St Louis police shooting caught on camera, and it doesn’t tell the same story as the officers claimed. There’s no way around the fact that this video does not show the shot-and-killed suspect “charging” the police. Officers allege he had a knife, and he does appear to be holding something in his right hand, but it’s small and it’s not raised.
Under the rules of engagement, this is a fail.
Watch here via Anderson Cooper on CNN, please note that CNN cut this exactly when the man was shot and fell for sensitivity reasons:
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Officers justified this by saying they had a right to defend themselves, and they claimed that the suspect had his knife in an “overhead grip” and refused to drop it. This is blatantly inaccurate:
According to police, the suspect pulled out a knife and was acting erratically when officers arrived. Dotson told reporters the suspect told responding officers to “shoot me now, kill me now.” Dotson said officers asked the suspect to drop the knife, which he was holding in an overhead grip, and the suspect refused to do.
When the suspect approached the officers carrying a knife, officers fired shots striking the suspect. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting.
When asked about the validity of the shooting, Dotson said officers “have a right to defend yourself.”
Two officers are called to a location after a clerk reports a robbery of two energy drinks and a pastry by a man known in the community to be “disturbed”, according to CNN. It’s unknown if the clerk reported this fact, but the community members say this is why the police should “know” their community.
The suspect first backs up and then goes over a curb, walking toward the two armed police officers who have their guns trained on him. Officers tell him to stop, but he doesn’t. He is saying “Shoot me”, according to CNN, but I couldn’t hear this part of the tape. His arms are at his side. He doesn’t appear threatening, although he may be holding some kind of weapon in his right hand (police said it was a knife).
At this point, police shoot him dead.
Both officers shot him multiple times. It is an unnecessary and disturbing amount of gunfire, especially given the fact that he at most had a knife and was feet away from them.
Under the rules of engagement for the use of deadly force, the goal of law enforcement is to protect the community and themselves, while working to de-escalate the level of engagement. It can be very challenging for people who are in the line of fire, so to speak, to determine what level of threat is being posed. That’s why police are trained so heavily.
This is the same kind of training we give the military. Over and over again, they go through scenarios where the intent is for them to quickly and accurately access who is and is not a threat. In war situations, this can be incredibly difficult with multiple stimuli from every direction, unfamiliar territory, and unfamiliar customs.
This is why we spend so much money and time training our troops. This is part of why those of us who argue for responsible gun ownership argue that everyone who owns a gun should be trained properly how to use it.
In this scenario, the suspect is not threatening the police. Even if he had an unraised knife and was advancing toward them, he did not pose an imminent threat to two armed police officers whose guns were trained on him.
It is this kind of obvious fail at accuracy when recounting the actions of the victim that concern people and that raise the suspicions of the folks in Ferguson regarding the police claims about the 18-year-old recently shot and killed Mike Brown.
If St Louis police are so afraid of people who have stolen a pastry and two energy drinks or maybe an alleged cigar, they might need to be replaced with folks who can handle petty crimes with less of a trigger finger. It seems like these boys don’t get out much.
Poverty, mental illness and being a different color than the police officer should not predispose someone to being shot for a petty crime. It should not waive the rights of the suspect. It’s not the police’s job to dispense their idea of “justice”. It is their job to enforce the law and make arrests.
If a highly trained officer and a partner brought two loaded and aimed guns to a knife fight, they wouldn’t get to automatically claim they were threatened and in fear for their life based on an arm that was raised that allegedly held a knife. If that arm turns out not to have been raised, they have even more explaining to do.
Image: Screengrab from CNN footage
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