That's not an answer to the question which was proposed. You are arguing against the premise of the question.
Can a person who has a choice of two different weapons use the more lethal of the two and claim it was an accident, as a defense for their crime?
I suspect a lot of the same people who were swayed by the officer's testimony, would likewise be swayed by that of a sobbing insurrectionist and beg for clemency from the government. And once Trump office, a full pardon would be certain. Provided he was a conservative white man of course. Not if it was socialist Black trans kid or some such.
I do think that Potter's obvious remorse is a huge factor in gaining sympathy for her. I'm sure her remorse is sincere. My compassion for her is mitigated a bit because neither she nor the other two officers offered any sort of aide to Wright after he was accidentally shot with a gun rather than a taser.
I would also like to remind people that a taser can be a lethal weapon. I think too often we think of it as just a little shock, no big deal. In fact. To date, more than 500 people have died from law enforcement use of tasers. The exact number is not known as no federal agency tracks deaths or serious injuries resulting from the use of tasers by law enforcement.
Included in recent deaths at the hands of police officers using tasers is the unborn child of a pregnant woman who was tased 3 times, including in the abdomen, because police thought she was recording them on her cell phone. So much for police being upstanding right leaning right to lifers.
The April 11 shooting death of Daunte Wright highlights problems with police use of Tasers that have contributed to at least 500 deaths since 2010.
www.usatoday.com
People, we really need to seriously consider what we want from police and how they are trained. They are killing too many people they are sworn to serve and protect, often over minor offenses.
Here's a personal story:
I've described myself as a short, previously skinny but now carrying way too much weight older woman, now in my 60's. I've always been the kind of face that people are certain grew up down the road or a few doors down or is related to their cousin, etc. Very very innocuous/ordinary looking person. Girl/mother/grandmother next door look.
Several years ago, I was driving home one night from work. It was winter, and dark and also a pretty snowy evening, the fourth or fifth or tenth such snow of the season. I had to drive on a two lane road that wound down in a narrow valley where my cell phone transmission was non-existent. The road was steep and windy going down and coming back up. About half way down, traffic (of which there was rarely more than a couple of vehicles) was backed up--8 or 10 cars. I could see police officers blocking the road and through trees, I could see the flashing lights of patrol cars and more than one ambulance. It was obviously a bad accident and obviously, emergency people had been there for a while. So, like everyone else, I waited and waited and waited. One of the officers was chatting with a guy in the front vehicle of those who were stopped. The conversation went on for a while. I assume that they went to school together or were cousins or friends or hunting or fishing buddies or all of those, talking about ice fishing or deer hunting. But at this point, I was about 45 minutes late getting home and I was wondering if I should try turning around and taking another route home--which would have been a longer route with less likelihood that the roads had been plowed. I had been up for almost 14 hrs. at this point, and hadn't eaten since about 11 that morning. It was about 7:30 p.m. I didn't want my husband to worry and I couldn't call because no cell reception. I was wondering how long it would be--two ambulances had already left so I thought surely we were almost at the point where we could proceed but nothing was happening. I tried several times to get the attention of the officer by waving my hand but he was engrossed in conversation with his buddy. Finally, I just got out of my small sedan and quietly walked toward him, my hands clearly visible. Everybody's car lights were on so while it was a dark and snowy night, there was a lot of light bouncing off of the snow: I was clearly visible. But, inadvertently, I startled the officer about 20 feet away and when he noticed me: short, fat old lady in her winter coat and gloves, hands clearly visible in winter gloves, he reached towards his holster.
That's right: I was almost shot dead on a country road while calmly and respectfully approaching a police officer to ask him how much longer he thought we would be delayed.
I get it. I honestly do. But things have got to change.
