Reply #77: Was not. [View All]

[jeepnstein]

Maurice Clemmons was entitled to his day in court. If he had submitted to the lawful authority of the police he would have been given every opportunity to prove his innocence. The state would have even paid for his lawyer. Our system bends over backwards to give these guys the benefit of the doubt.

Maurice Clemmons, instead, chose to take a very dangerous course of action and got himself killed in the process. He was already nursing a gunshot wound, had a firearm that was issued to one of the murdered officers, and was sitting in a stolen car. Even at that point if he had simply followed the officer's instructions and allowed himself to be taken into custody he would be alive today.

Imagine working a job at 2:30 in the morning, alone, when all of a sudden you get to try to arrest a man suspected of four murders. The man is assumed to be armed and has a previous history of violence. That raises all sorts of interesting warning flags in most people. I would venture to say that most folks posting on this board would want no part in attempting an arrest like that. It all comes down to a few seconds, a suspect who makes a boatload of wrong choices, and an officer choosing to survive. It has nothing to do with the Constitution. It has nothing to do with who turned this guy loose from prison the last time he was down. It has everything to do with a violent repeat offender who chooses to not submit to a lawful arrest.

Maurice Clemmons created the nightmare. Maurice Clemmons was responsible for the way it ended.