That is what they were trying to do, arrest him, I think.
And the sick Simon Says game was just part of the arrest, right?
What should they have done? approach a suspect that could have been armed and try to arrest him and risk getting shot?
Yes. They’re taught that one officer to is supposed to aim at the suspect and provide cover while the other officer moves up to make the arrest.
- the average untrained citizen does not understand everything about police work. Sometimes they may do something that does not make sense to the untrained person but makes perfect sense to the trained person.
Oh, so it is just part of the arrest, how silly of me to think that I could possibly understand. I just don’t have a high enough IQ to understand these incredibly complex 16th dimension tactics. Bullshit. Do we really have to know the ins and outs of police work to recognize that this was wrong?
- watching a video again and again and again and perhaps in slow motion and being able to think all day about what the cop should have done while being safe and calm is not the same as the cop himself watching events fold out in real time having make decisions in split seconds with adrenaline pumping and heart beating and knowing if he makes a mistake he could get shot or another cop could get shot and having only one chance to get it right. Remember when that guy put his hand behind his back, the cop couldn’t just stop the video like we can and ponder what he should do before he hits play again.
The cops put themselves in that situation by fucking around with the suspect and not getting on with the arrest. Either the officers are beyond stupid, or they deliberately wanted to prolong the engagement and raise the chances of the suspect fucking up. There is no third option. And I won’t accept that “they feared for their lives” crap, these were two trained officers with assault rifles up against a man crawling on the floor crying and begging not to be shot.
EDIT: Sorry if this came across as too angry, but I really am tired of the gymnastics people will do to defend some cops. And I’m doubly tired of the “they felt threatened” get-out-of-jail-free card.