# Another unarmed black guy shot by cops -- this time the cop is being prosecuted. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 25, 2014, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511 "2014-09-25T11:17:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/21 "2014-09-25T13:44:49Z")
Do young black men ever in fact abruptly yank out a handgun that’s been secreted away somewhere and open fire on street cops? Roughly what’s the proportion of dudes regrettably shot due to reasonable fear that they were reaching for weapons to dudes who actually reached for weapons to have a sudden blitzkrieg shootout with the police? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/22 "2014-09-25T13:46:38Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > … > > What the fuck was this cop thinking? He’s thinking that he’s one short of his quota? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/23 "2014-09-25T13:52:12Z")
I read that the cop is being charged with assault and battery. If the tables were turned, and this guy shot the cop instead, he would have been charged with much more than assault and battery. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/24 "2014-09-25T13:54:16Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > Also, it’s worth keeping in mind that this “suspect” was suspected of a seat belt violation. If kid bothers you, let’s also maintain clarity before you start calling him the “perp.” Did I call him a “perp?” ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/25 "2014-09-25T14:01:03Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Did I call him a “perp?” Nobody has called him a perp yet. But then again Smpati hasn’t posted here so far. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/26 "2014-09-25T14:02:38Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Did I call him a “perp?” Funny word, “before.” It means in advance of, temporally preceding. As in “One should read all the posts in a thread before making a defenderati comment.” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/27 "2014-09-25T14:16:38Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I’ll assume that the cop’s defenders in this case will blame the guy for getting out of his car, thus creating a dangerous situation. If he’d only stayed seated, he wouldn’t be in this mess! That would be a tough row to hoe seeing as the guy was already out of his car when the cop pulled up – with a total “what the fuck did I do” look on his face to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/28 "2014-09-25T14:32:56Z")
It’s extremely fortunate that the man was hit only once. But the cop fired what - 4 or 5 times? With a gas station convenience store behind his target? Thank whoever that apparently nobody else was hit. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/29 "2014-09-25T14:35:22Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > That’s why you keep your wallet in your pocket like normal people. Exactly. Ask Amadou Diallo. ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/30 "2014-09-25T14:39:25Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > At least you didn’t call him “boy”. Calling any male “boy” is perfectly alright and acceptable here in Ireland. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/31 "2014-09-25T14:43:10Z")
> [@Doughbag](#): > > Calling any male “boy” is perfectly alright and acceptable here in Ireland. :eek: Yes, but there is a long and rather fraught history of race relations here in the United States that makes calling a black man boy very problematic. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > The cop is charged with aggravated assault… I wonder why this isn’t attempted 2nd degree murder? Especially since we’re always told that, when cops use their guns, they should be shooting not to wound but to kill. Maybe the guy got an “awful shot” discount on his charges. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/32 "2014-09-25T14:46:05Z")
> [@Doughbag](#): > > Calling any male “boy” is perfectly alright and acceptable here in Ireland. :eek: “Cunt” and “twat” are also non-gender-specific insluts here. Don’t know who’s slowing things down in front of you? No need to wait to pull up next to 'em at the next light to fashion a specific insult - just call 'em a “fecking cunt” and be done with it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/33 "2014-09-25T14:49:37Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > That’s why you keep your wallet in your pocket like normal people. My wallet is in my purse or briefcase, usually in the back seat. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/34 "2014-09-25T14:51:18Z")
My wallet is so fat it throws my spine off to sit on it in the car. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/35 "2014-09-25T14:53:16Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Do young black men ever in fact abruptly yank out a handgun that’s been secreted away somewhere and open fire on street cops? Roughly what’s the proportion of dudes regrettably shot due to reasonable fear that they were reaching for weapons to dudes who actually reached for weapons to have a sudden blitzkrieg shootout with the police? You can find plenty of youtube vids of traffic cops getting shot in such a manner. Although seemingly just as often the shooters are tweaked out rednecks. [This one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RYiknkz764) is my fav, especially for the ending. > [@mhendo](#): > > Exactly. > > Ask Amadou Diallo. That’s why you shouldn’t own gun shaped wallets. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/36 "2014-09-25T14:55:37Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I wonder why this isn’t attempted 2nd degree murder? No such crime in South Carolina. South Carolina has Murder (16-3-10, the killing of any person with malice aforethought, either express or implied) and “Attempted Murder,” 16-3-29, which still requires malice aforethought but doesn’t need a dead body. Then they have Manslaughter and Involuntary Manslaughter. Those don’t have a malice aforethought, but they require a dead body. There’s no such thing in this scheme as “attempted manslaughter,” because the whole point of an attempt is that you intend to commit a crime but fail. Manslaughter refers to a death that happens without your intent. Then they have 16-3-600(B)(1), “Assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature,” for which the maximum penalty is twenty years. Its elements include unlawfully injuring another person and great bodily injury as a result. I don’t see a better charge for this – do you? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/37 "2014-09-25T14:56:22Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > At least you didn’t call him “boy”. > [@Doughbag](#): > > Calling any male “boy” is perfectly alright and acceptable here in Ireland. :eek: > [@mhendo](#): > > Yes, but there is a long and rather fraught history of race relations here in the United States that makes calling a black man boy very problematic. If you’re talking about a stranger, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/38 "2014-09-25T14:57:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > No such crime in South Carolina. > > South Carolina has Murder (16-3-10, the killing of any person with malice aforethought, either express or implied) and “Attempted Murder,” 16-3-29, which still requires malice aforethought but doesn’t need a dead body. > > Then they have Manslaughter and Involuntary Manslaughter. Those don’t have a malice aforethought, but they require a dead body. There’s no such thing in this scheme as “attempted manslaughter,” because the whole point of an attempt is that you intend to commit a crime but fail. Manslaughter refers to a death that happens without your intent. > > Then they have 16-3-600(B)(1), “Assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature,” for which the maximum penalty is twenty years. Its elements include unlawfully injuring another person and great bodily injury as a result. > > I don’t see a better charge for this – do you? Probably not – the “malice aforethought” would seem to rule out “attempted murder”. In other jurisdictions, would this qualify as attempted 2nd degree murder? ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/39 "2014-09-25T14:58:20Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > That’s why you keep your wallet in your pocket like normal people. > > More seriously, that was an odd situation since the guy was already out of his car and the cop was far away telling him to get his license. Shouldn’t the cop be closer so he can watch him? And at the end he claims he only unbuckled when he pulled into the lot. It just ain’t your day, pal. > > Yet another example of the positive effects of ubiquitous cameras. Please don’t shoot me, I didn’t know that there now a put-your-wallet-in-your-pocket law? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511/40 "2014-09-25T15:05:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Then they have 16-3-600(B)(1), “Assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature,” for which the maximum penalty is twenty years. Its elements include unlawfully injuring another person and great bodily injury as a result. > > I don’t see a better charge for this – do you? I don’t. I don’t think this guy was intending to murder the victim. I just think he was a giant pussy armed with a firearm. And they will never outlaw that in S.C. The jails are only so big. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-unarmed-black-guy-shot-by-cops-this-time-the-cop-is-being-prosecuted/699511.md?page=3)