Atlanta-area police shoot dead unarmed, naked African-American man

[Nice Squirrel]

Well they did say he was backing the car up... and is that a concrete curb between the police and him.

 

[Derec]

The kid jumped into a Maserati.

That was a customer's car, not Thomas'.

Well, based on the images, he was either trying to back up on the police, or the witness was telling the truth.

That's what the police are saying - that he was in reverse.

The shots are through the rear window. So he was an imminent threat on their safety, but they killed him anyway.

I think you missed a "not" there. In any case, a car would still be dangerous in reverse gear. The top speed wouldn't be as high, but acceleration would be comparable to second forward gear and quite substantial in a Maserati.

Violence against the police?

He was on probation for felony assault on police officers.

Thomas has numerous arrests in several metro Atlanta jurisdictions, and that he pleaded guilty last year in Cobb County Superior Court to a March 2013 charge of aggravated assault on a peace officer.

In that case, the grand jury alleged that Thomas assaulted a Kennesaw State University police officer by “driving and accelerating his motor vehicle at” the officer after Officer S.A. Feinauer attempted a traffic stop on Thomas for speeding.

Thomas also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to elude police, driving with a suspended license, having no proof of insurance and having an improper license plate in connection with that incident, and was sentenced to seven years, with 56 days in jail and the rest on probation.

Smyrna police say man drove Maserati recklessly before shooting

 

[Derec]

In any case, it is understandable that the cops had itchy trigger fingers given that the subject had a history of violence against police, including at least one instance of using his vehicle.

The officer(s) knew that at the time?

Since they attempted to execute a warrant for probation violation in connection with that conviction they definitely knew it, as well as the rest of his lengthy criminal record.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Here's the deal, the final position of the car indicates he was eventually driving forward, may have backed up out of the spot, but was definitely moving forward. Shots on the car are only from behind. It would seem to have been unlikely for the cops to fire at him while going in reverse, and then for him to change in to forward and then drive forward into the curb.

That was a customer's car, not Thomas'.

Oops.

Well, based on the images, he was either trying to back up on the police, or the witness was telling the truth.

That's what the police are saying - that he was in reverse.

Shouldn't he have been not on the grass if he was heading towards the cops?

The shots are through the rear window. So he was an imminent threat on their safety, but they killed him anyway.

I think you missed a "not" there. In any case, a car would still be dangerous in reverse gear. The top speed wouldn't be as high, but acceleration would be comparable to second forward gear and quite substantial in a Maserati.

This would beg the question, why in the hell would the person try to attack the cops going in reverse, instead of driving in forward... away from the cops?!

Violence against the police?

He was on probation for felony assault on police officers.

Thomas has numerous arrests in several metro Atlanta jurisdictions, and that he pleaded guilty last year in Cobb County Superior Court to a March 2013 charge of aggravated assault on a peace officer.

In that case, the grand jury alleged that Thomas assaulted a Kennesaw State University police officer by “driving and accelerating his motor vehicle at” the officer after Officer S.A. Feinauer attempted a traffic stop on Thomas for speeding.

Thomas also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to elude police, driving with a suspended license, having no proof of insurance and having an improper license plate in connection with that incident, and was sentenced to seven years, with 56 days in jail and the rest on probation.

Smyrna police say man drove Maserati recklessly before shooting

Wonder why the officer didn't shot him then?

 

[Nice Squirrel]

This would beg the question, why in the hell would the person try to attack the cops going in reverse, instead of driving in forward... away from the cops?!

My guess would be turning around to get the hell out of there.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Wonder why the officer didn't shot him then?

Probably due to an understanding of proper procedures and physics.

 

[Derec]

My car hasn't been a hybrid for near a year now.

Must be one of the early Insights?
But in any case, at least now you can do the experiment. Sort of.

]You are assuming that. Based on the photos, they did shot him from behind. Cops must be idiots to think someone can't notice when bullet holes entering the rear window.

Since he didn't jump into a Peel P50 he could move backward as easily as forward.

P.S.: RIP Top Gear (2002 - 2015)

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Must be one of the early Insights?
But in any case, at least now you can do the experiment. Sort of.

2000 model. The pack finally died after 13 years, and it was fucking up the car's electronics. Thanks to the Internet I can drive without the battery just by unplugging two connections on the pack. It accelerates like a Geo Metro now, so not really the best for testing such things.

]You are assuming that. Based on the photos, they did shot him from behind. Cops must be idiots to think someone can't notice when bullet holes entering the rear window.

Since he didn't jump into a Peel P50 he could move backward as easily as forward.

P.S.: RIP Top Gear (2002 - 2015)

He was in reverse and then was moving forward. Based on the images of the rear window, it'd seem the trajectory of most of the shots was similar, which would seem to imply distance from the vehicle.

 

[OLDMAN]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/10/us-usa-police-georgia-idUSKBN0M60CI20150310

The officer encountered the man, who was not wearing any clothes, in the parking lot, Alexander said at a conference published online by local broadcaster Fox5.

Alexander said the man ran at the officer, who backed up and ordered the person to stop before shooting him twice. Police did not find a weapon at the scene, he said.

I guess we can add "being naked" to the list of capital offenses for black men.

Why did they shoot a dead naked man....? Shouldn't they have shot him dead?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Could not resist the setup.

Of if the driver lets go of the throttle. Without throttle and in gear, the engine "wants" to go to idle but is being driven by the wheels at higher rpm which leads to engine breaking, especially in low gears. He was in reverse, which is a low gear.

The vehicle is already accelerating, so it has to decelerate to a constant speed and then start decreasing in speed. In other words, get out of the way.

If you simply try to evade the driver might simply follow you.

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If a car is moving towards you, shooting it isn't an effective method of not being hit by the car.

The most effective way of protecting yourself is to shoot and then jump aside when the driver isn't in shape to follow your action.

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Well they did say he was backing the car up... and is that a concrete curb between the police and him.

And a car can't climb a curb???

 

[Nice Squirrel]

And a car can't climb a curb???

I don't see a Jeep decal, so no. A car in reverse cannot climb a curve and kill officers who have time to get out of the way. But thanks for playing! It was a good effort.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

And a car can't climb a curb???

I don't see a Jeep decal, so no. A car in reverse cannot climb a curve and kill officers who have time to get out of the way. But thanks for playing! It was a good effort.

Ever hear of a car going over a curb and into a wall when some geezer mixes up the brake and gas??

Going over a curb isn't a good thing for the tires but the car is certainly capable of doing it.

 

[Toni]

I don't see a Jeep decal, so no. A car in reverse cannot climb a curve and kill officers who have time to get out of the way. But thanks for playing! It was a good effort.

Ever hear of a car going over a curb and into a wall when some geezer mixes up the brake and gas??

Going over a curb isn't a good thing for the tires but the car is certainly capable of doing it.

And when it does, when a good car goes bad, there is no choice except to shoot the driver.

 

[bilby]

Ever hear of a car going over a curb and into a wall when some geezer mixes up the brake and gas??

Going over a curb isn't a good thing for the tires but the car is certainly capable of doing it.

And when it does, when a good car goes bad, there is no choice except to shoot the driver.

No, that's just silly. You shoot the car, and it explodes in a massive fireball.

Have you never watched any TV?

 

[Derec]

No charges in the Nicholas Thomas (Maserati shooting) case.
Grand Jury says police justified in shooting of Nicholas Thomas

Correct decision. I hope there won't be any riots in Smyrna though (there's a QT nearby).

No word on Anthony Hill (naked, crazy guy in Chamblee)

 

[laughing dog]

Instead of avoiding the car, the police shoot to kill someone for evading a probation violation warrant. And get away with it. And someone defends it.

 

[Derec]

Instead of avoiding the car, the police shoot to kill someone for evading a probation violation warrant. And get away with it. And someone defends it.

He was using a deadly weapon (the stolen Quattroporte) to attack police who came to arrest him for violating probation which he got whe he used a deadly weapon (another car) against another police officer.
Smyrna is still quiet so I am guessing not many people are buying the excuses for the wannabe GTA LARPer.

 

[laughing dog]

Instead of avoiding the car, the police shoot to kill someone for evading a probation violation warrant. And get away with it. And someone defends it.

He was using a deadly weapon (the stolen Quattroporte) to attack police who came to arrest him for violating probation which he got whe he used a deadly weapon (another car) against another police officer.

Instead of avoiding the car, the police shoot to kill someone for evading a probation violation warrant. And get away with it. And someone persistently defends it. Wow.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Last night on a nationally syndicated blues radio show the DJ was tearing up at how he feels his black brothers are being targeted for violence in the United States. It's not an unusual sentiment. These actions and the people that knee-jerk into automatically defend the police helps create this perception.

Think about it. This is a culture of fear. What is your part in this?

 

[Derec]

Last night on a nationally syndicated blues radio show the DJ was tearing up at how he feels his black brothers are being targeted for violence in the United States. It's not an unusual sentiment. These actions and the people that knee-jerk into automatically defend the police helps create this perception.

What about the knee-jerk attitude to automatically attack the police and defend the thug who attacked them with a deadly weapon?
His "black brothers" are not targeted by police for being black, they are targeted for being criminals regardless of race.
Take Nicholas Thomas, who has a long rap sheet for all kinds of mostly petty crimes. The police didn't come to the Goodyear store to harass him because he was black, but because he violated his probation for a felony conviction. He got stopped by KSU police for speeding 2 years ago but decided to try to run over the cop instead. For that he was convicted of aggravated assault and gotten a deal of two months in jail and 7 years probation. Hardly evidence of racism in the criminal justice system as it sees like a more than fair deal (especially since he already had a criminal record at the time and thus was not a first time offender). Unfortunately he could not keep his nose clean and violated probation. Police actually told his mother he needed to turn himself in so we knew he was wanted and could have resolved the situation peacefully at any time.

Think about it. This is a culture of fear. What is your part in this?

The culture of fear is caused by the media. Specifically when it comes to race, the media emphasizes white on black and cop on black violence and downplays race in all other cases. Hence we have the situation where black people claim there is "open season" on them by whites despite the fact that most killings of black people are by other blacks and not by whites (in fact black on white murders outnumber white on black murders by a factor of 2:1) or police.

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Instead of avoiding the car, the police shoot to kill someone for evading a probation violation warrant. And get away with it. And someone persistently defends it. Wow.

Could somebody please go over and reboot laughing dog? He seems to be stuck in a loop.