops on scene. This guy used deadly force for no real reason, when he should have used less-lethal alternatives (OC Spray in this case). That is a crime the last time I looked! AFAIK the victim never actually tried to stab the security guard, just showed him the knife as he approached etc.
The knife was not out in the cop's presence AFAIK, rather it was merely shown to the store security guard when he attempted to stop the victim/thief from leaving with a toolbox, all before the first cops were on scene.
Yes, displaying the knife was brandishing, and the victim needed to be arrested for that and theft no doubt, though that in itself was no reason for the cop to shoot the guy 9 times including a head shot, when the knife was not even in the victim's hands at the time (it was either put away of on his lap perhaps, as he was holding his phone and a pack of smokes when shot AFAIK).
If the victim had attempted to stab the cop then "maybe" the cop would've had a defense for nine rounds including a head shot, but he didn't.
I'm pro-blue as well, but sometimes some of them unfortunately are wrong (bad day, bias, adrenaline etc, etc, etc...), and this is one of those cases as it was with Floyd's murder.
The video evidence is over-whelming, guilty will be the verdict if there's a fair trial, and the only question remaining is to what charge(s)?
Likely a man-slaughter conviction is my guess...