Posted on 01/26/2009 2:12:13 PM PST by Navy Patriot
It was about two in the morning on New Years Day...there was some reports of fighting between passengers on the train...nothing to warrant what the officer did.
Wasn’t it the same cop who hit him that killed him...sounds like an execution to me.
I suspect that a lot of BART passengers with cellphones had that same thought.
No, different cop.
Even so, it's not helpful to the "oops, it was an accident" defense.
I can’y imagine why anyone would whack someone at all, except in self defense or to stop them from assulting some other innocent person. As to why these cops would “whack someone in full view of witnesses”, I would guess that they did it in a fit of rage.
I’ll explain. In my personal experience, police officers tend to be insecure, aggressive, and often sadistic men with serious anger control issues. Imagine your average high school bully, only with a badge, a gun, and a license to kill. As do most people of this sort, they tend to be attracted to gang activity, and, since the Blue Gang is always the top gang in town, many are attracted to police work. It’s a chance to shake down the nerds for their lunch money, only with the full force of the law behind you. Now, most cops are able to keep the rage in check so long as the little people display the appropriate level of fear and deference, and thus go through their careers without being caught abusing a “civilian”. (Note that I said “being caught”.) But should a “civilian” fail to cringe at their presence, or God forbid show them any “attitude”, and the school bully rage switch goes to a hair-trigger state. At that point, one false move by the “perp”, and POW — blood on the platform in Fruitvale — or in your neighborhood.
This is why I advise people to have as little to do with cops as possible. To a cop, you and I are little people, punks with attitude, “civilians”. Nothing good ever comes of a visit by or with the police. Every badge out there is a ticking time bomb, ready to go off and ruin your life. If forced to deal with police, say nothing until your attorney is present. Do not look them in the eye. Keep your chin on your chest and your hands in plain view. These are dangerous gang members who have the legal right to kill you — and the Blue Wall of Silence to protect them from the consequences.
Note: all of the above is based upon my personal experience with police officers over the years. I’m sure there must be one or two honest cops out there somewhere, but the vast majority are as dangerous and unpredictable as your local ghetto gangbanger. Local cops are the worst; most state police officers are more professional and less likely to be gangster types; and military police are the best. This is one reason I think that armed police officers should be under the UCMJ — the school bully types can’t take the discipline, training and accountability necessary to be a military cop.
Hope you're not one of them! (Just kidding.) When I was a teenager, I had a few run-ins with bad cops. Nothing like being grabbed from a car and being thrown against the hood, being sworn at and threatened with bodily harm, to ruin your day. Then having them ransack your car and taking your stuff. When they find no drugs, they "let" you go, sometimes at the police station after wasting your time. One of my buddies who went thru the same abuse ended up being a SF cop, and was dealing out abuse on citizens (I know because he laughed while talking about it). He described all the crap he had to put up with, as if that justified what he had done. He mellowed out later, and became a motorcycle cop. One brother-in-law of mine quit the SFPD because he didn't like seeing the abuse by others.
I worked many years as a civilian with SFPD and saw that most cops are okay, but there are a few bad ones out there. As you say, be wary and don't provoke them.
Quite true...I am appalled by this sort of thing. My kids see this and think police are ‘bad’. I tell them this is few and far between, but it’s getting harder to defend them...there have been many incidents lately.
It doesn’t help that my son was harassed by a policeman for no reason...teenager. I told him never never argue, yes sir and no sir...get arrested if this is the only way. Do not give law enforcement a hard time...you just don’t know what could happen. He told me he was afraid the cop would plant something on him, and who would believe him. He wants to go into the air force and does no drugs of any sort...he used to watch lockup...this was very effective. The search rules need to be changed so planting evidence is not possible. The poor woman in Atlanta that was killed...in her late 80’s or 90’s...they found pot...later admitted it was a plant.
It could also be just plain rage...the horror could have been when he realized what he had done...couldn’t very well shoot all the witnesses.
What happened to the confiscated cell phones...I wonder. This would be very interesting to know.
Yes, I’m anxious to see more evidence. I wonder tho, after all media attention if we will ever feel comfortable that we know what happened.
Hey, they do it on police shows all the time!
I have no idea, but you sound like a bad prospect for a jury member since you have come to a conclusion based on media reports and some fuzzy video.
So, you could be right, but you could just as well be wrong.
It could be. The point right now is, none of us have the evidence to back our opinions up. I’m willing to wait and see what comes out.
Yep, although I can not see any new information coming out that could change things that much. The video pretty much speaks for itself...motive is important. I don’t know if we will ever know if the cop killed the guy in a fit of rage or if he truly meant to grab his stun gun. As one poster noted, they are quite different. No matter what, he should go to jail...just depends on the circumstances how long this should be.
Good, I hate jury duty...successfully avoided it in Georgia for a couple of years...was ordered to serve on a grand jury but thankfully moved before this happened. As for making up my mind, how could you watch the video and not be horrified?
They're just making sure that the videos weren't "lost" or "inadvertently erased."
Interesting...thanks. Sad situation.
I agree, I think the ordinary citizens are getting wise on how to deal with government in general.
Preserve the evidence and let the government employees hang themselves.
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