[oats]

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.