Well, Al Sharpton’s hate mongering wins again. If you remember the original story, you will recall that NYPD cops shot Bell outside a strip club during his bachelor party. Tragic, to be sure. But the precedent we set by prosecuting cops for murder (even if they make a mistake) is far, far worse. Here is what bothers me:
FACT: The cops were at that night club because it was a haven for illegal guns.
FACT: Mr. Bell and every one of his companions had priors for illegal weapons possession. One of them was a robber who had shot at a victim. I guess the objective folks at the New York Times “forgot” that part of the story.
FACT: The van they were in almost ran over a cop and then rammed the cops’ minivan. Twice.
FACT: If Mr. Bell was White, then Al Sharpton would not have adopted his cause and FORCED this murder trial. If he was White, you would not even know his name right now. Same circumstances, same story, NO murder trial.
I keep looking for Mr. “reverend” Sharpton at the cops’ funerals when they are killed. I haven’t seen him at a single one. Where is the outrage for that violence? For that matter, where is he when his own constituents are killing each other (which they do with greater regularity than all the police shootings in the nation combined!). I guess he is too busy for outrage then.
I hope the jury will remember the US Supreme Court’s warning that we cannot judge the actions of police officers using hindsight. Those cops thought he had a gun. They were wrong and that is horrific. But it is not even close to murder.
This is what we call a BLIVIT: 10 pounds of sh*t in a five-pound bag!
Al Sharpton is about one thing and one thing alone: promotion of Al Sharpton at whatever cost.
The NYT as a NEWSpaper is useless as a crocheted prophylactic. I noted the emphasis on the number of shots fired. Buried down in the “also ran” stories was one that said these cops hadn’t fired their guns in years. That in itself should indicate that these cops are not wild dogs gone on a hunting spree. But NO. The headlines are all about the number of shots fired, as if that’s terribly germane.
What a freakin BLIVIT!
406, OUT
Good calls all, 406. Is the comment thing fixed now?
PC
PC – Seems to be working. Thanks! Probably timed out or something with my lengthy (time spent finding resources to post) post I tried twice and it failed. Will try to get stuff together and do it again.
Code 4.
406, OUT
The Metropolitan Police over here had a similar nightmare after shooting a Brazilian illegal immigrant who ran away from them just days after the July 7 bombings. Thank god no charges were brought against the individual cops, but sections of the press were quick to jump on the “Slam the Cops” bandwagon. If that guy *had* been a suicide bomber, they’d have been heroes for preventing a tragedy. It’s a hard enough job without outsiders second-guessing every split-second decision. (I’m not a cop by the way, just a law abiding member of the public)
This article sounds like a bunch of hate as well. You speak of Al Sharpton fuming the fire and what are you doing?
You said that those men all had criminal records, well that was not known when they opened fire.
And who knows why he almost hit the police. They could have been afraid for there lives to begin with.
Why they didn’t shoot like 5 times and stop. They put everyone in that neighborhood in jeapordy shooting aimlessly.
La Toya
I appreciate your visit, la Toya. I do sound a bit angry, because I am. I am angry that Mr. Sharpton finds cops guilty until proven innocent.
Your comment that the neighborhood was in jeapordy is absolutely correct. That is as much the fault of a suspect who tries to run down a cop as it is the fault of the cops who react.
I don’t know what happened out there. I do know that when someone like Sharpton starts up his war machine, there is no hope of a fair investigation, a fair trial, or an honest look at the incident.
From a strictly police perspective, the answer to your inquiry about the 5 shots is that once deadly force is authorized, the number of shots is not relevant.
Also there have been numerous studies to show that once a human perceives a deadly threat, and begins to fire, even when the threat is over, it can take several seconds for the mind to transmit the message to stop shooting. That delay is why so many shootings seem to have ‘excessive’ rounds fired.
But I’m guessing that won’t sway Mr. Sharpton.
Thank you for stopping by. I hope that when folks discuss issues in places like this, we can all increase our understanding.
PC
Oh la Toya, I forgot…
The officers MIGHT WELL HAVE KNOWN that the suspects had criminal records. They were following them for that reason…
PC
Al Sharpton has a big mouth– and he is a hypocrite–
and I think these officers were just not out joy riding around for a moment of- let’s see who we can shoot today-