"After he got out, he physically resisted officers,” police spokesman John Elder told reporters early Tuesday. “Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and officers noticed that the man was going into medical distress."Yeah, no. You can't see anything in the video that looks like resisting arrest, and the guy died on the pavement with a knee on his neck for about 8 minutes. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, but he was dead on the pavement. That's what they meant by noticing that he was going into medical distress, as if it were a coincidence: oh, look, he's not breathing for some reason! Pro tip: a red flag was his repeated cries of "I can't breathe," before he got really still and quiet.
There were lots of witnesses, but it's the video that will be believed.
9 comments:
The witnesses may still be helpful in confirming that the video was not deceptively edited, or angled to exclude anything that might be exculpatory.
For a long time I thought that the issue was one of training, and I still think the training explains a lot of police killings. Not this one.
The profession can attract bullies. Just like politics, and law.
What can be better for those inclined to be bullies than the full force of the State to protect them, as well as a union?
A constant mantra among the older retired cops is how much the profession has changed since they retired as "peace officers". And of course the constant "war" on this or that, and the no knock home invasions and asset forfeiture and military gear have only served to enhance the bullying.
The problem the police have, and which they do not seem to realize, is that they can get away with this when harassing minorities with little voice or resources- but when the citizenry at large take the same view of law enforcement that the ghetto folks do, they have big problems. All it takes is someone who who decides to be a hunter, rather than just be left alone to their own affairs. And the related problem is that once that happens, it goes tribal - there will be no good cops, just blue suits- no matter how good the individual police officer is.
A police force without public trust is in a tough spot.
The reason that guy died, is simple- the cops have been trained to issue orders, and demand compliance, and not to listen and reason and de-escalate. Combine that with a bully, and there you go. The only thing that will stop it is if the other police put a stop to it. If they won't, eventually the public will.
Robert Peel is long forgotten.
Even the British Army was welcomed into Northern Ireland when they first deployed. It didn't take long before that turned around. It would be useful to study just how that happened, and why it turned into a fifty-year war that the UK couldn't win in spite of all the gun control laws in the world.
The Irish, that's why.
BUT, as raven points out, modern cop culture has real issues, and I am hardly left wing, but holy crap what a shit show.
This technique is similar to one Target Focus Training gave me. Although they were quite professional in telling me the difference between lethal and non lethal options. Your body weight on the knee, on the target's neck, is lethal. Even when you apply such a slow kill anaconda pressure, it is more than enough to take out the "big bad".
In a kill scenario, the pressure is explosive. All X pounds of whatever you weigh is focused on one side/leg of the body, and that is converted into the knee point of contact. After that point, it does not quite matter how "strong" the target is. No matter how strong you are with weapons or unarmed arms... if your arteries, tracea, and various other things along the neck are destroyed, your time to death is measured in seconds, not minutes.
Even with the "light pressure" the trained enforcers (police killers) use on you civilians, you can just sit there and watch. Watch him die. It is easy.
The difference is simple. I have full control of my rules of engagement and non lethal vs lethal spectrum. Military or police conditioned subjects... are not in full control. They are limited by such things as "no blue on blue" and various other things that they don't really understand. So sometimes they just go into AI Robot mode and become a trained robot.
The problem the police have, and which they do not seem to realize, is that they can get away with this when harassing minorities with little voice or resources- but when the citizenry at large take the same view of law enforcement that the ghetto folks do, they have big problems
The US hardcore military and special forces had problems in Afghanistan and Iraq, trying to pacify or occupy a mostly hostile population (Sunnis at least) that is full of guerilla fishes. That was with a population of around 35 million? At least less than 50 million combined, perhaps.
That's like one US State. And it took how many US troops to do something slightly useful?
Of course I suspect against American "traitors" or "terrorists", the US military will be deploying Atomic bombs, chemical weapons, and Involuntary vaccination/sterilization projects (historically valid in USA mode). There won't be no such Geneva Conventions in a Civil War 2. Not with the usual freaks in charge.
But still, that's quite a lot of hardcore American civilians, as Raven noted, that are military trained, ex veterans, or civilian trained, far in excess of anything Afghanistan or Iraq had... combined.
Not a meat grinder I would volunteer for. Especially not for a totalitarian government.
For a long time I thought that the issue was one of training, and I still think the training explains a lot of police killings. Not this one.
That remains to be seen. This kind of thing happens a lot, for some reason or another. Some of the new cops hear from stories that when some guy is yelling "I cannot breath" this is just a "trick" to let you ease off pressure, then they will pull a knife on you or take your gun and shoot you.
Also a lot of them don't really comprehend the Power of Tai chi or body weight force leverage. When done properly, you literally feel no resistance and no muscle fatigue. The target, however, takes the hit full on. So a lot of these "power muscle lifters" think they are exerting power by using muscle. Then when they use a Tai Chi or body weight technique, and they don't feel much of anything, they might mistakenly believe they are going "light" and maybe even try to 'add a bit more' to make the technique Fully Effective Control wise.
From personal experience, the kind of fajin internal force pressure required to explode internal organs, is about the same feeling as knocking on a door. There is no boxing match slug fest pushing in with tough gloves and taped wrists.
It is similar to cats rather than bears. When cat touches you with the claws, you feel it, because it is light, fast, and no wasted movement. Bears will knock you down with that power instead. And while it might be slower, it ain't that slow.
The 3 percenters have historically warned police unions and others of the consequences of obeying illegal orders. This wasn't because of minor tactical executions of veterans, but people could see where things was going in America circa 2009... or 2012 at least.
There was a really good video on facebook or somewhere, of a SWAT officer or police person, who was ex military (perhaps even ex SF), and he made similar points as Raven made concerning how the American people give the police powers via the Constitution. And that arresting protesters on beaches due to governor orders is an interesting interpretation of who is whose boss there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGLsvbFaE-g
Found it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M1GV4fFqNM
Well that was quick. He got the axe fast. Kudos and respect for him though. At least he won't be in uniform when it all goes to X. Don't worry, your family will be taken care of economically. I and my faction will see to that. I have witnessed your action and sacrifice, which means the Divine Counsel has seen it as well.
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