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:13865 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. : )
Criminal suspects are sort of obligated to show some guilt. That's what makes them criminal suspects.
Cops,on the other hand are supposed to enforce the laws,not be guilty of breaking them.
The black guy fled his vehicle into an empty lot. For a burned-out brake light, the cause for him being stopped? Maybe he was drunk or maybe he was holding or maybe he feared the warrant on child support. But fleeing a cop for a brake light bulb is not normal behavior. I've read that the cop did not know about the child support warrant (from another county) when the incident happened; that only became known after the shooting.
The cop tried to tase but it failed, probably the electrodes failed to penetrate the loose clothing this guy had on.
Why did the black guy run? After the taser failed, did the cop say something to him like "Now I'm going to shoot you."?
I think there are at least a few more essential facts we don't know yet. I'm not sure we'll ever know if the cop said something to make this guy start running so he could shoot him.
The black guy fled his vehicle into an empty lot. For a burned-out brake light, the cause for him being stopped? Maybe he was drunk or maybe he was holding or maybe he feared the warrant on child support.
Maybe he kidnapped and ate the Lindbergh baby,or is Satan incarnate?
So what? The cop had no idea he was guilty of anything beyond the burned out taillight,and had no justification for shooting him in the back as he ran away.
Especially given the fact the guy was fat and 50,and would have probably stroked out if he had ran a block. The cop could have easily caught him.
Why did the black guy run?
Don't know,don't care. It is irrelevant since he was running AWAY from the cop,not at him.
Cops are cops. Their job is to arrest,not arrest,try,convict,and execute. This is supposed to be American,not Stalinist Russia or Hitler's Germany.