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jodymarie aimee

(3,975 posts)
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 09:37 AM Mar 2018

Officer Salamoni put his gun to Alton Sterling's head and said, "I'll kill you, bitch."

“At the beginning of the interaction, Officer Salamoni put his gun to Alton Sterling’s head and said, ‘I’ll kill you, bitch.’” 90 seconds later Alton Sterling was dead.

To all white people: Alton Sterling was killed in cold blood by an instrument of the US government. The fear you feel of random shootings at high schools, black people feel at every interaction w/ police who may end a black life without reason or consequence. This is OUR shame.

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Officer Salamoni put his gun to Alton Sterling's head and said, "I'll kill you, bitch." (Original Post) jodymarie aimee Mar 2018 OP
media enid602 Mar 2018 #1
If only the media would give this killing the attention they give a fallen cop mountain grammy Mar 2018 #39
It's tragic. The murders of six year olds rainin Mar 2018 #2
Yep malaise Mar 2018 #3
It's a disgrace! denvine Mar 2018 #4
Go Parkland kids! I saw a lot of intersectionality in those speeches last Saturday.... DemocracyMouse Mar 2018 #5
Billionaires Run Our Country PaulX2 Mar 2018 #11
Yes, and the pyramid we've let them create is steep DemocracyMouse Mar 2018 #16
This was awesome, wasn't it? EffieBlack Mar 2018 #43
+++ heaven05 Mar 2018 #59
You can measure the potential threat to the status quo by the GOP response... Moostache Mar 2018 #6
racism and division is the essential tool that is used to grab power - n/t Locrian Mar 2018 #17
+a brazillion! Very well said indeed! nt tblue37 Mar 2018 #34
Brava! or Bravo! as the case may be. (I make no assumptions) scarletwoman Mar 2018 #42
make opening post Hermit-The-Prog Mar 2018 #46
BLM robersl Mar 2018 #7
Did you see Wendell Perry tell this story on "Real Time"? tblue37 Mar 2018 #35
"Nobody should have to live with this kind of terror hanging over them..." scarletwoman Mar 2018 #44
With a warning like that pintobean Mar 2018 #8
Not being perfectly compliant is not a capital offense. SunSeeker Mar 2018 #12
He was armed. pintobean Mar 2018 #14
"Armed" isn't a reason why whites are killed, its meant more for black people especially uponit7771 Mar 2018 #19
Being armed is not a capital offense either. SunSeeker Mar 2018 #29
170 men from two biker gangs--armed men--after a brawl in which 9 people were killed and 18 injured: tblue37 Mar 2018 #36
Did you see? Blue_true Mar 2018 #41
So many of this sort of example. Dark n Stormy Knight Mar 2018 #45
Modern form of lynching. nt tblue37 Mar 2018 #55
perfect example heaven05 Mar 2018 #51
I don't remember the specifics of the case - just that the video was gory. Hassin Bin Sober Mar 2018 #15
so you're heaven05 Mar 2018 #50
Exactly. And there is irrefutable video evidence. But the police get to default to "I felt in danger iluvtennis Mar 2018 #9
But is the gun OK? n/t Still In Wisconsin Mar 2018 #10
Post removed Post removed Mar 2018 #28
Your sarcasm detector needs adjusting. n/t Still In Wisconsin Mar 2018 #32
It Is Working Just Fine... LovingA2andMI Mar 2018 #33
Still In Wisconsin is OBVIOUSLY snarking that the gun humpers would be more worried about the well- tblue37 Mar 2018 #37
so you're heaven05 Mar 2018 #49
Good God, no. Fuck. Still In Wisconsin Mar 2018 #52
If There Wasn't So Many Guns PaulX2 Mar 2018 #13
Police need guns lillypaddle Mar 2018 #24
***THIS POST !!!*** uponit7771 Mar 2018 #18
The police mindset is steeped in racism. Enoki33 Mar 2018 #20
This makes me fucking sick lillypaddle Mar 2018 #21
I wish there were a way to have laws to specifically address LEO mistakes that lead to deaths. aikoaiko Mar 2018 #22
Police know there is no downside to shooting at any threat. They seldom get convicted. n/t USALiberal Mar 2018 #38
UNREC brooklynite Mar 2018 #23
last time I looked LA jodymarie aimee Mar 2018 #25
I see; so by your logic, I take work direction from the Federal Government as well? brooklynite Mar 2018 #26
I noticed that too Progressive dog Mar 2018 #31
right heaven05 Mar 2018 #48
You don't want a reply, so I'll give you one anyway... brooklynite Mar 2018 #56
well I knew heaven05 Mar 2018 #58
The important thing is that you focus on an irrelevance LanternWaste Mar 2018 #57
Thank You... LovingA2andMI Mar 2018 #27
Black Lives Matter Heartstrings Mar 2018 #30
So sick of these wannabe big guy cops Miigwech Mar 2018 #40
because the MSM heaven05 Mar 2018 #47
There are lots of cases to be mad about- this just isnt one Lee-Lee Mar 2018 #53
I'm sorry but I'm gonna need a link to some of your statment Docreed2003 Mar 2018 #54

enid602

(8,524 posts)
1. media
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 10:02 AM
Mar 2018

If only the media would have given the same attention to BLM as they did to the Parkland students. . .

mountain grammy

(26,568 posts)
39. If only the media would give this killing the attention they give a fallen cop
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 08:13 PM
Mar 2018

I'm totally sympathetic for any cop killed on the job. It's tragic and horrendous. But so was this killing and many others like it and they also deserve full media coverage. Maybe if that happened, we'd finally start to see some justice.

rainin

(3,010 posts)
2. It's tragic. The murders of six year olds
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 10:36 AM
Mar 2018

at Sandy Hook didn't move the needle either.

I hope to see more of BLM as this movement heats up. Find or field candidates who will fight for police accountability, then GOTV.

DemocracyMouse

(2,275 posts)
5. Go Parkland kids! I saw a lot of intersectionality in those speeches last Saturday....
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 11:42 AM
Mar 2018

I think the Parkland kids are already making the link between out-of-control guns in the streets and out-of-control (and racist) cops. At the march and in many of the interviews that reached mainstream TV, I heard much talk about intersectionality of the issues. Progressives used to be so granular in their micro targetting of issues (i.e. "Don't water down your message!" ), but not these bright kids. They invited a diverse array of young speakers and it was so refreshing. MLK's grandaughter rocked the nearly 1 million demonstrators. She brought down the house (and the House).

I have great hope that this entire generation of millenials is linking African American persecution (and it's so heinous my gut gets in knots every time a see another report of police abuse and murder), with other issues like poverty, selective job placement, gun manufacturer profits, the NRA buying congress, belligerant male culture in the movies, lack of mental healthcare, all the way up to the overarching mega-problem: severe economic inequality across the board which affects – and divides – all men, women and ethnicities.

 

PaulX2

(2,032 posts)
11. Billionaires Run Our Country
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 12:04 PM
Mar 2018

Every single problem boils down to this. Billionaires need the police to "keep order" at any cost. But billionaires never go to jail no matter how many crimes they commit.

DemocracyMouse

(2,275 posts)
16. Yes, and the pyramid we've let them create is steep
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 12:19 PM
Mar 2018

So:
A) we're through with ignoring this fundamental economic condition.
B) We're through with blaming blacks, gays, liberals, traditionalists, whites, straights, this religion, that religion – the underlying problem is that we have built an infrastructure that funnels all the money and power to a very small set of oligarchs.

 

EffieBlack

(14,249 posts)
43. This was awesome, wasn't it?
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 10:07 PM
Mar 2018

These kids recognized and called out their privilege - and then they totally owned it and used it to open up the space for everyone.

I was SO proud of them.

Moostache

(9,895 posts)
6. You can measure the potential threat to the status quo by the GOP response...
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 11:45 AM
Mar 2018

Sandy Hook? --> unleash the crazy and kooks like InfoWars to claim "crisis actors" and "false flag"...result?
Nothing happened of substance...the country lost its soul that day and in the weeks following the horror, but nothing happened to tangibly change the tide...

Occupy Wall Street? --> Zuccotti Park? 11 November 2011 police forced an end to the occupation, tear gas used on citizens to clear the park...result? Name ONE tangible change that was implemented and stands today as a result of the "movement"...Wall Street is back to business as usual and even the modest controls of Dodd-Frank are history as we steam towards another eventual crashing of the economy by those who will NEVER be held accountable.

Pulse? Vegas? --> MASS slaughters in public spaces, machine gun style assassinations and the new gun laws in response? Nothing...

BLM? --> Here was where anyone willing to pay attention and objectively look at the level and breadth of response could see clearly what threatened the GOP/Right Wing world view the most... BLM was used as a cudgel to beat down activists and to rally racists all across the nation...code words like "safety" and "take back OUR country" and the like were EVERYWHERE in 2016 and if anyone bothered to listen to the grievance peddlers on Faux and the like, you would think that the movement was about demanding reparations for slavery from every white family in America...the hysteria and the level of misinformation used against BLM from the start was sickening. The threat level of this incident - a potential awakening of the sleeping conscience of America that would force us to admit there is enormous racial disparity in our criminal justice system and our larger economy in general that perpetuates a racial chasm in America - called for all levels of the right wing hit squads...

The attacks against BLM and the vitriol that I saw hurled at the protesters and the movement, along with the insulting "copycat movements" like "All Lives Matter" and "Blue Live Matter", made it very clear to me what the power establishment fears most - they do not want any kind of gun control certainly, but they ABSOLUTELY cannot abide equality in economics, in voting rights, in voting participation or in closing the racial divide.

Between the attacks on BLM to keep racial barriers up and the hideous campaign against Hillary Clinton to keep women from attaining more equality in government or in the real world too, you can clearly see what the GOP fears. The problem is that they are very effective at stoking fear in white voters and directing that fear to the polls. People fear the unknown and the unfamiliar and we have to do a better job of selling the benefits to all that comes from equality for all. As long as movements like BLM - or #MeToo or Parkland rallies - can be manipulated in the right wing media to be seen as fear-inducing movements instead of cries for justice, safety, common sense and fairness, then we will continue to spin our wheels and remain in neutral as a country (at best).

America has a race problem that is remains steadfastly unwilling to confront. America also has a misogyny problem and patriarchal power structure that it refuses to confront. America has a gun access problem that it refuses to confront. The common factor in all of these issues that contributes to making them intractable? The GOP propaganda machine and an unwillingness to fight fear with knowledge effectively.

Want to really realize why America is fucked? What are the messages that the Democrats are focused on in the media lately? 90% of it revolves around Trump....the human distraction from reality, the media black hole of inane, profane and insane abuses of public trust. They are all - media, pols, talking heads, writers, comedians - ALL, making him and this unnatural obsession with his indiscretions "normal". It has sucked all the oxygen out of Washington and no one is changing ANYTHING as a result - except allowing the GOP to detonate a debt bomb into the government coffers that insure two things - austerity for us, and profits for the 0.1% forever. In this environment, how the hell can the truly important changes - racial and sexual equality, environmental stewardship, 21st century geopolitical strategy beyond "bomb them" - how can they be addressed when we obsess about pornographic actresses and whether or not they spanked a vulgarian serial cheater?

The truly consequential is marginalized for a reason...that which is the greatest threat to the powers that be gets squashed with the most vitriol and intensity. And we are ALL complicit in this when we obsess on the distractions and allow the clown car to capture our attention without circling back to the important. God help us all...

scarletwoman

(31,893 posts)
42. Brava! or Bravo! as the case may be. (I make no assumptions)
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 10:04 PM
Mar 2018

Thank you for a truly excellent post! You have SO hit the nails (all of them!) on the head!

I especially appreciate your astute analysis of the reaction to BLM. Still, all of what you wrote is pretty awesome.

Well done!

robersl

(83 posts)
7. BLM
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 11:47 AM
Mar 2018

I think about this all the time, yet I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for people of color in this country to interact with the police.

Philando Castile gets pulled over for a taillight. He tells the officer he has a registered gun in the car, and then, apparently thinking he has established the fact that he has no intention of harming the officer or causing trouble, he reaches to pull out his driver's license.

The officer sees "black", hears "gun", then sees a reach for the pocket, and suddenly he draws his weapon and kills him.

The amount of strategy, pre-calculation and reading of the situation that needs to be applied by a person of color in order to survive a traffic stop is mind-boggling. Add to that the fact that, with all these stories and videos in the news, anybody will be nervous when an interaction with the police ensues, and when you're already nervous, the chances of you making a "miscalculation" go up significantly.

Nobody should have to live with this kind of terror hanging over them every time they leave the house.

tblue37

(64,979 posts)
35. Did you see Wendell Perry tell this story on "Real Time"?
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 07:36 PM
Mar 2018

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="

?ecver=1" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

SunSeeker

(51,367 posts)
12. Not being perfectly compliant is not a capital offense.
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 12:06 PM
Mar 2018

Most people do "foolish" things, especially those who cops end up interacting with. Cops are trained to handle foolish people without killing them. This was an execution.

 

pintobean

(18,101 posts)
14. He was armed.
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 12:16 PM
Mar 2018

Cops aren't required to wait for him to point his gun at them. No one is. The Justice Department and the state both found that the cops acted reasonably.

uponit7771

(90,225 posts)
19. "Armed" isn't a reason why whites are killed, its meant more for black people especially
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 12:23 PM
Mar 2018

... in an open carry state where the LEOs don't know if the person is permitted.

The 2nd amendment is still a whites only law

SunSeeker

(51,367 posts)
29. Being armed is not a capital offense either.
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 12:56 PM
Mar 2018

Funny how armed white guys are 2nd Am patriots but armed black guys are threats to life and limb.

tblue37

(64,979 posts)
36. 170 men from two biker gangs--armed men--after a brawl in which 9 people were killed and 18 injured:
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 07:41 PM
Mar 2018
A motorcycle gathering at a sports bar turned into a bloodbath Sunday when a bathroom scuffle between rival biker gang members escalated into a parking-lot shootout that left at least nine bikers dead and 18 wounded after police intervened and also opened fire, police said.

"In 34 years of law enforcement, this is the worst crime scene, the most violent crime scene I have ever been involved in," said Waco Police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton.

By Monday morning, at least 170 people had been arrested and were being booked on charges of engaging in organized crime, Waco police said. Earlier, police reported the number at 192 but revised the figure as suspects were being booked.

snip



Somehow the cops managed to arrest all these (not black) men without killing any of them, even though they had already demonstrated that they were armed and dangerous:




Blue_true

(31,261 posts)
41. Did you see?
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 08:36 PM
Mar 2018

One even took out a smartphone and played with it. A black guy would have been Swiss cheese before the phone left his pocket or before he could touch the screen

The problem in some of these places is that police officer jobs are the highest paying, a similar dynamic exists in big cities. The jobs get filled mostly by second, third, fourth generation whites that have the family legacy, or by ex-military who don't softly putdown resistance. I don't know what is the best solution other than no nonsense training on escalation and commanding officers that don't look the other way when junior officers cross the line or make racially based jokes or judgements, and a chief that sets a clear, color-blind agenda for the department.

The movement toward open carry laws in some states will likely lead to more police shootings, if the tendency of an officer is to tense up and become a little fearful when a black guy has a gun, proper outcomes may not happen. Determining whether the guy legally or illegally have the gun may not happen.

Dark n Stormy Knight

(9,760 posts)
45. So many of this sort of example.
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 11:42 PM
Mar 2018

I can't help viewing all these shootings of African Americans as a sort of black genocide by cop.

 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
51. perfect example
Thu Mar 29, 2018, 09:54 AM
Mar 2018

That has been repeated countless generations in ameriKKKa. It's a fact, with privilege, entitlement based on the color of one's skin color it, racism, will, just like the racism that drives murder and slaughter like this from racist agents of the state able to hide behind the badge of the state continue and many will be happy that this is the case.

Hassin Bin Sober

(26,272 posts)
15. I don't remember the specifics of the case - just that the video was gory.
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 12:18 PM
Mar 2018

The cops were there on a guy waiving a gun call and the guy had a loaded gun in his pocket?? And they are on tape saying he's going for it?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Alton_Sterling

At 12:35 a.m., at 2112 North Foster Drive in the parking lot of Triple S Food Mart, Sterling was detained by Baton Rouge Police Department officers. This came after an anonymous caller reported that a man was threatening him and waving a handgun while in the process of selling CDs.[15][16] The officers tasered Sterling for resisting several times,[17][18] then forced the heavy-set man to the hood of a sedan and then to the ground. Sterling was pinned to the ground by both officers; one kneeling on his chest and the other on his thigh, both attempting to control his arms.[17]

One officer exclaimed, "He's got a gun! Gun!" One of the officers yelled, "If you fucking move, I swear to God!" Then Salamoni was heard on the video saying, "Lake, he's going for the gun!" One of the officers aimed his gun at Sterling's body, then three gunshots were heard. The camera panned away just before the camera panned back and three more gunshots were heard. The police officer sitting on Sterling's chest was not in the picture and the other office was about 3 feet (0.9 m) away, with his gun drawn and pointed to Sterling, who had a gunshot wound in his chest.[19] The officers retrieved a loaded .38 caliber revolver from Sterling's front pants pocket.[20][21] The officers then radioed for Emergency Medical Services.[10][20]
 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
50. so you're
Thu Mar 29, 2018, 09:47 AM
Mar 2018

Inferring, with your carefully laid out explanation he deserved to die because he had a gun in his pocket and was a threat because of that fact and him being an AA male whose is always a threat, right? Say like an AA male with a CCW who let's the officer know he has a weapon and conceal permit and is shot anyway, like say Philando Castile? Right?

Response to Still In Wisconsin (Reply #10)

tblue37

(64,979 posts)
37. Still In Wisconsin is OBVIOUSLY snarking that the gun humpers would be more worried about the well-
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 07:45 PM
Mar 2018

being of the precious gun than about the fact that a black man was killed.

Yes, your sarcasm detector is on the blink--and you are not supposed to accuse DUers of being trolls. That's a TOS violation.

 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
49. so you're
Thu Mar 29, 2018, 09:38 AM
Mar 2018

inferring that just because an AA has a gun, in this case, in his pocket he deserved to die. Right? Like say Philando Castile

 

Still In Wisconsin

(4,450 posts)
52. Good God, no. Fuck.
Thu Mar 29, 2018, 10:14 AM
Mar 2018

I am trying to draw attention to the fact that the gun humpers will all worry about the gun rather than the murder that happened.

aikoaiko

(34,127 posts)
22. I wish there were a way to have laws to specifically address LEO mistakes that lead to deaths.
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 12:28 PM
Mar 2018

In some way that is analogous to involuntary and voluntary manslaughter, if an LEO misidentifies an object as a gun then they go away for X number of years in prison and if an LEO thinks there is a gun and there is no object that could have been mistaken for gun, they go away for X+ years.

It is their job to correctly identify when they are in danger and when they are not. In neither of the cases above would the LEO have been in danger. Therefore they made a negligent decision.

I can no longer give LEO the benefit of the doubt as I once did. Prove the genuine threat or go to jail if you shoot someone wrongly.


In this case Alton Sterling had a gun, but it was still in his pocket which is not a threat. I would put this case in the first category.

Progressive dog

(6,861 posts)
31. I noticed that too
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 06:30 PM
Mar 2018

and was scrolling down to see if anyone commented on the fact that the police officers did not work for the US government.
Thanks for pointing it out.

 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
48. right
Thu Mar 29, 2018, 09:32 AM
Mar 2018

This POS calling himself a police officer is a paid executioner of the state and mirrors the mentality of the people in our current administration and those grifters squatting and occupying 1600. This POS police officer and them, one in the same. Period. No response necessary since to me, won't mean a thing. You have a good one, ya heah?

brooklynite

(93,847 posts)
56. You don't want a reply, so I'll give you one anyway...
Thu Mar 29, 2018, 12:15 PM
Mar 2018

The Ferguson and Baltimore police killings occurred during the Obama Administrations. So, were they responsibility of "The State"? Or were they the responsibility of the local officials who hired the police and set the law enforcement policies?

 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
58. well I knew
Fri Mar 30, 2018, 11:35 AM
Mar 2018

an answer would be forthcoming. As I read your reply I can see your comprehension is lacking in your inability to understand the term 'the state'. That being established I will reiterate my position on the term 'the state'. The 'state' is ANY government entity, local, state or federal that a POS like Salamoni represents under cover of badge and gun which salmonmoni represented during his execution of Alton Sterling. In this case New Orleans. "The state" IS a term understood in many circle of progressives and liberals with no misunderstanding of meaning. In these draconian times especially. The term is well understood by me WHEN explaining these execution murders as they took place. Which does not take away or add any more importance or establish any criteria that changes the fact of 'the state' being understood as to what it is

Ms. Aimee is stating that these white police officer murderers are representing 'the state's which is not a locale limited to geography. The use of "federal government" as her understanding of 'the state' is but knowledge, which I think we both share, that whether it is a white racist DEA officer rappelling from a helicopter, or a state police officer or officer of any city, they represent 'the state'.

And to extend on my understanding of these white racist murderers/executioners, they are no more that 21st century 'night riders' who don't need a sheet anymore seeing as how now, with the acquiescence of the POS called potus, they have become even bolder in their racism and murders. Innocent people who have to live in fear of every interactions with any type of police know what the PO means. There is no splitting of hairs when it comes to understanding the clear threat the modern members of police forces who execute non threatening and/or unarmed AA males represent. They might as well be on horses or in cars, under sheets, lynching, burning and performing non surgical castration on innocent AA MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN and this truth can represent any time in American history as any of the murders from Trayvon Martin to present attest.






 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
57. The important thing is that you focus on an irrelevance
Thu Mar 29, 2018, 12:19 PM
Mar 2018

The important thing is that you focus on an irrelevance that neither weakens nor strengthens the actual premise.

LovingA2andMI

(7,006 posts)
27. Thank You...
Wed Mar 28, 2018, 12:51 PM
Mar 2018

For This Information. When Is The March For Our Lives Will Be Solely For African-American Lives Shot Coldly By The Police...

 

heaven05

(18,124 posts)
47. because the MSM
Thu Mar 29, 2018, 09:26 AM
Mar 2018

IS controlled by fascist, racist, Alton Sterling silver murder will remain another sacrifice on the the alter of white supremacists. The Inca's and their human sacrifices didn't/don't have shit on this nation of racist, hateful white people.

 

Lee-Lee

(6,324 posts)
53. There are lots of cases to be mad about- this just isnt one
Thu Mar 29, 2018, 10:36 AM
Mar 2018

Sorry, it’s not.

He was armed. He was not compliant with officers acting on a legal reasons to a top about him.

Even after being tased he wasn’t compliant.

When you have an armed person using physical force to resist you who makes attempts to grab a gun, that’s a clear indication their intent is to use the gun.

Now, you can say there is no absolute proof he was reaching for the gun. But let’s look at the totality of the evidence to see what is more likely.

Someone called 911 to report he was threatened by Sterling with a gun.
Alton Sterling did indeed have a gun, the callers information was correct in that regard.
Officers respond and Sterling refuses to comply with lawful orders as they investigate the call.
Sterling continues to resist even after being tazed multiple times.
All those are known facts.

So let’s look at what can be the one disputed aspect- was he reaching for the gun?

Because if a person is fighting cops and reaches for a gun that’s cause to use deadly force, as it must be assumed the intent is to use it.

So, lets look at the information available to see what is more likely, was he reaching for the gun or not?

First, did his behavior up to that moment indicate a person who was likely to or not likely to attempt to use that gun.

Among that behavior- he illegally obtained a firearm. He chose to illegally carry the gun he illagelky possessed that evening. He earlier had threatened a person with that gun. He was using violence to resist lawful police action against him.

So did his behavior that evening indicate a person more likely to attempt to use a gun to resist arrest or less likely?

Second, look at his overall pattern of behavior in life. He was a career criminal with a long history of violence. His history of convictions- not arrests but convictions- includes multiple arrests for domestic violence, assault, battery, carrying weapons illegally, sex offenses. He was a violent person, the record shows this without dispute. So if one looks at this, it makes it clear he is the kind of person who would use a firearm against others, including law enforcement, illegally.

Lastly, one has to consider what he knew he was facing after arrest. When you look at his criminal history you see he probably shouldn’t have been out in society at all given his record. But more to the point he knew he had a weapon illegally. He knew that being caught with it this time would probably send him back to prison for a very, very long time. So from his posit he had nothing to lose, and people who think they have nothing to lose make really stupid choices often.

And the police didn’t put him in that position. He was a convicted felon. He made the conscious choice to illegally obtain a gun even after he was caught and charged with carrying a gun illegally twice. He made the choice to put that illegal gun in his pocket that night. He put himself in that position.

So, looking at the totality of the circumstances do we see it more likely he wasn’t trying to reach for the gun as he resisted as part of his attempts, or that he did?

I know my inclination is to fall on the side of LE since I’ve done the job, and the inclination of most here is the opposite. But try to divorce your biases and look at the facts objectively.



Docreed2003

(16,817 posts)
54. I'm sorry but I'm gonna need a link to some of your statment
Thu Mar 29, 2018, 10:57 AM
Mar 2018

A). "Put a gun to his head and said 'I'm gonna kill you bitch'". Where's the tape of that? Because neither of the officers had pistols pulled until Sterling was on the ground. Salamoni can be heard on the tape a few seconds before the shooting saying "I swear to God if you move..".


B). "90 seconds later he was dead." Again, where's the tape that shows 90 seconds passed between the officers pulling their weapons and shots being fired.

In no way am I undercutting the main point of what you are saying regarding police brutality, I just want to make sure all of our facts are correct.

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