Posted on 09/25/2014 10:42:36 AM PDT by redreno
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An unarmed man shot by a South Carolina trooper during a traffic stop repeated one question through his anguished cries as he lay wounded, waiting for an ambulance: "Why did you shoot me?"
Levar Jones' painful groans and then-Trooper Sean Groubert's reply — "Well you dove head first back into your car" — were captured by a dashboard camera in the trooper's car.
Groubert had stopped Jones on a seatbelt violation at a Columbia gas station and fired the shots moments after asking Jones for his license
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I can't answer any of the questions because I was not there. All I have available is what I can see in the video. What I do see in the video does not bode well for the fired & indicted State Trooper. What I do not see, but hopefully the DA & his boss saw, may fill in the missing pieces. Thus all I can offer is more questions because I have more questions.
BTW, common-sense tells me to not make decisions without knowing more facts. Also, dispatchers are sworn officers of the law and may carry guns. She doesn't but she could if she wanted to. It would require her to go to post, where they get training and certification, which she has no desire to do.
Well it sure didn't stop you from popping off and supporting the LEO in this specific incident.
My questions were based on the video of THIS incident. Your comments were based on something that COULD happen, but didn't.
Whatever you say Sgt. Friday.
You are really confused, no lawman was threatened or hurt, instead an innocent man was gunned down by a weirdo in a cop uniform for no reason.
Wrong again slick...My moniker is based on the definition of the word, not some TV show. Your comment however was again, based on reckless assumptions.
Agreed you don’t get the sharpest tools, plus I can tell you when I was a kid I was often on the wrong side of things with LE I think from what I saw even the most patient cop would be come jaded from seeing the crap side of life they see everyday.
At the time I had not seen that video but what I do see does not bode well for that Trooper. Based on what I saw I think the DA and his boss made the right decisions. However, I will have to wait until more evidence comes out in trial to be sure.
Au contraire...an LOE defended himself against a perceived threat and you, oh confused one, claim that this is a "weirdo in a cop uniform with no reason". There is the confusion. There is the ignorance. There is the sickness and weirdness and left-wing pathology.
No, the confusion is in your own head, and in the head of that other weirdo in uniform.
There was no threat, you guys are unstable and dangerous.
This is South Carolina. State police are not unionized. A South Carolina State Trooper with a year and a half on the job makes $34269 a year, or $16.48 an hour. You get what you pay for.
And you think that was enough to try and kill him? No weapon. No movement to the cop. No threat at all.
You assume that the clip shows everything you need to make a correct conclusion. Or perhaps it is the fact that his boss fired him and the DA indicted him. The media has in many instances shown only what they want to be seen, and DA's have often prosecuted people based on prevailing forces rather than facts.
I really won't try to guess what your reasoning is, nor do I care. But there are 2 sides to every story and until I have the opportunity to hear both sides I will reserve from making any rash judgment. You assumed I was defending the Trooper and what he did, when if fact I was offering plausible explanations. I was neither defending him, as you assumed, nor judging him.
Just to be clear, which definition are you basing your moniker on?
Is it a net dragged across the floor of a body of water in search for some item or to catch fish?
A net used along the ground to catch animals etc.?
Or a police, or some other authority, operation to garner criminals and/or information?
bump for later
Then put on your SuperHero t-shirt and underpants (oh, those are already on?) and go out there unarmed and keep the peace. You won't need any thing, except that bravado & big head. Caps won't fit, so just put on that tin-foil hat, stick out the chest and tell us all how you will handle the bad guys.
If the man was going for a weapon in the car, he would neither have a weapon in hand nor would he be moving in the cops direction. Even just leaning into the car he could have been going for a weapon or his wallet. Either way it is a bad situation for the cop. Snooze and he loses, react to quickly and he also loses. I would have announced to the cop that my wallet is inside the car and that I am retrieving it. That way it gives the cop more information while reducing my chances of him shooting me.
If you and I had an altercation on the road and we both stopped to carry it further, I all of a sudden dive into my car while you on the other hand are a concealed carry person, would you wait to see what I was doing in the split-second you have to protect yourself?
But like I said I did not see the man dive into his car as the Trooper said on the video, but rather lean into his car. I also said I don't know why the Trooper had his gun drawn on the man. Did the man give him a valid reason to draw his weapon? The problem is that there is not enough video shown to know the entire truth. The fact that his boss fired him and the DA indicted him does not bode well for the Trooper either. But to be fair I will wait until I can get a more complete picture of what went down during the entire stop.
Remember you have more knowledge now after it has unfolded than the cop had at the time. But neither of us has the complete story yet because one of the participants involved has not had his story told.
A friend of mine always threw his wallet into the glove compartment, because it was so thick he couldn't sit on it. That ended after his car got stolen along with the wallet.
Aside from my soldiering, I have done a lot of protecting of the good guys in my life while unarmed.
One of the things that concerns us right now is you and this cops gunning down people out of your fears and panic.
Why don’t you give us the whole package, tell us about salaries, and benefits and how it progresses and retirement, also tell us if this trooper is a member of the SCTA.
“So a cops is supposed to be a mind reader and know what the dude was going to do? So for the haters here, does the cop need to be shot, stabbed or assaulted FIRST before he earns the right to protect himself???
I’m just courious”
He is supposed to be a professional, capable of controlling himself and his fear reactions, and have a better threat recognition than this. Understand this one FACT. THIS NATION IS NOT ALL ABOUT THE NEEDS OF THE COP. If a cop is that self centered, don’t be a cop. The cop serves us, not us serving him. He is paid to take the risks, not pass them on to others.
Seriously, while you are calling other people haters for getting sick and tired of the BS from cops, answer this.
How many of these ridiculous incidents are we supposed to just ‘accept’? The concept of deadly force is supposed to be reasonable fear, not any fear at all.
Far too many like you think cops should be beyond censure or public scrutiny.
Especially when the LEO tells him to get out of the motor vehicle because of a seatbelt violation.
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