Have you heard --- that shooting an unarmed man in the back is the act of a coward?
On Monday, July 11, 2016 at 4:07:38 PM UTC-5, KeithInTampa wrote: > > Obviously, the initial media reports are incorrect. Scott somehow wrested > control of the taser from Slager during the altercation and shot Slager: > > > > > This becomes obvious with the enhanced video, and I will make it easy for > you: > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5em7GcDTg8U > > The taser guide wire is clearly visable from Slager's chest; as Scott runs > after shooting Slager. (If you can, try to watch this on a full screen > PC/laptop. It may be difficult to see if you are viewing from a cell phone. > > Other questions that you should ask yourself Plain Ol': > > Have you seen Officer Slager’s report? > > Have you heard the radio calls made by Officer Slager? > > Have you heard the radio traffic from the responding officers who were > trying to aid an officer in a fight with a suspect? > > Have you heard from the passenger that was riding with Scott? > > Have you heard from the mysterious “car selling” neighbor (that Scott > initially told Slager regarding the purchase of the vehicle) ? > > > > On Mon, Jul 11, 2016 at 4:24 PM, plainolamerican <[email protected] > <javascript:>> wrote: > >> ok ... not exactly. >> >> According to the incident report and city officials, Slager then fired >> his Taser, hitting Scott.[20] >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Walter_Scott#cite_note-WaPo.Charged-21> >> Scott >> fled, and Slager drew his handgun, firing eight rounds at him from behind. >> [7] >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Walter_Scott#cite_note-NYTimes.Charged-8> >> The >> coroner's report stated that Scott was struck a total of five times: three >> times in the back, once in the upper buttocks, and once on one of his ears. >> [21] >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Walter_Scott#cite_note-NYTimes.Federal-22> >> Official >> autopsy reports have not been released.[7] >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Walter_Scott#cite_note-NYTimes.Charged-8> >> >> Immediately following the shooting, Slager radioed a dispatcher, stating, >> "Shots fired and the subject is down. He took my Taser."[20] >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Walter_Scott#cite_note-WaPo.Charged-21> >> >> When Slager fired his gun, Scott was approximately 15 to 20 feet (5 to >> 6 m) away and fleeing.[7] >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Walter_Scott#cite_note-NYTimes.Charged-8> >> In >> the report of the shooting filed before the video surfaced, Slager said he >> had feared for his life because Scott had taken his Taser,[7] >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Walter_Scott#cite_note-NYTimes.Charged-8> >> and >> that he shot Scott because he "felt threatened".[22] >> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Walter_Scott#cite_note-23> >> >> On Monday, July 11, 2016 at 3:01:40 PM UTC-5, KeithInTampa wrote: >>> >>> Well not exactly. It seems that Walter Scott shot Slager with a taser; >>> twice; and then ran with him still holding the taser/cartridge with the >>> taser guide-wires still in Slager's chest. This was after the two had been >>> in a scuffle, where Scott was clearly on top of Slager; apparently >>> winning. >>> >>> Not nearly as clean and neat as it was sold to the public. >>> >>> (Watch the videos in the links provided Plain Ol') >>> >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Jul 11, 2016 at 3:21 PM, plainolamerican <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> Michael Slager stopped Walter Scott >>>> <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/us/former-south-carolina-officer-is-indicted-in-death-of-walter-scott.html?_r=1> >>>> for >>>> a busted taillight and then fatally shot him >>>> --- >>>> he shot the unarmed man 8 times in the back. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Monday, July 11, 2016 at 8:48:16 AM UTC-5, MJ wrote: >>>>> >>>>> [ALL people ... actually] >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> September/October 2015 issue >>>>> >>>>> *Police Shootings Won't Stop Unless We Also Stop Shaking Down Black >>>>> People * >>>>> *The dangers of turning police officers into revenue generators. *Jack >>>>> Hitt >>>>> >>>>> In April, several days after North Charleston, South Carolina, police >>>>> officer Michael Slager stopped Walter Scott >>>>> <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/us/former-south-carolina-officer-is-indicted-in-death-of-walter-scott.html?_r=1> >>>>> >>>>> for a busted taillight and then fatally shot him, the usual cable-news >>>>> transmogrification of victim into superpredator ran into problems. The >>>>> dash >>>>> cam >>>>> <http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/04/09/tsr-dash-cam-walter-scott-police-shooting.cnn> >>>>> >>>>> showed Scott being pulled over while traveling at a nerdy rate of speed, >>>>> using his left turn signal to pull into a parking lot and having an >>>>> amiable >>>>> conversation with Slager until he realized he'd probably get popped for >>>>> nonpayment of child support. At which point he bolted out of the car and >>>>> hobbled off. Slager then shot him. Why didn't the cop just jog up and >>>>> grab >>>>> him? Calling what the obese 50-year-old Scott was doing "running" really >>>>> stretches the bounds of literary license. >>>>> >>>>> But maybe the question to ask is: Why did Scott run? The answer came >>>>> when the *New York Times* revealed >>>>> <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/us/skip-child-support-go-to-jail-lose-job-repeat.html> >>>>> >>>>> Scott to be a man of modest means trapped in an exhausting hamster wheel: >>>>> He would get a low-paying job, make some child support payments, fall >>>>> behind on them, get fined, miss a payment, get jailed for a few weeks, >>>>> lose >>>>> that job due to absence, and then start over at a lower-paying job. From >>>>> all apparent evidence, he was a decent schlub trying to make things work >>>>> in >>>>> a system engineered to make his life miserable and recast his best >>>>> efforts >>>>> as criminal behavior. >>>>> >>>>> Recently, two more deaths of African Americans that have blown up in >>>>> the media follow a pattern similar to Scott's. Sandra Bland >>>>> <http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/07/texas-waller-county-sandra-bland-racial-tensions> >>>>> >>>>> in Texas and Samuel DuBose >>>>> <http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/07/video-shows-police-shooting-samuel-dubose> >>>>> >>>>> in Cincinnati were each stopped for minor traffic infractions (failing to >>>>> use turn signal, missing front license plate), followed by immediate >>>>> escalation by the officer into rage, and then an official story that is >>>>> obviously contradicted >>>>> <http://gawker.com/video-of-sam-duboses-death-drastically-different-from-t-1720896658> >>>>> >>>>> by the video (that the officer tried to "de-escalate" the tension with >>>>> Bland; that the officer was dragged by DuBose's car). In both cases, the >>>>> perpetrator of a minor traffic offense died. >>>>> >>>>> When incidents of police violence come to light, the usual defense is >>>>> that we should not tarnish all the good cops just because of "a few bad >>>>> apples." No one can argue with that. But what is usually implied in that >>>>> phrase is that the "bad" officers' intentions are malevolentthat they >>>>> are >>>>> morally corrupt and racist. And that may be true, but they are also bad >>>>> in >>>>> the job-performance sense. These men are crummy cops, sometimes >>>>> profoundly >>>>> so. Slager had a record for gratuitously using his Taser. Timothy >>>>> Leohmann, >>>>> who leapt from his car and instantly killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice >>>>> <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cleveland-officer-shot-tamir-rice-within-seconds-of-pulling-up-in-patrol-car/>, >>>>> >>>>> had been deemed "weepy" and unable to "emotionally function" by a >>>>> supervisor at his previous PD job, who added: "I do not believe time, nor >>>>> training, will be able to change or correct these deficiencies." >>>>> Ferguson's >>>>> Darren Wilson was also fired >>>>> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/darren-wilsons-first-job-was-on-a-troubled-police-force-disbanded-by-authorities/2014/08/23/1ac796f0-2a45-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html> >>>>> >>>>> from his previous jobactually, the entire police force of Jennings, >>>>> Missouri, was disbanded for being awful. >>>>> >>>>> When you ask why such "bad" cops are nevertheless armed and allowed to >>>>> patrol the streets, one begins to see that lurking beneath this violence >>>>> is >>>>> a fiscal menace: police departments forced to assist city officials in >>>>> raising revenue, in many cases funding their own salariesredirecting the >>>>> very concept of keeping the peace into underwriting the budget. >>>>> >>>>> We saw a glimpse of this when the Justice Department released its >>>>> report >>>>> <http://www.motherjones.com/documents/2191006-doj-ferguson-report> on >>>>> Ferguson in March. In his statement, then-Attorney General Eric Holder >>>>> referenced a lady in town whose life sounded Walter Scott-like. She had >>>>> received two parking tickets totaling $151. Her efforts to pay those >>>>> fines >>>>> fell so behind that she eventually paid out more than $500. At one point, >>>>> she was jailed for nonpayment andeight years laterstill owes $541 in >>>>> accrued fees. >>>>> >>>>> The judge largely responsible for the extraction of these fees from >>>>> Ferguson's poor, Ronald J. Brockmeyer >>>>> <http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/06/ferguson-judge-owes-unpaid-taxes-ronald-brockmeyer>, >>>>> >>>>> owed $172,646 in back taxes, a sum orders of magnitude greater than any >>>>> late fine coming before his bench. Even as he was jailing black ladies >>>>> for >>>>> parking tickets, Brockmeyer was allegedly erasing citations for white >>>>> Ferguson residents who happened to be his friends. After the report's >>>>> publication, he resigned so that Ferguson could "begin its healing >>>>> process." >>>>> >>>>> But consider: In 2010, this collaboration between the Ferguson police >>>>> and the courts generated $1.4 million in income for the city. This year, >>>>> they will more than double that amount$3.1 millionproviding nearly a >>>>> quarter of the city's $13 million budget, almost all of it extracted from >>>>> its poorest African American citizens. >>>>> >>>>> Evidence also suggests that this new form of raising >>>>> revenuepoliciteering?goes far beyond Ferguson. Remember the recent >>>>> Oklahoma case involving Robert Bates >>>>> <http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/volunteer-tulsa-deputy-robert-bates-sold-company-went-back-to/article_7f23ccc3-4bcb-52a4-826d-c06103a42786.html>, >>>>> >>>>> a 73-year-old millionaire insurance broker with scant law enforcement >>>>> background who was allowed to go out on patrollikely because he had >>>>> donated lots of money and equipment to the local sheriff's office? He >>>>> killed an unarmed black suspect when he grabbed his gun instead of his >>>>> Taser. In the days that followed, we learned that other deputies had long >>>>> resented this guy's freelance incompetence. >>>>> >>>>> "Essentially, these small towns in urban areas have municipal >>>>> infrastructure that can't be supported by the tax base, and so they >>>>> ticket >>>>> everything in sight to keep the town functioning," said William Maurer, a >>>>> lawyer with the Institute for Justice who has been studying the sudden >>>>> rise >>>>> in "nontraffic-related fines." >>>>> >>>>> Take the St. Louis suburb of Pagedale, where, among other Norman >>>>> Rockwell-worthy features deemed illegal, "you can't have a hedge more >>>>> than >>>>> three feet high," Maurer says. "You can't have a basketball hoop or a >>>>> wading pool in front of a house. You can't have a dish antenna on the >>>>> front >>>>> of your house. You can't walk on the roadway if there is a sidewalk, and >>>>> if >>>>> there is not a sidewalk, they must walk on the left side of the roadway. >>>>> They must walk on the right of the crosswalk. They can't conduct a >>>>> barbecue >>>>> in the front yard and can't have an alcoholic beverage within 150 feet of >>>>> a >>>>> barbecue. Kids cannot play in the street. They also have restrictions >>>>> against pants being worn below the waist in public. Cars must be within >>>>> 500 >>>>> feet of a lamp or a source of illumination during nighttime hours. Blinds >>>>> must be neatly hung in respectable appearance, properly maintained, and >>>>> in >>>>> a state of good repair." >>>>> >>>>> Where did this Kafkaesque laundry list come from? Maurer explains that >>>>> in 2010, Missouri passed a law that capped the amount of city revenue >>>>> that >>>>> any agency could generate from traffic stops. The intent was to limit >>>>> small-town speed traps, but the unintentional consequences are now clear: >>>>> Pagedale saw a 495 percent increase in nontraffic-related arrests. "In >>>>> Frontenac, the increase was 364 percent," Maurer says. "In Lakeshire, it >>>>> was 209 percent." >>>>> >>>>> This racket now has many variants. South Carolina hosts " Operation >>>>> Rolling Thunder >>>>> <http://ij.org/south-carolina-police-seized-nearly-100-000-in-crackdown-but-stopped-few-criminals>," >>>>> >>>>> an annual dragnet in which 21 different law enforcement agencies swarm >>>>> stretches of I-85 and I-26 in the name of catching drug dealers. In 2013, >>>>> this law enforcement Bonnaroo netted 1,300 traffic citations and 300 >>>>> speeding tickets. But after everyone had paid up, the operation boasted >>>>> exactly one felony conviction. >>>>> >>>>> A different strategy in San Diego simply tacks on various fees to an >>>>> existing fine. A 2012 *Union Tribune* investigation >>>>> <http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&biw&bih&q=cache:gLaPZ1TIbc0J:http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2012/aug/18/courts-how-your-35-speeding-ticket-becomes-a-235/%2BCourt+officials+say+that+San+Diego+County+law+enforcement+agencies+have+recently+been+issuing+fewer+tickets+than+in+the+past&gbv=2&&ct=clnk> >>>>> >>>>> revealed that while speeding is a simple $35 fine, other government >>>>> agencies can tack on as many as 10 other surcharges, including: a state >>>>> penalty assessment, $40; county penalty assessment, $36; court >>>>> construction, $20; state surcharge, $8; DNA identification, $16; criminal >>>>> conviction fee, $35; court operations, $40; emergency medical air >>>>> transportation penalty, $4; and night court, $1. When it's all said and >>>>> done, that $35 ticket comes to $235. >>>>> >>>>> Another report >>>>> <http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/news/documents/2015/02/25/SDPD_traffic_stops_report.pdf> >>>>> >>>>> released earlier this year connects the dots: African Americans and >>>>> Latinos >>>>> make up less than a third of San Diego's population but represent 64.5 >>>>> percent of those searched during a traffic stop. >>>>> >>>>> There is still no comprehensive study to determine just how many >>>>> cities pay their bills by indenturing the poor, but it is probably no >>>>> coincidence that when you examine the recent rash of police killings, you >>>>> find that the offenses they were initially stopped for were >>>>> preposterously >>>>> minor. Bland's lane change signal, DuBose's missing plate. Walter Scott >>>>> had >>>>> that busted taillightwhich, we all later learned, is not even a crime in >>>>> South Carolina. Eric Garner was selling loose cigarettes. When Darren >>>>> Wilson was called to look into a robbery >>>>> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/15/ferguson-police-releasing-name-of-officer-who-shot-michael-brown/>, >>>>> >>>>> the reason he initially stopped Michael Brown was for walking in the >>>>> streetin Ferguson, an illegal act according to Section 44-344 >>>>> <https://www.municode.com/library/mo/ferguson/codes/code_of_ordinances?searchRequest=%7B%22searchText%22:%22manner%20of%20walking%20in%20roadway%22,%22pageNum%22:1,%22resultsPerPage%22:25,%22booleanSearch%22:false,%22stemming%22:true,%22fuzzy%22:false,%22synonym%22:false,%22contentTypes%22:%5B%22CODES%22%5D,%22productIds%22:%5B%5D%7D&nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH44TRMOVE_ARTVIIPE_S44-344MAWAALRO> >>>>> >>>>> of the local code. Between 2011 and 2013, 95 percent of the perpetrators >>>>> of >>>>> this atrocity were African American, meaning that "walking while black" >>>>> is >>>>> not a punch line. It is a crime. >>>>> >>>>> And not just a crime, but a crime that comes with fines that are >>>>> strictly enforced. In 2014, Ferguson's bottom-line-driven police force >>>>> issued 16,000 arrest warrants to three-fourths of the town's total >>>>> population of 21,000. Stop and think about that for a moment: In >>>>> Ferguson, >>>>> 75 percent of all residents had active outstanding arrest warrants. Most >>>>> of >>>>> the entire city was a virtual plantation of indentured revenue producers. >>>>> >>>>> Back in Pagedale, *St. Louis Post-Dispatch* reporter Jennifer Mann >>>>> recently calculated >>>>> <http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/municipalities-ticket-for-trees-and-toys-as-traffic-revenue-declines/article_42739be7-afd1-5f66-b325-e1f654ba9625.html> >>>>> >>>>> a 500 percent increase in petty fines over the last five years. "Pagedale >>>>> handed out 2,255 citations for these types of offenses last year," Mann >>>>> wrote, "or nearly two per household." >>>>> >>>>> "Once the system is primed for maximizing revenuestarting with fines >>>>> and fine enforcement," Holder said apropos Ferguson, "the city relies on >>>>> the police force to serve, essentially, as a collection agency for the >>>>> municipal court rather than a law enforcement entity." >>>>> >>>>> In Alabama, a circuit court judge, Hub Harrington, wrote a blistering >>>>> opinion >>>>> <http://www.motherjones.com/documents/2191007-court-order-in-dana-burdette-v-town-of> >>>>> >>>>> three years ago asserting that the Shelby County Jail had become a kind >>>>> of >>>>> "debtors' prison" and that the court system had devolved into a >>>>> "judicially >>>>> sanctioned extortion racket." This pattern leads to a cruel paradox: One >>>>> arm of the state is paying a large sum to lock up a person who can't pay >>>>> a >>>>> small sum owed to a different arm of the state. The result? Bigger state >>>>> deficits. As the director of the Brennan Center's Justice Program put it, >>>>> "Having taxpayers foot a bill of $4,000 to incarcerate a man who owes the >>>>> state $745 or a woman who owes a predatory lender $425 and removing them >>>>> from the job force makes sense in no reasonable world." >>>>> >>>>> When the poor come to understand that they are likely to be detained >>>>> and fined for comically absurd crimes, it can't be a surprise to the >>>>> police >>>>> that their officers are viewed with increasing distrust. In this >>>>> environment, running away from a cop is not an act of suspicion; it's >>>>> common sense. >>>>> >>>>> Cops like to talk about "good police." They say, "That guy is good >>>>> police"a top compliment, by which they mean cool under the pressure of >>>>> the >>>>> street and cunning at getting people to give up the details of a crime. >>>>> Good police look bad when sharing the street with crummy police. But when >>>>> budgetary whims replace peacekeeping as the central motivation of law >>>>> enforcement, who is more likely to write up more tickets, the good cop or >>>>> the crummy one? When the mission of the entire department shifts from >>>>> "protect and serve" to "punish and profit," then just what constitutes >>>>> good >>>>> police? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/07/police-shootings-traffic-stops-excessive-fines >>>>> >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> -- >>>> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. >>>> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum >>>> >>>> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ >>>> * It's active and moderated. 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