Not complying with a policeman's directive, ie put your hands behind your back, is a big piece of this.
Now, I am not condoning the actions of the police, what I am saying is Mr. Gardner was complicit in his own demise. Had he complied, I doubt he'd be dead.
Oh, I agree with you. However, the tax laws in NY are the SOURCE of the problem.
20 years ago this “crime” of selling untaxed cigarettes was almost unheard of. NYC is feeling the pinch by not getting its cut, so they order the cops to aggressively enforce this law. The City whines and cries that they are being “cheated” out of the taxes people aren’t paying by purchasing their cigarettes from places other than convenience stores like they used to.
The convenience store owners are fed up with the encroachment on their bottom lines, so they call the cops.
The cops come, and...well...and then we don’t really know what happened next. Did they try to just move him along down the block so he’s not in front of the store? I don’t know. Did they first try to just give him a ticket? Don’t know. By the time the video starts, the trouble has already begun.
But I agree that when the policeman says, “Put your hands behind your back,” it’s surely best to do so, tout de suite.
The whole thing is a big mess.
Regards,
(Selling) Cigarettes Is Bad For You
(...and then resisting police orders. Resist We Much!)
There has been anti-police sentiment among some in the black community. Remember Cop Killer?
Wiki:
>>”Cop Killer” is a song by American band Body Count, from its 1992 self-titled debut album. The lyrics are sung from the point of view of an individual who is outraged by police brutality and decides to take matters into his own hands by killing police officers. The song’s words were written by Body Count’s lead vocalist, Ice-T, while its music was written by the band’s lead guitarist, Ernie C. Ice-T has referred to it as a “protest record.”...
The song provoked much controversy and negative reactions from political figures of the time, President George H.W. Bush,Vice President Dan Quayle, and Tipper Gore, co-founder of Parents Music Resource Center. Others defended the song on the basis of the band’s First Amendment rights. When Ice-T began to feel that the controversy over the song had eclipsed its musical merit, he chose to recall the album and re-release it without the inclusion of the song, which was given away as a free single.
IIRC the lyrics went:
Cop killer, better you than me
Cop killer, I know your family’s grieving (f-— em!)
Cop killer, but this time we get even.