No one talking about that cop executing some guy in San Francisco?

[AdmiralViscen]

This shit is crazy:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/05/BAK61540MH.DTL&tsp=1


I couldn't find the original article I read at work, but the guy was pinned to the ground by one cop, unarmed, and another cop shot him in the back. On video.


Here is the "big" version of the video, at least at this site:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/01/06/BAK61540MH.DTL&o=1

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Fuck tha police.

[Boogie]

BART police officer?  Sooo, a transit system police officer? 

Fuck tha police.

You can try.


edit:

Don Cameron, a former BART police sergeant and weapons expert who now teaches police officers about proper use of force, said Monday that he had watched footage of Grant's death and was convinced that the officer had meant to fire a Taser - a device that he said BART began using recently.

WTF?  How do you confuse a taser with a pistol?!

[CurseoftheGods]

That's insane. What was that cop thinking?

And wow at putting handcuffs on a mortally wounded person. smh

[The Fake Shemp]

To be fair, I used to ride BART all the time and I can safely say that the intelligence level of your average transit cop is probably low enough to confuse a pistol with a taser.

[Boogie]

And wow at putting handcuffs on a mortally wounded person. smh

That's actually proper procedure, as someone doesn't just drop dead or stop being a threat just because they've been shot.  Have to ensure the threat is neutralized, then get them medical attention.  (Not that there was any "threat" here  )

[The Fake Shemp]

Have you actually seen a BART station?  Everyone is a threat!

[CurseoftheGods]

And wow at putting handcuffs on a mortally wounded person. smh

That's actually proper procedure, as someone doesn't just drop dead or stop being a threat just because they've been shot.  Have to ensure the threat is neutralized, then get them medical attention.  (Not that there was any "threat" here  )

Ah, I see.

[Snuflupagulus]

Well, there's supposedly going to be a protest tomorrow at the BART station.

Not sure why a gun was pointed at someone both manacled and prostrate.  Sure, these weren't the best of society but at what point did the switch flip in the officer's mind (admittedly only on the force 2 years) and a little voice said, "Yeah, unholster, unlock, point and shoot"?  I can't fathom the thought process.

Press has been there every morning since.  Hope the family, and not the lawyer, recover a large sum.  I'm not going to say fuck the police, but instead, what the fuck, police?

On the news, the family was (understandably) pretty distraught.

[Boogie]

Well, there's supposedly going to be a protest tomorrow at the BART station.

Not sure why a gun was pointed at someone both manacled and prostrate.  Sure, these weren't the best of society but at what point did the switch flip in the officer's mind (admittedly only on the force 2 years) and a little voice said, "Yeah, unholster, unlock, point and shoot"?  I can't fathom the thought process.

Press has been there every morning since.  Hope the family, and not the lawyer, recover a large sum.  I'm not going to say fuck the police, but instead, what the fuck, police?

On the news, the family was (understandably) pretty distraught.

Regarding the bolded:

Bzzt, minor correction.

A) Many (most?) police firearms do not have a safety.  Mine doesn't.
B) Even if it did, there's NO WAY any police officer is going to be on duty with their pistol in their holster and the safety on.  Because if you ARE in a life or death situation, and you DO need to use lethal force, you don't want to be fucking around with the safety once you've drawn your gun.

But other than that, yeah, this is clearly not a situation where the officer is facing death or serious bodily harm, so there's no reason for the gun to come out.

[Snuflupagulus]

Thanks Boogie.  Both points taken. 

I feel slightly bad for saying this, but the eulogizing of this young guy is veering towards the pathetic.  He was not a great kid, was not in the wrong place-wrong time, etc. 

In no way did he deserve his life being taken, but the press/activists/hangers-on should cut the angelic characterizations.  If anything, this should be taken as a parable for how tending towards a certain arch social attitude places you in situations.  And those situations may have very unfortunate and tragic outcomes.

Still, I feel pretty bad for the guy and his family.

[xnikki118x]

I feel slightly bad for saying this, but the eulogizing of this young guy is veering towards the pathetic.  He was not a great kid, was not in the wrong place-wrong time, etc. 

I can't find anything that says what he was doing/that he was resisting/anything like that. How do we know what kind of kid he was?

Still, I feel pretty bad for the guy and his family.

Yeah.

[brawndolicious]

Even if he wanted to fire a taser (at a guy who was laying down), that would be police brutality I believe.  He should definitely go to prison.

[Snuflupagulus]

I feel slightly bad for saying this, but the eulogizing of this young guy is veering towards the pathetic.  He was not a great kid, was not in the wrong place-wrong time, etc. 

I can't find anything that says what he was doing/that he was resisting/anything like that. How do we know what kind of kid he was?

This is why I knew I'd feel bad saying it.  It was reported on the local news that he had had run-ins with police before, yet the only mention in the printed press that I could find is this:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/04/MN0R153LGU.DTL

And this quote:

Grant was a butcher at Farmer Joe's Marketplace in Oakland's Dimond district, family members said. They said he loved to play basketball and video games and hang out with friends. He had been in some trouble, they said, but was doing better in recent months in an effort to be a good father.

I'm an asshole.  Poor guy.  It seems he had been involved in the fight (according to his family's attorney) but was unrestrained and pleading at the time he was shot.  He has a four year old daughter.  Sad.

The officer who shot him has now received death threats (to himself and his family) and has been moved to a safehouse of sorts (according to the police).  He also has a young child.  Sad all around really.

We adults do menacingly distinguished mentally-challenged things.

[drozmight]

Ohhhh...

I just finally watched the video and that cop's going to jail for a long time.

[BobbyRobby]

i love how cops freak out when you try to video-tape them.  on duty cops should be fired for telling you to put away your camera.

[Snuflupagulus]

Pretty big protest right now.  BART cop has resigned rather than be interviewed by investigators.  No trains stopping at Fruitvale station.

The DA needs to charge this cop and get him to speak on record.  Poor family.  The footage of the mother at the funeral is just  :'(.

What the fuck was this cop doing?  And he's totally fucked his (former) colleagues who already have it rough in the Bay Area.  Hopefully no blue line will hold and those officers who witnessed this will be forthright about what happened.