Yes, actually he did. Jones was already out of his car when the cop car pulled up. Jones was out of the car when the police officer told him to get his license. Jones reached into the car to get his license, and when yelled at to get out of the car, Jones did. And was fired at four times.
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The misunderstanding is that the cop clearly thought the guy was going for a weapon. Obviously, it was a huge error in judgment and is in no way a justification for the cop firing, which was a HUGE ERROR BY ANY STANDARD, but the cop misread the guy’s intentions, and hence, a misunderstanding.
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Agree that it was a huge error in judgment by the cop. and a HUGE ERROR BY ANY STANDARD.
The ‘misunderstanding’ was completely by the cop. Jones followed every request by the cop and it very nearly killed him (or could have killed or injured someone else).
Now, what do we do about it. In the larger sense? Not this incident. I think that there should be better screening for police officers. And get away from the shoot first and ask questions later that is becoming more common.
As before, your “understanding” isn’t particularly useful because your perception is so horribly fucked up. I mean, you’ve said that you would give a cop a blowjob if he demanded one of you. So, you seem particularly disposed to perceive things from an extraordinarily cop-favoring perspective.
Before I begin, I would like to state my respect for our brave men and women in tool belts and express my genuine and heartfelt gratitude for their efforts in keeping our houses safe and dry. A strong roof is the best defense Shingle Fi!
I am not dismissing that there is actual risk involved in the profession of policing (or roofing) I expressed the risk as “one in…” not “zero in…”. Neither am I asking that anyone ignore the actual risk. Perceived risk on the other hand is highly problematic if the perception is wildly inaccurate.
I’m going to go out on a limb (with proper precaution and safety equipment) and say that it would be a poor roofer who perceived every roofing job to be so dangerous that he perfunctorily knocks each house down before he begins the job. That’s just a guess though, I’m not a roofer.
Do you think it’s because he wanted to kill a black man, and this one would do? Or do you think it was because he thought he was under attack (whether it was reasonable to think so or not). Ever seen someone completely misread a situation? That’s what happened here, except dialed up to 11.
Seriously fucking up in a way that causes great physical harm to someone, and puts a lot of other people in danger, is different from “attempted second degree murder” or whatever goofy suggestion it was that someone posted on the first page.
The contention here is that he might’ve “misread” the situation and perceived Jones as more of a threat because Jones is black. There’s a lot of evidence that people do behave that way, although it’s almost impossible to prove that that’s what happened here.
I’d have to go back to page one to see what was being proposed, but Groubert did try to kill Jones. He failed, but that was for lack of skill, not effort.
There’s no way someone could reasonably think they’re under attack by someone who is backing away with hands in the air. If he honestly thought he was under attack, then he is mentally deficient/deranged.
It depends. If there’s no motive, then the aggravated assault charge is probably appropriate. If the investigators determine this guy had a motive – for example, the desire to shoot someone (like some sort of Rambo/Zimmermanesque desire to shoot/kill ‘bad guys’), the desire to kill someone, or the desire to hurt a black person, then attempted murder seems appropriate.
So if I say I wouldn’t criticize the victim of police abuse for not doing a better job avoiding mistreatment I’m unsympathetic to the plight of the victim?
That video is just WTF! That “cop” should see jail time. He should be thrown out of the police department and never allowed to own/use a gun again. If I was standing there watching that happen, I would honestly think the cop was an impostor and try to take him out.
Ok, I can agree with you on the first point. There’s a pretty good chance that he felt threatened by Jones just because he was black. We can prove that this is a pretty common occurrence just by observing that blacks are more likely to be assaulted by police than other races are, but proving an individual case is a lot harder.
The second point is just silly, but I haven’t actually seen anyone argue that the charges are too soft for a few pages in this discussion, so I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it in the first place. I believe the aggravated assault charge is totally appropriate. I might revisit the argument if anyone brings it up again.
He perceived the victim as a threat before the whole interaction began. The simple act of getting out of his car spooked the officer. It was over, in the officer’s mind, before it began.
Wow, that’s just about the most lame case of attempted ass-covering I’ve ever heard of. Of course, without the dash cam evidence, I have little doubt that the cop’s lies (there is no other appropriate term, in my view) would have been accepted as fact.