Yeah, I definitely wouldn't advertise that they give their "lawmen" a day or so to get their story straight.

7/6/2016 8:25:21 AM

Quote :

"think about it"

7/6/2016 8:25:31 AM

Yep, cops get plenty of time to think about things directly after a shooting. Their first call is also to a union representative, and not their supervisor, who provides them with legal aid before they actually have to answer any questions about the shooting. Plenty of time to get a story together.

In contrast, when any other citizen is involved in a shooting, they most likely will immediately be questioned, and not allowed to sleep or otherwise think before giving police statements.

7/6/2016 8:28:04 AM

That's BS.

7/6/2016 8:34:36 AM

Body cameras conveniently dangling unsecured...
Store surveillance footage already secured...that'll probably get lost.
Investigation being handled internally...so little-to-no chance of charges being leveled.

However, this man was armed and did seem to be struggling with the officers in the footage I saw, and I did read that he was tased and still didn't go down. That in no way justifies his shooting...but to me at least it makes it a little less cut-and-dry than other recent shootings.

7/6/2016 10:20:20 AM

Supposedly there's dashcam footage too

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 10:26 AM. Reason : I suppose the cops are still thinking about it tho]

7/6/2016 10:25:01 AM

Quote :

"However, this man was armed and did seem to be struggling with the officers in the footage I saw, and I did read that he was tased and still didn't go down. That in no way justifies his shooting...but to me at least it makes it a little less cut-and-dry than other recent shootings."

seriously?

they had him pinned to the ground and had both of his arms before one of them decided to shoot him

7/6/2016 11:12:57 AM

Yeah, unless there is a video showing another angle of the situation and Alton's right arm, I dont see how this isnt cut-and-dry. His left arm was securely pinned by the officers so there was really no way for him to pull the gun out of his pocket (assuming his right arm was not completely free), turn it to aim up at the officers, and then fire.

Also, the shop owner defended Alton saying the police were aggressive from the start and he was not holding his gun nor had his hands near his pockets.


[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 11:23 AM. Reason : a]

7/6/2016 11:18:36 AM

listening to them it sounds like the one officer shot because the other officer said he was going for the gun, so he was just reacting to the other officer
(i'm not trying to excuse assassinating this dude, just explaining what i think happened)

7/6/2016 11:20:30 AM

One can still struggle when pinned to the ground. He's pinned securely by the cops, but you can clearly still see him straining against them. Absolutely there was no way he was reaching for his gun, and his shooting is unjustified. I'm just pointing these things out as devils advocate for things that'll be cited when the officers are cleared of all charges...and let's face it, they will be.

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 11:25 AM. Reason : ]

7/6/2016 11:23:11 AM

Quote :

"Yeah, I definitely wouldn't advertise that they give their "lawmen" a day or so to get their story straight."

Not a day. In Louisiana, it's THIRTY DAYS.

7/6/2016 11:43:00 AM

"He's got a gun" and "He's reaching for a gun" or "He's pointing a gun at me" are completely different things.

7/6/2016 11:45:00 AM

^^^ what's the point of playing devils advocate in shootings like this?

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 11:48 AM. Reason : .]

7/6/2016 11:48:20 AM

so conservative gun rights advocates are all in rage over this, correct? they are furious at the police for killing someone simply for having a gun?

7/6/2016 12:00:01 PM

Has anyone dug up dirt to undermine Alton's character yet? I'm sure he did something nefarious when he was 15 which will vindicate the police.

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 12:04 PM. Reason : H]

7/6/2016 12:03:45 PM

Attempt to distribute while possessing a weapon, assaults, possession, and according to some reports, registered sex offender.

Though, this is about unarmed people being killed, and he had a gun.

7/6/2016 12:06:54 PM

Wow that video is rough.

7/6/2016 12:11:52 PM

Nice to see MaximaDrvr smearing the recently dead as per usual.

and yeah, he had a gun. question is did he attempt to use it.

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 12:18 PM. Reason : to be fair EMCE did ask for it, but he would have posted it regardless]

7/6/2016 12:13:39 PM

https://twitter.com/Delo_Taylor/status/750703790387519488

conference with the family, very sad.

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 12:21 PM. Reason : ]

7/6/2016 12:15:59 PM

fucking of course maximadrvr knows his criminal background already, fucking of course he does

7/6/2016 12:16:32 PM

dude's just an awful, awful, racist, awful person

7/6/2016 12:19:10 PM

7/6/2016 12:22:52 PM

I understand that this is extremely fucked up that this keeps happening and that shit needs to change, but why the fuck to people continue to resist arrest with all of this going on?

7/6/2016 12:28:18 PM

I reserve my opinion until more footage is available than that one video I saw.

I really do question why so many resist arrest unless they are intoxicated, have rage problems or are on drugs...what possible positive outcome can come from resisting arrest, even if you feel you should not be arrested?

7/6/2016 12:43:11 PM

Quote :

"so conservative gun rights advocates are all in rage over this, correct? they are furious at the police for killing someone simply for having a gun? "

7/6/2016 12:48:05 PM

Well in this situation, had Alton's resisting arrest and subsequent flee from the scene been successful, it could have saved his life.

7/6/2016 12:48:22 PM

^^^You realize people have been shot even when they aren't resisting arrest? And Brown didn't seem like he was resisting as much as any of us have seen someone on COPS resist, so...

This doesn't look good for the La. cops. It will be interesting to see what the other surveillance videos captured, whether Brown was reaching for his gun (seems unlikely based on how the cops were on top of him), i haven't seen it confirmed that he even had a gun yet.

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 12:48 PM. Reason : ]

7/6/2016 12:48:28 PM

^^^^ See Sandra Brown, see Freddie Gray, see all of the other examples of African Americans destroyed/thrown away/killed by the justice system and the police.

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 12:49 PM. Reason : ^]

7/6/2016 12:49:32 PM

I don't really know if "see all of the examples contradictory to what you said" is a good counter point. There are obviously examples of people not resisting arrest and being shot. But that would beg the question even more why wouldn't you be polite and abide by everything they say? I know it's not the solution. And like I said it's obviously a problem. But why not get on your knees with your hands up and say, "I am not resisting arrest, officers, I have a firearm on me."

7/6/2016 12:57:18 PM

^ so far we dont know details about Alton's previous run-ins with police nor do we know the police tactics and methods against people in his neighborhood. Maybe Alton had a very good reason to be fearful of the Baton Rouge police department. Perhaps he had been unnecessarily hassled previously for selling CDs and got fed up with it this time. Perhaps he was standing up for his right to be at that corner and to have an open-carry handgun and the police didnt like his uppity attitude.

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 1:01 PM. Reason : a]

7/6/2016 1:01:09 PM

i suppose the real question we should be asking here is, why the hell is anybody buying cd's anymore?

7/6/2016 1:04:32 PM

Rawr Rawr Rawr. Let's grab our pitchforks. Rawr Rawr Rawr.

7/6/2016 1:41:40 PM

i bet you're the kind of guy to escalate a situation, taze a guy, wedge him against a car while kneeling on his throat and then shoot him in the head when he understandably is resisting this position

7/6/2016 1:45:08 PM

Hey asshole, you trying to say that im a cop?

7/6/2016 2:29:49 PM

Quote :

"Also, the shop owner defended Alton saying the police were aggressive from the start and he was not holding his gun nor had his hands near his pockets. "

Is aggressive a particularly bad thing in a situation where you're approaching a person that is reported to be armed and appears to be less than compliant?

Quote :

"He's got a gun" and "He's reaching for a gun" or "He's pointing a gun at me" are completely different things."

In the video from the link on the last page, the officer on the left drew his weapon when his partner identified the gun but shots weren't fired until after the officer said that he was going for the gun.

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 2:33 PM. Reason : O]

7/6/2016 2:31:46 PM

Cops "being aggressive" shouldn't include harassing, goading, prodding, and instigating the citizenry into responding so that the arrest is validated.

7/6/2016 2:39:25 PM

Quote :

"Is aggressive a particularly bad thing in a situation where you're approaching a person that is reported to be armed and appears to be less than compliant?"

LA is open-carry state so the fact he was armed should not immediately raise the apprehension of the cops because it is a situation they should be aware of and well-trained for. People walk around with guns all the time.

Who defines what is compliant? He should have said "Yessa massah" and gotten on his knees and begged for his life? He was doing nothing wrong standing at that gas station. The owner of the station did not report him or request police assistance. Police got an unsubstantiated report of a man pointing a gun at people, but these officers approached him like they knew it was him and that he was already a danger to them.

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 2:46 PM. Reason : a]

7/6/2016 2:45:17 PM

RAWR RAWR RAWR...All cops are bigots...RAWR RAWR RAWR

7/6/2016 2:47:30 PM

^ literally no one has said that. I can assure you that kind of statement only amuses you, and does nothing but provide a strawman to derail meaningful conversations on the topic at hand.

7/6/2016 2:49:56 PM

^^^ LA's open carry laws don't really apply here. The police weren't investigating reports of someone open carrying, they were investigating report of a person in a red shirt, in that parking lot, point a firearm at another person. So yeah, if I'm in their position, I'm probably going to be concerned about a person who may not have a problem pointing a gun at another person.

But wait, did you first make an open carry argument in favor of the cops not being aggressive and then explain their actions based on them taking into account circumstances that we may not have seen in the video?

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 2:56 PM. Reason : O]

7/6/2016 2:55:48 PM

Quote :

"Cops "being aggressive" shouldn't include harassing, goading, prodding, and instigating the citizenry into responding so that the arrest is validated. "

Agreed. But is it not reasonable for officers investigating allegations of a person brandishing a firearm to expeditiously detain a person matching all of the identifying information while they investigate?

7/6/2016 3:03:33 PM

Quote :

"Agreed. But is it not reasonable for officers investigating allegations of a person brandishing a firearm to expeditiously detain a person matching all of the identifying information while they investigate?"

the issue is if they were immediately hostile and aggressive. they can investigate (and do so more effectively) without escalating the situation by being hostile or aggressive

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 3:12 PM. Reason : .]

7/6/2016 3:11:35 PM

^^ Perhaps? I'd say it really depends on the situation.
John Crawford and Tamir Rice both were accused of brandishing a weapon. They would probably be alive today were it not for over aggressive cops.



[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 3:19 PM. Reason : Batman wouldn't stand for this]

7/6/2016 3:12:01 PM

Quote :

"Rawr Rawr Rawr. Let's grab our pitchforks. Rawr Rawr Rawr."

Quote :

"RAWR RAWR RAWR...All cops are bigots...RAWR RAWR RAWR"

nice addition to the conversation Mr. Policeman. Your sarcastic strawmen comments really make we want to give cops like you the benefit of the doubt.

7/6/2016 3:15:22 PM

RAWR RAWR RAWR...lets all assume what happened before hand and then base the officers actions off that and then come up with some sort of reasonable standards that aren't based in any reality or doctrine...RAWR RAWR RAWR.

I'm done and ready to talk, but not if this just become cut and paste from the Gawker comments section.

7/6/2016 3:15:37 PM

7/6/2016 3:17:04 PM

they had his left hand restrained but right hand could have been reaching for a gun? maybe. hard to tell. or am i missing something. bumper of car was in the way

[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 3:32 PM. Reason : t]

7/6/2016 3:32:00 PM

^^^ would love to hear what your training has been for the same situation? How are you taught to handle a suspected gun pointer who is doing no such thing when you approach? He is legally allowed to carry a gun in the state and he is standing peacefully in a parking lot when you arrive?

Regarding cops being bigots, its been proven that cops tend to fire more quickly on black suspects than white. Does that mean they are racist? No. But there may be inherent bias at play. What sort of training do you have to ensure bias doesnt come into play?


[Edited on July 6, 2016 at 3:35 PM. Reason : a]

7/6/2016 3:34:33 PM

Fuck all cops, but fuck all cops including Restricted? Or fuck all cops, especially Restricted?

7/6/2016 3:35:27 PM

you're missing the liberal narrative

7/6/2016 3:36:02 PM