being unarmed does not necessarily mean that he was harmless

[Derec]

And to reiterate the point that a suspect being unarmed does not necessarily mean that he was harmless or that shooting him or her was wrong, I present to you Rodney Applewhite.

This guy, on probation for armed robbery, led police on a chase during a traffic stop. Then, as police caught up with him and tried to cuff him, he goes for one of their guns and naturally gets shot himself.

A Black life ends in a New Mexico police shooting

Rodney Applewhite, 25, was driving through New Mexico late last week on his way to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with his mother and other family members.
Just outside of Los Lunas, on the last leg of a trip that started in South Bend, Indiana, a New Mexico State Police officer attempted to pull Applewhite over for what was described as a traffic stop.

Another article places his destination as Phoenix. So what was he doing outside Los Lunas when a natural way to Phoenix would take him on I-40 through Duke City? More on that later.

It was 8:32 a.m., a NMSP press release said. About 10 minutes later, two state troopers tried to arrest Applewhite. When an altercation occurred with the first officer, the second officer shot Applewhite, firing “at least one round,” the NMSP said. Applewhite, unarmed, died that day in the hospital.

"Unarmed" doesn't mean shit if he tries to arm himself with officer's gun!

“I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. I’m heartbroken,” Applewhite’s mother, Katrina Cox, said by phone. “Why is it always shoot to kill? Because he’s tall and he’s a black man?”

No, because of his actions.

According to the press statement, Applewhite was driving his grey Chrysler 200 on the Manzano Expressway, a barren two-lane road east of I-25, when the first officer tried to pull him over. He fled and the state police pursued him, using tire-deflation devices to try to stop him. About seven minutes later, a dispatcher described his whereabouts and the two officers involved in the shooting incident found him standing outside the car. When they tried to take him into custody, Applewhite resisted arrest and grabbed one officer’s gun, the report said. The second officer shot and killed him.

Applewhite was on probation, stemming from an incident in 2015, when two of his friends robbed a drug dealer during a party, carrying an unloaded gun. Applewhite was waiting outside in the getaway car. At the time, he was in the National Guard and attending college at Indiana University South Bend.

[Surprised Pikachu]

“He knew he was on probation and just freaked out. You know, [with] police behind you. Anyone would freak out,” his mother said, referring to the disproportionate numbers of Black men who have been killed by police officers.

You know what's a good way to get shot by police, regardless of race? Try to take their fucking gun.

“He was just trying to figure out how he could change his life so he wouldn’t end up back in jail,” said Rhamon Mallard, a close friend of Applewhite’s.
“The thing that I really didn’t like about the police report,” Mallard added, “is that they didn’t want to put his name out there. But they did say that he was a criminal.”

"Turning his life around" has become a very trite trope with these cases. At least this guy wasn't an "aspiring rapper".
In any case, he did such a good job turning his life around he turned it a full 360°...

Protesters demand information on New Mexico State Police shooting of Black man

Around 7:30 a.m. on the day of the fatal shooting, the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a homeowner about a burglary on Pueblitos Road in Belen, police said. The homeowner confronted the man, who asked, “Is this my house?”
After being told no, the man asked if the home was in South Bend before being told to leave. Applewhite matched the description of the man and his vehicle, according to the release.

Of course, the "protesters" say they want information, do not want any information released that does not portray blacks shot by police in the best light. Because if all facts are out, it's hard to keep pretending that this was a "lynching".

Guerrero, the protester, said in a phone call a few hours after the demonstration that the timing of the release was “deliberate,” while calling for state Attorney General Hector Balderas to open an investigation.
“We’re very saddened by state police’s response,” Guerrero said. “In particular that they would lead with the headline that says ‘suspect.’ We understand that narratives such as this are intended to devalue our lives. We are even more disheartened that there is no indication of them taking responsibility or even a suggestion that a transparent investigation would happen.”

What nonsense! How would she describe him if not suspect?

By the way, this is the video of the unarmed, but still dangerous, Applewhite.

 

[marc]

Guy pulled over for speeding. He has a gun on the seat beside him, ignores the cop’s orders, threatens to shoot the cop, then finally drives off. He was later arrested after a lengthy pursuit.

Going by the arguments of the cop defenders this guy should have been shot. So is the apologetics going to be these cops should have killed him and were negligent not to do so, or that all the shootings of unarmed people were justified because of some minor detail they imagine?

 

[laughing dog]

And to reiterate the point that a suspect being unarmed does not necessarily mean that he was harmless or that shooting him or her was wrong, I present to you Rodney Applewhite.

Are you seriously implying that this justifies the shooting of the unarmed black man who was fleeing the police and being attacked by a police dog? The guy was not a threat until the police got close enough to him to arrest him. Your argument is more unhinged than anything Rudy Guiliani says or does.

 

[Derec]

Are you seriously implying that this justifies the shooting of the unarmed black man who was fleeing the police and being attacked by a police dog? The guy was not a threat until the police got close enough to him to arrest him.

That post was not offered as a parallel to the naked dude. It was offered to debunk the oft repeated, but stupid, belief that an unarmed perp is not a threat to officers. I do not have an opinion on the naked dude, except that firing officers before an investigation is concluded is not good.
One thing you wrote is very telling. You wrote. "The guy was not a threat until the police got close enough to him to arrest him." So you admit he was a threat when police got close?

Your argument is more unhinged than anything Rudy Guiliani says or does.

Copycat!

 

[Derec]

Going by the arguments of the cop defenders this guy should have been shot.

And certainly, had he reached for the gun, he'd be shot.

So is the apologetics going to be these cops should have killed him and were negligent not to do so,

I think that if this guy had been shot there'd be no protests, Biden would not be telling people that if he had a son he'd look just like the guy and for sure Kamala Harris would not be calling his family telling them how proud she was of him.

or that all the shootings of unarmed people were justified because of some minor detail they imagine?

Not all shootings are justified, but at the same time, just because somebody is unarmed and got shot does not mean the shooting was unjustified either.

P.S.: So I guess that Turkish guy is "white" now. I guess whether Turks and Arabs and Persians are white or not depends entirely on which fits the narrative better? For example, Rashiba Tlaib and Linda "Cockroach" Sarsour insist they are not white despite their white skin because they are Arabic.
Hard to keep up with the leftist determination of who is what race these days.

Kind of how when hispanics are white when they kill black teenagers who attack them and bash their head against the sidewalk, but are non-white when they apply for college, right?

 

[laughing dog]

Are you seriously implying that this justifies the shooting of the unarmed black man who was fleeing the police and being attacked by a police dog? The guy was not a threat until the police got close enough to him to arrest him.

That post was not offered as a parallel to the naked dude.

Thank you for admitting it was offpoint.

It was offered to debunk the oft repeated, but stupid, belief that an unarmed perp is not a threat to officers.

No one made that claim here. The idea that anyone whether armed or unarmed is stupid as a defense. It literally permits anyone to shoot whenever they feel threatened.

I do not have an opinion on the naked dude, except that firing officers before an investigation is concluded is not good.

You have no clue what information the chief had when he made the call. None.

One thing you wrote is very telling. You wrote. "The guy was not a threat until the police got close enough to him to arrest him."

Yes, it is telling. It contrasts with your attempt to defend a police officer shooting an UNARMED AND FLEEING suspect.

So you admit he was a threat when police got close?

I was using language to minimize the probability of a response that totally missed the point. I see that I was wrong.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Guy pulled over for speeding. He has a gun on the seat beside him, ignores the cop’s orders, threatens to shoot the cop, then finally drives off. He was later arrested after a lengthy pursuit.

Going by the arguments of the cop defenders this guy should have been shot. So is the apologetics going to be these cops should have killed him and were negligent not to do so, or that all the shootings of unarmed people were justified because of some minor detail they imagine?

I don't see what this has to do with police misconduct but it's obvious why the guy wasn't shot:

Watch his hands. There are times the camera doesn't show them but at all times that we can see his hands they are clearly empty and nowhere near the gun. I believed this guy just earned himself a felony but he didn't earn a bullet.

 

[blastula]

That was a bad non-shoot.

 

[Jarhyn]

That was a bad non-shoot.

Ah yes, "it was a bad non-shoot". So, the situation with one or more corpses on the ground is a better situation than the one that ended with exactly zero corpses on the ground, wherein the identified driver is on camera with proof of committing various crimes that can be followed up on at leisure.

Got it.

What about the situation is so vital and immediately pressing that it warrants a death or casualty?

 

[TomC]

That was a bad non-shoot.

Could you be more clear about what you meant?

I don't see how a non-shoot can be bad, unless there's a clear danger of some other violence. There wasn't. The chase presented a danger, but by then a shooting wasn't possible.

Perhaps you were being sarcastic? I'm kinda new here, and sometimes have trouble identifying when long time posters are being sarcastic.
Tom