lol did you guys watch the same video? he did not charge anyone swinging a knife. if he did that, I'd agree with you, but he didn't do that. he just kept right on walking away - notice how he backed off and went behind the wall when the police car parked. should he have put his hands up and laid on the ground? yes. is this an isolated incident? not at all.

I'm not saying it was just the policemen's fault, though I don't think they responded well anyway. I'm saying that this indicates a bigger problem. this is why people are upset, because viewers start to neglect the deeper issue by washing it out with small details. "oh brown stole from a convenience store..." that's not the point (for various reasons). but it effectively distracts people from the real causes of these situations, which are not acceptable for a civilized society.

shut up nigger lover he clearly took steps toward just watch BITCH

and you can't see the guns the policeman are holding, but you can clearly see the knife that he is or isnt holding? Im not saying that i see it,im saying that he was presumd to have a weapon on him. IDIYOTE

if he allegedly had a knife, why were they closing in on him? first, you aren't supposed to hop out a van and aim a gun AT someone - it's supposed to be pointed downwards unless someone visibly has a weapon and/or becomes a threat. more importantly, guns shoot from a distance - they could have stayed a reasonable distance from him to stay safe from a knife (unless dude was the desperado knife thrower) and still apply the pressure for him to sit down and put his hands up. instead they came out the van guns directed at him and when he made a step that was ARGUABLY a little bit aggressive, they shot him several times.

this is the police militarization problem I mentioned earlier - they have the mentality of anti-terrorist units in the middle east, but they aren't. serve and protect, right? not seek and destroy.

They were a reasonable distance from him when they arrived........then he advanced.....by the time they shot him when he fell he rolled onto the one cops feet lol

they arrived with their guns AT him and then advanced towards him. ever heard of the phrase "he brought a knife to a gun fight?" they had no reason to feel threatened of his alleged knife - they essentially were in a boxing match with a 50ft reach advantage and one punch knockout power in their jab - they need to circle around and maintain that distance. if he steps forward, they step back, if he steps back, they step forward, etc. you can shoot someone from 15 ft pretty easily, can't charge at someone 15ft away with a knife very effectively. and there were two cops there to safely and appropriately encircle him while others came to the scene (which happened shortly).

again, serve and protect. they didn't do either of those to this man, and yes, at the time of the shooting it was their job to do so. there really isn't any controversy to this - cops are the authority and didn't act appropriately. the man behaved irresponsibly no doubt, but the cops still did not do their job correctly. ESPECIALLY with Ferguson situation right down the road. they should have known better and been the story of police showing restraint, not another headline of cops shooting a civilian in the street.

They didnt advance? He did

An i dont see how backstepping as he advanced would have helped? He ignored them from the moment they arrived....he had no reason to be there when the cops arr9ved .....he was waoting there for them. He got what he wanted.

The point is that you avoid shooting a man who is presumed innocent until proven otherwise? Who is not visibly armed? Because there is already a major conflict nearby because of a similar situation? And because it is your job as an officer to de escalate a situation before you shoot someone?

And they did advance, as soon as they got out of the car they approached him, again with their guns pointing at him. They didn't do their jobs correctly. I don't think they were malicious monsters, but they were in the wrong (as was the man, clearly).

But he did seem to get what he wanted, at least in that impulsive heat of emotion. Still doesn't excuse the officers. Don't make the mistake of attributing that small glimpse of his life as a defining character trait or longstanding motivation - we don't know that.

Saying that they should be considering the other issue seems stupid too........they are in the heat of 5he moment dealing with a potential armed threat an they should stop an say........politically this could be terrible. Lol cmon. They reacted... thats what we pay them to do.....could they have reacted differently....sure...maybe clubbed him or tazed him i guess......but if they didnt feel they coukd do that safely well thats the judgement call we appointed them to make. The kid played suicide bomber to escalating the race war purely based off the ferguson scenario......this is just some crazy coincedence? Really....no. otherwise nigs would be getting gunned down everyweek over there.

Some people need to read up about the 21 ft rule. I mean really this dude was wielding a knife. At the time of being shot he was maybe what 10ft away. Do you realize that is well within lethal range for a knife.

They are trained to eliminate the threat. They called out warnings. He moved in on them and backed away a bit. Pulled his hand out of the pocket wielding a knife and well within the 21ft moved aggressively towards the officers. That's textbook what they should do.

This whole shoot em in the leg or shoot out their tires is garbage. This isn't the movies.

It's tragic that 2 young men died. Deserving or not. But people act like cops kill young black males at crazy rates.


There is some like 12 million people arrested a year less than 400 result in cops killing someone. That's like .000003%. Cops shooting and killing people is a complete statistical a anomoly.

Over 90% of the young black men in this country are killed by other black man.


If you wanna talk about racial profiling or arrest rates or possession charges cool. Those are tangible numbers. But all this nonsense about cops having hardons for killing black men is about as credible as republicans and voter id laws to prevent fraud, or gun control for mass shootings.

im on black peoples sides at least 77 percent of the time.

oats you are delusional my man. when you come back to reality you will understand these police did NOTHING wrong. NOTHING.

they deserve no praise, or punishment. people can fight through tasers, they don't affect everyone the same, they can fight through pepper spray, they can fight through a ho ass german shepherd. without a deadly weapon.

he's already shown his disrespect for law and order by robbing a store and menacing the owner, and he waited to CONFRONT police, not tell his side of the story.

get fucking real man

Tasers are not meant for armed suspect encounters

The amount of misinformation about what a cop is supposed to do in this thread is staggering. A cop's job is NOT to "eliminate the threat." It wasn't even clearly established that he was a threat yet. A cop is not paid to "react" to situations. They are supposed to take control of situations and serve and protect the community - this man was part of the community, they didn't do either of those for him.

Bags, I'm not saying they should be worried about what it will look like politically. I'm saying that the proximity of this situation was definitely on their mind, and they should be aware of what to do to de-escalate situations before shooting. THAT is their job. The shoot first shit is for video games not real life.

Think of it like this: if you're thinking "hmm that's what I would've done, I get it" then THAT is the problem. Cops are held to a higher standard than us, that's why we give them guns and leave them in charge of enforcing laws. They shouldn't be acting like a regular NCG.

Ayo.

He had his hand in his shirt when they pulled up. Lookin hella suspect.

He didnt charge them per se, but he was moving in quick as fuck considering guns are already drawn.

He was making pretty good progress towards them he got hit and fell damn near in front of the truck.

It was game over when the guns was drawn but he was still playin.

Millz you don't think that the racial profiling etc you mentioned doesn't play a role in situations like this?

You guys are not understanding - I'm not saying this dude was an innocent victim and deserves martyrdom. He fucked up in multiple instances. But those mistakes didn't warrant the police response that happened. To say they did nothing wrong is absurd. The second they stepped out of the van the fucked up by approaching him with their guns drawn and pointed at him. That is against protocol.

I suggest you guys reread what I was saying a few pages ago. All of these details are beside the point - not to mention mostly inaccurate. The point is there is a systemic problem with police military mentality. They are NOT soldiers. They are public servants. If you are washing out these issues by picking at questionable details, you're missing the point.

Racial profiling plays a role in tons of situations. But this specific one no. They got a call about a theft with a possible edged weapon. They show up realizing something is not right and the suspect is within or close to the 21ft. So they appropriately draw their weapons. They issu numerous warnings. To which the man refuses to listen and with that weapon makes an aggressive move towards them from a fairly close distance.

This wasn't some random stop. This was them being specifically called in for this situation. They didn't seek this guy out as a suspect.

I think anyone dying is needless. But at the same time I will take a dead armed suspect over an injured or dead civilian bystander or injured or dead cop 100 times out of 100 times. No different than I would rather see a guilty man acquitted before I ever see an innocent man convicted. The systems can never be perfect but they get it right the vast vast vast majority of the time.

From every standpoint of law enforcement training you are wrong on this one case.

They drew their weapons immediately because a possible armed suspect approached them aggressively.

Nah oats you looking too into this.

They didnt know what was in that pocket. He made just the right amount of mistakes to get ended.

I mean, if I was the police, im not getting killed over some dude stealing a soda from the liquor store. Back the fuck up now, sir, or get blown the fuck back.

Only thing sad about this video is that dudes choices. That was the outcome he created.

You are literally 5x more likely to be struck by lightning than being shot and killed by a police during an attempted arrest.

Yes the man created that situation, I've said this many times, I've never excused his idiotic behavior. But he still did nothing to warrant that police response, even if you believe he would have eventually.

Millz, if you think that the same reasons that cause police officers to unnecessarily stop and suspect black people more than white people played no part of this - that the officers were able to turn those biases on and off - you are incredibly naive. If you think the duty of a police officer is to arrive at a POTENTIALLY dangerous scene and have their weapons pointed at someone, you are simply incorrect on what police protocol is. Your analogy does not hold up in this instance because this was a man who allegedly broke the law (and probably did), but did not get a chance to represent himself. Again, he behaved poorly to say the least, but don't attribute those actions to a pre existing motivation or character trait - we don't know that. He acted impulsively, which is exactly why police are charged to show restraint unless it is absolutely necessary to apply force. They arrived ready to apply force, as evidenced by their guns pointed directly at the man. That you would mention the lightning statistic shows that you truly are missing the point on this - nobody is saying police are out trying to kill black men. Please reread the various posts I've made before responding with the exact same arguments I've been refuting.

Make no mistake, if you are espousing the notion that police should be able to react as soldiers first and civil servants second, you are permitting behavior that will only make society worse. I'm not saying these officers are bad people - I don't know that. But they responded inappropriately, and I believe it is because of the militaristic mentality that has seeped into police culture nationwide.

The guns were drawn cause of the unidentified item in the pocket.

I mean, fuck the police and everything, but they were right to jump out on dude like that. He was at the time ACTUALLY dangerous. Not to us cause we saw five minutes prior, but they only saw their suspect with his hands in his pockets, not responding to commands to knock that shit off.

He got too close. Screaming shoot me and shit. Thats the talk of a man with nothing left to live for. Thats dangerous.

This aint a michael brown type case. Wasn't no hands up situation. This aint the movies. You cant rush the police in an emotional outburst like that fuck around and get smoked.

My generation is now the police force. And if they think like me its my life over theirs. Not a black or white issue, or an over militarized police thing. THIS nigga didnt know when to quit.

yea i mean that honestly sums it up

you are innocent until proven guilty. you are also alive until you approach cops with a knife yelling shoot me. he couldve proved his innocence by obeying the law, instead he chose death by cop

this is very simple, cut and dry.

oats, how would you feel if the store owner pulled out a pistol and shot him dead in the store? would he be in the wrong? his life was threatened in exchange for 2 SODAS. then the guy posts up outside his store while he calls police, knowing the police will come, when they get there he's going towards them with his hand in his pocket yelling shoot me. the police were prepared for an armed suspect, and the armed suspect was hostile. threat eliminated. book em

If the man pulled a knife on the store owner and the owner shot him then and there, WAY different situation. Again, police are public servants. The store owner has a right to protect himself and his store. Police rolled up on the offensive. They have to show restraint that the store owner does not have to. That is completely different.

Again, I say this over and over - dude was an idiot. But there is a deeper issue than his idiocy. Was he acting like that because he was a crazy black guy? Or is there something else charging this type of behavior? You guys are focusing on a tree and missing the rest if the forest. I have no intention repeating myself anymore. Just be aware of what you are really supporting when you say "the police did nothing wrong." If you think "it's them vs. Us" is appropriate mentality for police, please don't weigh in on these issues, because you don't understand what a police officer's job is.

Lmfao, ''leg shots inhumane'' but killing isn't? I don't know about y'all, but the U.S. police is on some third world country level.

Killing a guy because he is wielding a knife... No warning shots, nothing besides ''BACK OFF I'LL SHOOT''? Dude might be an idiot but doing what they did is laughable and straight up grade F police work. I mean, if that shit had happened over here the cops would have tried to calm him down and cough him, if it didn't work and he brings forth a knife they'd yell people to back off and 1 of the officers would go in circles to shield people away from him and end up having an officer on both sides. If he tried to launch at someone they'd narrow him down before he got to them. Mainly; keep him at a distance, call back-up and let a dog handle the business. And what about the taser you got over there? This is just fucked up...

No reason to kill/shoot the guy in this situation. Those people suck and should be discharged. I mean, serve and protect goes ways, the cops are there to protect the citizens as good as they can. Last time I checked criminals are citizens too.

If the world was a place where you could discuss feelings and get results we wouldn't need police we would need street counselors. Thugs, gang bangers, shit even serial killers gonna stop when the police show up, or you getting killed.

Only people who dont are planning to shoot their way out of the situation.

Come on man I cant fund your campaign against the police for this video. There are real injustices that could use your support.

"it's them vs. us" isn't the appropriate mentality, when you are thinking the "us" is ONLY the police.

the police are an extension of the people. it is them vs. us. them being criminals. us being law abiding citizens and the police force of PEACE officers. he disturbed the peace and threatened the life of one person for sure, and then threatened the lives of 2 police officers with the intent of getting shot by cops.

no one is missing your point, btw. your point is irrelevant to the outcome of this video.

if you are trying to say the events in ferguson motivated him to do this, then i assume you think that those same events justify this mans actions, and you are wrong.

michael brown being killed wasnt these two officers fault. they have the right to protect themselves as well. if he wanted to take a stand and be in the news for being shot he got what he wanted.

what do you think should happen to the officers?

Nobody is campaigning against police, greed. And to lump a dude who stole two sodas from a convenience store in with thugs and serial killers is ridiculous.

Uh oh, that is not my point. My very first post in here was about why I think these things are happening. The outcome of the video is very relevant to the real issues here: poverty, systemic disenfranchisement of minorities and racism in police force, and over militarized culture. Yes, it is no coincidence that this happened 4 miles away from mike brown shooting, and that he was yelling "shoot me." The mike brown situation, as well as this man's behavior, are correlated symptoms of the above mentioned issues.

Defending yourself is different from being trigger happy. This was clearly trigger happy.

I think the officers should be reprimanded, taken through sensitivity training and protocol, and suspended temporarily. When they come back, they will have a period of the more menial police work like traffic shit.

Uh oh, that is not my point. My very first post in here was about why I think these things are happening. The outcome of the video is very relevant to the real issues here: poverty, systemic disenfranchisement of minorities and racism in police force, and over militarized culture. Yes, it is no coincidence that this happened 4 miles away from mike brown shooting, and that he was yelling "shoot me." The mike brown situation, as well as this man's behavior, are correlated symptoms of the above mentioned issues.

Defending yourself is different from being trigger happy. This was clearly trigger happy.

I think the officers should be reprimanded, taken through sensitivity training and protocol, and suspended temporarily. When they come back, they will have a period of the more menial police work like traffic shit.

we just gotta agree to disagree.

i see them doing no wrong. watch the video. an armed hostile man is telling people to get away from him. "you know my instagram and facebook im tired of this" then police pull up. they tell him to take his hands out of his pockets. he did. with a knife in one hand. he walks up and climbs over that wall, moving parallel. they tell him to drop the knife, repeatedly. after climbing over that little wall he was moving towards them. they gave him every opportunity, he was armed and threatening them.

i don't understand how anyone watching that expects the cops to circle around him and run away from him while he is brandishing a weapon until they can calm the situation

the situation is what it is because of the suspect.

i just realized thats probably the tenth time i said exactly the same thing in a slightly different way.

so this will be my last post on the matter.

just know where im sitting, watching that video i see nothing wrong with the polices actions, at all. if you do i disagree with you so you are therefore wrong since i am always right.

I DONT AGREE TO THAT

Nah but forreal uh oh, you got a fundamentally incorrect understanding of what a policeman's job is. Don't worry you're still top 5 boarders easy.

no i have a realistic understanding of what actual police officers ARE

not a wishful thinking view of what they COULD be.

What they ARE is the problem. What they SHOULD BE is the solution. YOULL SEE

Um kids yeah that is what u do

Here is in aus many years ago before tazers were introduced some 16 yr old charged at police with a knife in each hand, they shot him dead for obv reasons.
Police shoot to kill not to wound. Shooting a knee (half a foot target) sprinting at you zig zaging etc is alot harder to hit then a 3 foot torso. So what would u go for in that situation? They shouldve just pulled tazers asap once out of the car and tazered him tho.

edit: @oats a policemans job is to protect. that includes his own life, which the kid was charging at him attempting to take. what do you think he was gonna tickle his scrotom with it? cmon now.

So... You don't think they could have shot his foot, tazed him or something instead of killing the man? That way the shot would be directed towards the ground in case they'd miss the shot as well and given him a fair chance of survival.

shot his foot? r u srs?

u have obv never been charged before.

let me tell u what happens.

adrenaline dump, natural instincts kick in.

shooting the biggest part of the target is much easier than too shoot a fucking foot which is sprinting and moving at what 20km an hour?

these rnt army recon marksmen these are police, they shoot the body, end of story.

Taze the motherfucker then. Don't tell me they ain't effective.

And your assumptions are wrong. I've been charged at with a knife before, a metal pipe once, been jumped and all that shit. Adrenaline pumps, natural instincts kick in for sure. I've never had a gun on me though. If I had I'd probably shoot the dude, but that's mainly because I'm not trained for situations like these. That's what cops are supposed to be for, assess the situation and handle it in the best possible way. Going for the gun and drop someone dead isn't handling it in the best possible way, tazing the fucker or shoot someone in the legs or something is. The first course of action shouldn't be to kill someone.

It's the officers duty to serve and protect all citizens, the court should stand for the rest unless there's a viable reason to do something else. In this situation it could have been handled WAY better. Had he charged at the guy for real I'd understand the shots being fired, but yo, he's barely moving back'n'forth. I'd go backwards, behind the police car or something and aim at the fucker and yell at people to move the fuck away. It would definitely have given enough time for the rest of the cops to arrive as they weren't that far behind.

I guess you disagree, so we'll just have to agree on having different views. I think this could have been handled better, you don't.

lol I love how the narrative has become "he charged them with a knife!" no, he didn't. Even if he did, @Paradox (sorry about that killer dachshund line btw, couldn't resist), the PO's should have maintained a better distance. anyway, done with this discussion. It's an important one to have though.

sorry guys, i watched the video, i wrote that before watching. defs shouldve been tasered and not shot. i mean his top speed there was a brisk walk. lol murika!