South Carolina Police Shooting Offcially Racist

[Hawkmoon]

Why? Because a black minister said it is, that's why.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150412/us-police-officer-fatal-shooting-c0572b67d9.html

I'm not familiar with this source, so I don't know if they are objective reporters, or rabble rousers of the worst kind. Doesn't matter. My view is that I hate it when an(other) event of this kind is labeled "racist," for the simple reason that doing so distracts us from the underlying problem, which is that police (in general) are being trained and are too willing to use force -- right up to and including deadly force -- to achieve "compliance." That right there, IMHO, is a HUGE national problem, but ... it'll never be addressed if the usual suspects persist in cherry picking only the cases that fit their agenda to protest over.

What's more, I suspect that many people at various levels of government know that we're being distracted from the real problem by the race baiters, and they don't care. They're happy to have the discussion limited to white cops shooting black males, because then they don't have to explain the overall militarization of the nation's police.

[zxcvbob]

I don't think the shooting itself was racially motivated.  I think the initial stop was racist; institutional racism (police stop blacks just like Willie Sutton robbed banks; cuz that's where the money is)  A black officer would have done the same thing.

What I'm afraid is going to happen is the prosecutor hangs everything on "hate crime" rather than just plain simple murder, and then can't prove it.

[Perd Hapley]

The racial focus has really worked in favor of the police. It's been successfully turned into a problem of racism, which (thanks to the media's antics over the past 7 or 8 years) is no longer taken seriously. It doesn't help that no racism could be found in the flagship case of Mr. Brown.

[MechAg94]

They're happy to have the discussion limited to white cops shooting black males, because then they don't have to explain the overall militarization of the nation's police.

I suspect the politicians in D.C. have a great many other things that they don't want to have to explain.  Militarization of the nation's police is way down the list.  A number of those things are why militarization is necessary or at least appears to be so. 

[cordex]

I think the initial stop was racist; institutional racism (police stop blacks just like Willie Sutton robbed banks; cuz that's where the money is)  A black officer would have done the same thing.

Can you expand on this?  Are you saying that cops find reasons to stop black people because, per your comparison, that is where the criminals are?  Or literally that is where the money is to seize via asset forfeiture?

[RoadKingLarry]

Can you expand on this?  Are you saying that cops find reasons to stop black people because, per your comparison, that is where the criminals are?  Or literally that is where the money is to seize via asset forfeiture?

I'm thinking less likely to have the ability to.fight and just pay up.

[zxcvbob]

Can you expand on this?  Are you saying that cops find reasons to stop black people because, per your comparison, that is where the criminals are?  Or literally that is where the money is to seize via asset forfeiture?

A little of both.  (and because I thought the ambiguity was clever)

The problem isn't so much the stops for actual infractions (running a red light, speeding, etc) it's stuff like "you didn't signal soon enough before you turned" or "too dark tinted windows" (*factory* tinted windows) that are really just a pretense for searching the vehicle, running the driver's license for outstanding warrants, etc.

[LadySmith]

A little of both.  (and because I thought the ambiguity was clever)

The problem isn't so much the stops for actual infractions (running a red light, speeding, etc) it's stuff like "you didn't signal soon enough before you turned" or "too dark tinted windows" (*factory* tinted windows) that are really just a pretense for searching the vehicle, running the driver's license for outstanding warrants, etc.

It's been a while since I've been subjected to a "fishing" expedition such as Zxcvbob mentioned, but I recall their anger when I refused to let them search my car.

[Mannlicher]

seriously doubt the initial stop, OR the shooting was 'racist'.  If we go down that road, then what follows is a call to never allow a white cop to have any interaction with a black person.  The whole 'racist' shtick is nothing but a red herring, designed to take focus off what really happened.
In this case, it's not even needed, since everyone agrees this was a bad shoot.

[MechAg94]

A little of both.  (and because I thought the ambiguity was clever)

The problem isn't so much the stops for actual infractions (running a red light, speeding, etc) it's stuff like "you didn't signal soon enough before you turned" or "too dark tinted windows" (*factory* tinted windows) that are really just a pretense for searching the vehicle, running the driver's license for outstanding warrants, etc.

IMO, there are a large chunk of the white population in the same boat.  I think it is the inner city where it would be mostly blacks and gets more attention.

More white people are killed by cops every year than black people. 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Its like the death penalty is racist nonsense. It feeds the popular narrative. Its funny i understand how black folks trick themselves but the high spf folks are especially confused
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2004/02/surprising-findings-death-row-race-and-states


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[zxcvbob]

If there is institutional racism in policing (and I think there is), that is a separate issue from whether the cop murdered Walter Scott.  Officer Slager is responsible for his own actions, not those of "society".  Society can deal with it's own problems independent of this case.

This still looks like murder to me, and the last shot appears to be premeditated.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

What's your definition of premeditated?


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[MechAg94]

Its like the death penalty is racist nonsense. It feeds the popular narrative. Its funny i understand how black folks trick themselves but the high spf folks are especially confused
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2004/02/surprising-findings-death-row-race-and-states


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Interesting link.  I hadn't realized the total death row numbers for nearly 25 years were under 1000 in Texas.

[Scout26]

...In this case, it's not even needed, since everyone agrees this was a bad shoot.

Except the usual one....

[zxcvbob]

What's your definition of premeditated?

I'm not sure I have a strict definition, but mine is probably harder to meet than the State's.  Rationally thinking "I'm gonna kill that son-of-a-bitch" and then you do it, works it for me.

Normal people (non-LEO's) have been convicted on split-second premeditation because they fired too many shots during the heat of battle and should have known that the "victim" was no longer a threat.  So I think a trained professional pausing to take an aimed shot at a someone who was fleeing and already wounded should be a slam dunk.  (that's based on what I've read of the video, and stills from the video.  I haven't actually watched it yet)

BTW, I appreciate you asking questions like this, even if it is sometimes irritating.  It keeps the discussion from devolving into an echo chamber.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

I agree that normal folks have been convicted and sometimes wrongfully I don't believe that this typically involves charge of premeditation. With the exception of a case where somebody went home and got their gun and came out and that doesn't really apply with a cop they've always got the gun
To me premeditated involves more planning. All the shots happened in seconds.  The training is shoot till threat is neutralized .if he had kept shooting after he was down it would be different. The key here is gonna be did slayer see Scott as a threat.  And to assess that you have to include the fight and being disarmed

Edited for traffic light

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Orange County Virginia they had a guy who told everybody in town he was going to kill his ex wife's boyfriend and her.he followed them around for 3 days with a gun the sheriff stopped and told him to knock it off and go home and when he finally killed her boyfriend he did not get a premeditated murder charge but then again his mommy and daddy were the richest people in town

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Interesting that death row is the whitest part of the prison. Aside from a white supremacist cell block some places have