# Controversial encounters between law-enforcement and civilians - the omnibus thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942 "2014-10-10T07:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 377
**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:** [December 22, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7521 "2015-12-22T23:30:59Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It is clear that he had his gun drawn and aimed in the vicinity of the vehicle. It is _not_ clear that he did so with the intent of shooting anyone who might have been within that vehicle at the time, let alone that he did so with malicious intent. There is nothing to disprove the claim that he accidentally discharged his weapon and in so doing struck the occupant of said vehicle. Therefore, any person who is rendering an opinion consistent with the rules of American jurisprudence, as governed by the common law and the Constitution, is compelled to find that he did not criminally murder the victim. > > If you wish to argue that the Constitution and the American judicial system and rule of law is wrong, then please feel free to do so and be honest about it. That he aimed his gun and pulled the trigger may be compelling evidence that he meant to shoot him, especially when he subsequently lied about it. You’re incapable of understanding things like this due to whatever trauma that warped you beyond reason and rationality on this subject, and you have my sympathy. Being a broken person must truly suck. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7522 "2015-12-22T23:51:22Z")
**Smapti** would defend the undercover female vice cop who shot Santa because she thought he called her a 'ho three times. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7523 "2015-12-22T23:51:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It is clear that he had his gun drawn and aimed in the vicinity of the vehicle. Oh, I get it! His gun was only pointed in the _vicinity_ of the vehicle! He was in fact waving it around at random, and it was _sheer coincidence_ that he happened to score a direct hit on the survivor of the crash. What are the odds? Now _what the fuck was he doing with his weapon unholstered in the first place_? How is that a reasonable reaction when confronted with a person doing the only sensible thing a person can do upon surviving a car wreck: trying to escape the vehicle? ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7524 "2015-12-23T01:11:04Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > If you wish to argue that the Constitution and the American judicial system and rule of law is wrong, then please feel free to do so and be honest about it. **Smapti** =Because you can’t criticize police shootings without being an anarchist and against the **Rule of Law**. Yet, normal people do this every time they read about some police misconduct. Anarchists, all! I tells ya! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7525 "2015-12-23T01:18:15Z")
Hey, that suspect had his hands on a heavy metal object that could EASILY be used as a weapon against the officer, perfectly justifying a pre-emptive shot! Smapti has repeatedly argued that cars are deadly weapons, right? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7526 "2015-12-23T01:34:15Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So you have no cite, in other words, and you choose to willfully disregard evidence that directly contradicts what you’ve chosen in advance to believe. > > Good to know. You’re a worthless simpleton, who plays a child’s game of “neener neener, I did not say those _exact_ words!” You’ve made your points abundantly clear - you worthless piece of skin. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7527 "2015-12-23T03:02:12Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, it’s clearly been Smapti’s position all along that for their own safety, police officers should pre-emptively shoot everyone on the scene. The video of Andrew Thomas, shot as he was climbing out of a wrecked vehicle, is simply a good example of his beliefs in action. Had officer Patrick Feaster spotted Thomas’s wife Darien Ehorn, who’d been killed in the crash, he should have put a bullet in her, also for his own safety, just in case she wasn’t actually dead since that means she was capable of charging at the officer without warning. In Smapti’s world, the officer kindly mitigated Andrew’s grieving for his wife. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7528 "2015-12-23T03:31:15Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > In Smapti’s world, the officer kindly mitigated Andrew’s grieving for his wife. I just hope Smapti doesn’t encourage the officer to display similar kindness to any orphans the couple may have left. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7529 "2015-12-23T03:50:12Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I just hope Smapti doesn’t encourage the officer to display similar kindness to any orphans the couple may have left. Well, unless they’re at a crime scene, I should add, in which case the officer opening fire is a perfectly justifiable act of self-defense, the alternative being total anarchy. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7530 "2015-12-23T05:40:56Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, unless they’re at a crime scene, I should add, in which case the officer opening fire is a perfectly justifiable act of self-defense, the alternative being total anarchy. Actually, the police should have nuked them for orbit–it’s the only way to be sure! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7531 "2015-12-23T09:05:22Z")
If the officer had intended to shoot, he wouldn’t have shot once and then put his gun away. He would have fired multiple times and then approached with his gun still drawn. Nor would he have any reason to deny shooting - he’d simply have to say he thought he was in danger. Putting the gun away indicates he didn’t think the man was a threat, this he had no reason to intentionally shoot. Please offer a rebuttal to this that doesn’t involve strawmen, breathless hyperbole, or paranoid fantasies. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7532 "2015-12-23T09:12:35Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Putting the gun away indicates he didn’t think the man was a threat . . . following his shooting of the guy. Putting his gun away _ **after shooting the guy** _ indicated he didn’t think the man was a threat _ **after he had shot the guy** _. One shot did the job, as shown in the vid. Sortta sick how you are incapable of understanding this. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7533 "2015-12-23T09:37:30Z")
This cop only fired once - he doesn’t even embrace the proper Smapti-level response, which would be to preemptively shoot multiple times. Just once, geez… why even bother going to work if you’re going to be so _casual_ about it? ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7534 "2015-12-23T09:44:39Z")
Note how the cop can’t be held responsible under **Smapti’s** scheme: [ul] [li]If it’s a single shot it was clearly an accident;[/li][li]Multiple shots mean the guy was a threat and the shooting was justified.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7535 "2015-12-23T09:50:05Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > Note how the cop can’t be held responsible under **Smapti’s** scheme: > [ul] > [li]If it’s a single shot it was clearly an accident;[/li][li]Multiple shots mean the guy was a threat and the shooting was justified.[/li][/ul] And zero shots? Instant collapse of society. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7536 "2015-12-23T10:46:56Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Please offer a rebuttal to this that doesn’t involve strawmen, breathless hyperbole, or paranoid fantasies. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Instant collapse of society. Paranoid fantasies like the collapse of society? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7537 "2015-12-23T11:04:48Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > One shot did the job, as shown in the vid. Sortta sick how you are incapable of understanding this. Except that it \*didn’t \* “do the job”. The victim was still alive and conscious. If the cop had intended to shoot he would have shot to kill. > [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > Note how the cop can’t be held responsible under **Smapti’s** scheme: What part of " he should be charged with manslaughter" is confusing you? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7538 "2015-12-23T13:50:39Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Except that it \*didn’t \* “do the job”. The victim was still alive and conscious. If the cop had intended to shoot he would have shot to kill. And there we have it. In Smapti-land, the purpose of a police officer shooting someone is not to stop a significant threat of death or serious bodily harm to the officer or others, but instead is to kill the victim. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7539 "2015-12-23T14:31:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Except that it \*didn’t \* “do the job”. The victim was still alive and conscious … … collapsed, paralyzed inside the car. What did you want the cop to do? Pull the guy out of the wreck and then give him a double-tap behind the ear? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942/7540 "2015-12-23T16:06:40Z")
Cats land on their feet. Buttered toast lands butter side down. If you tie buttered toast to a cat’s back, buttered side up, and then toss the cat out over a bouncy castle, what will happen? A rotating hovering cat? As shown in other threads, Smapti is opposed to palliative care and euthanasia under any circumstances what so ever – including his wish that terminal patients who are in extreme permanent pain. As shown in this and other threads, Smapti believes that police should shoot people dead when there is no need to shoot in the first place. I wonder how Smapti would deal with a police officer encountering a terminal patient in extreme permanent pain? My guess is that Smapti would hover and rotate, which when you think about it, is pretty much what he does in his posts by often being unable to factually support his observations or ethically support his positions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=376) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-encounters-between-law-enforcement-and-civilians-the-omnibus-thread/700942.md?page=378)