As most, if not all, of you know by now, there's been civil unrest in Oakland over the police shooting of a young man at a BART station. Personally, I try not to venture an opinion on these kinds of things unless I'm able to get a lay of the land or a clear picture of what is going on beforehand. After finally being able to see the video of the incident, I have to say I'm a little bit disappointed but I understand the outrage. Personally, from the view I saw and the officers' reaction to the shot, it looks like the gun went off on accident. I dont know how many people are familiar with and/or have shot a gun and I'm FAR from an expert but I've accidentally shot a gun before I was ready so I know how easy it is. Plus we've all heard stories about kids accidentally shooting themselves or friends or whatever. Granted, this is a person that is supposedly familiar with his firearm as well as trained but I dont consider that as making an accident impossible.
In my opinion, where the issue was is...why did he pull his gun out in the first place? THAT is where the problem is, to me. That was unnecessary. I'm not even willing to cater to the easy "oh it was b/c he's black" argument that we ALWAYS fall back on when its convenient. And honestly, I'm kind of disappointed that it seems to be what we do regardless of knowing what happened or not. In the articles I'm reading, I see the sentiment, "Nothing has changed." Maybe that's right...just the finger is pointing in the wrong direction.
Here is a link to a blog with video of the incident.
17 comments:
When I first saw the video it was from the cellphone video on the train and that one made it seem like he just shot dude to shoot him. And that made me SO ANGRY!!
The next video I saw looked like it was from a camera and was clearer and head on, so yeah, the cop did look surprised when he shot the kid. Some "analyst" went so far as to say dude was probably going for his taser but WHATEVER!!!! That boy was on his BELLY with another cops knee on his NECK. Where did they think he was going??
I thing cops are just a lil too eager to pull out weapons, and I understand the "perceived threat" and all that because I have many family members in law enforcement, but this shit is getting ridiculous and I'm finding it hard to trust Police Officers anymore.
I'm just glad I have daughters and not sons; they have a higher survival rate given their skin color. and that's what's really sad... who will be around for my babies to marry??
ugh... I'm done...
sad situation indeed.
Thats the question that has yet to be given a reasonable explanation for.
Why did he pull his gun?
It made no sense.
There was still no grounds for pulling a taser.
@Jaded
I cant say I share your concern b/c I have no doubt that any kids I have will be smart enough to not fuck around with cops.
@Vick
Agreed.
@mike
Totally agree.
Thing is- you can be minding your own business and STILL get messed with by the police. At least its the case in NY, so what's a young black or Latino male to do in that case??
@jaded
Stay alive. Dont smart off. Those other 2 guys are fine, right?
Was he smarting off? I didn't see that on the video...
@jaded
Why did they hassle HIM more than the other two? Usually that only happens when you're being a jackass or something.
and that means he should have been threatened with a gun? dude was unarmed!
@jade
Never said the gun was justified. That part is unexplainable.
I think the next question becomes what is it gonna take to calm the community down? I saw the clip of the community meeting and it was just a bunch of meaningless chatter by those w/o power. Couldnt get a good feel for what the community really expected to happen or wanted to happen.
ok, but you're saying he was mouthing off, so that means he got shot because he mouthed off?
RE the community: emotions are too high right now; they need to chill before they come together for a solution
@jaded
I think the shot was an accident.
*side eye*
whatever... IceT and I say "F*ck the police"
unless.. you know... it's my uncle. Or cousin. Or grandfather.
SHUT UP!
I like this dialogue and a the discussion that has gone with it. It is this type of the discussion that will one day lead to a solution, hopefully. when will that day come, I have no clue.
I will say that I agree with and1 about not falling back on the same old argument about race, but I must say that a lot of what goes on in colored and impoverished communities, regardless of color, goes back to historical circumstances and that typically ties in to race and the internalized images we have of one another.
And1 is right in my opinion in that often the one the cops harass the most is the one that is being a jack ass, but not always. That discrepancy between the two is starting to shrink, to the point where I think any BLACK man can be changed out quick on suspicion of a crime, even when the evidence and circumstance says otherwise. I've seen it myself and its a bit scary to think you could lose your life over a "misunderstanding" with the cops even with you are being cooperative. Thats just scary.
lol..its like a twitter forum up in here.
I didnt hear he had a gun. But I didnt like how they rioted in Oakland and fucked up ppls property. I know a life is more valuable but what kinda shit does that solve?
I'm late, but I was perturbed when I saw the video. I'm not incited to riot, but I live in NY. The NYPD has not encouraged one to believe that senseless shootings are merely accidents.
I get so tired of hearing about things like this. I know a cops job is so dangerous but I hate that it seems the first resort is to shoot.
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