Jul 6, 2016 Honestly, one can't watch this video and judge it was race influenced merely because the cops are white and the man is black. There is no indicator they acted this way because he was black. Additionally, whether it was race influenced is beyond the point, a man is dead. The question is whether the cops acted in accordance with procedure and whether that procedure was legitimate. Random thoughts: All of you talking about training to s---t someone in a specific area seem clueless. How many of you have fired a gun? There are personality types that are attracted to police work for the wrong reasons. Selection processes need to be improved and enforced to ween out these characters. Money needs to be invested so training can occur continually. Laws need to be changed so police aren't enforcing archaic and useless laws. The daily job needs to be altered so cops aren't continually engaging in high pressure situations. Psychologists / psychotherapists need to be provided so cops can properly cope with the job.
Jul 6, 2016 Really thought another angle would be a lot clearer. Oh well. The guy in full mount is way too low on the hips and would have a 2 on 1 on Alton's right. The other guy is only controlling his left with 1 arm and holding his gun with the other. These dudes could've done a lot better than wrist control. Should've had him bellydown tbh. It looks like he's struggling to set up before the shots though I can't listen with audio right now. Not sure how the court will see this.
Jul 6, 2016 Man I don't know if I can watch that other video if it's a clean angle of the murder. That s--- is cold blooded
Jul 6, 2016 Isn't this as simple as: a.) He was reaching for a gun, cops felt threatened, cops are not in the wrong or b.) He wasn't reaching for a gun, cops killed him for no reason, cops are in the wrong granted, none of these angles are ideal...and it is pretty convenient that their body cameras "fell off"...and they could have potentially used a taser, instead... but still, if the dude is reaching for a gun even after they said don't move
Jul 6, 2016 The naivety required to believe this is staggering. If you believe this would play out the same way with a white person standing outside the store, you are clinging to a belief that runs contrary to literally everything we know about police interactions with citizens. No it's f---ing not. Are you kidding? This is an epidemic in America, how is race irrelevant?
Jul 6, 2016 im sure there are better ways to disarm a guy then shooting him 5 times from point blank range
Jul 6, 2016 You're making an assumption, one that is logical but there is no evidence in the video that they acted a certain way because of skin color. Because a person is dead and it needs to be addressed whether they're black, white, yellow, brown, or green.
Jul 6, 2016 "It was just that he whistled at a woman--race didn't come into it." The police k--- black people at alarming rates and with relative impunity. His death was a tragedy--one that was facilitated in large part by the corrosive, systemic racism in our police and law enforcement systems.
Jul 6, 2016 You'd think, yea, but why was he struggling on the ground? Why did they feel the need to him tackle him in the first place? Why does it appear that he isn't exactly cooperating? I mean, I don't know what it's like to be black and get stiffed by the law, I'll admit that, but are cops literally just cruising around and shooting/beating the s--- out of people for no reason? Because if they're not, I don't see why people can't just cooperate with them? I HIGHLY doubt that when the cops pulled up to the store and saw that guy, they looked at each other and said "Hey man, let's s---t this black guy" lol Looking at this from the perspective of this being an isolated scenario, there are really too many unanswered questions to really place anybody in the wrong here. (imo)
Jul 6, 2016 this happens at an alarming rate to black people, take your head out of the sand. edit: wtf some text got on this post even tho i changed tabs on my phone
Jul 6, 2016 Because the cops rolled up and started targeting him for no reason. Wouldn't you struggle if people who looked like you were being killed by cops every week? They were in this case. They responded to an unrelated car and murdered a guy in a parking lot. They pulled up and said "that must be our guy," when it wasn't. So they murdered him. Two police officers tackled an innocent man to the ground and murdered him in cold blood. On video. But yes, hard to place blame imo
Jul 6, 2016 the fact that people are unwilling to admit that this was race fueled when it happened in baton rogue... yikes
Jul 6, 2016 Article that cites the relevant rulings as to whether this was excessive or not. http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/06/us/baton-rouge-alton-sterling-when-police-use-of-force-justified/
Jul 6, 2016 You understand how these laws are unreasonably slanted though, right? Juries are historically reticent to disagree with cops re: reasonableness, and it's nearly impossible to come up with conclusive proof to the contrary of (what someone says were their) thoughts in the heat of the moment. And of course, there's the problem that grand juries set the bar too low: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/01/opinion/a-better-standard-for-the-use-of-deadly-force.html
Jul 6, 2016 My head is out of the sand. Again, based on the video alone, neither of you can prove this was influenced by race. Both of you aren't satisfied that I don't agree 100% with your analysis. I know nothing about these men or their lives, as data rolls in my perspective will change on whether or not this was race influenced.
Jul 6, 2016 "I have no idea if [the men who lynched this teenager] are racists, I have to let the data roll in."
Jul 6, 2016 Your article talks mainly about unarmed victims and really paints in broad strokes. That's fine and all, but we have video evidence of a specific case showing that it's a close call at the least. This is really, really far from an "execution". Again, not the battle I would pick. If this were a white guy, maybe he never gets in that situation, I can see that. I can't see anybody, white or black, resisting in that kind of situation where they discover a firearm and not getting shot. Maybe he doesn't get as many shots becaause he's white. Maybe it takes a second longer because he's white. Still a messy situation that probably does not end well. The question is whether he was resisting or not which will be argued in court by people smarter than me. Neither video has a clear shot of where his hand ended up in relation to the gun. Maybe they can show that he was profiled or something like that, but I am not confident they will rule this as excessive force. Even if it was, there is still a chance they would've convict because of some of the issues you brought up. That's horse s---, but it's a hypothetical that I'm not sure applies. I know you care deeply about this issue and you headed up that whole article on rappers, a lot them from Louisiana, facing the consequences of s--- police. I get why you're so adamant. As I said, more scrutiny is never a bad thing.
