# Four cops dead, at least 7 more wounded by snipers at Dallas protest **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 8, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355 "2016-07-08T04:10:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/21 "2016-07-08T05:39:38Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I disagree, Alton Sterling was a man with multiple felony convictions, including at least one incident that caused him to become a registered sex offender. **He was illegally carrying a firearm.** His shooting may or may not be legally justified, but I’ll take 1000 less of him and 1000 more of the four cops who died today any day of the week. (bolding mine) IMO that is an unproven allegation by the people who have the most to gain from making such a statement. Do you have some information that the rest of us don’t? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/22 "2016-07-08T05:43:59Z")
The shooters will be arrested. They will be tried, convicted and executed. This happened in Texas after all. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/23 "2016-07-08T05:44:28Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > (bolding mine) > > IMO that is an unproven allegation by the people who have the most to gain from making such a statement. Do you have some information that the rest of us don’t? Okay you’re right–it is unproven. But I would bet $100 he had a gun on him. I still am not saying whether that shooting was justified or not, but no, I don’t have absolute proof he had a gun. I think most reasonable people conclude he was carrying. He had a 2009 arrest in which he was also illegally carrying a gun, and violently resisted arrest. During the process of subduing him his gun fell out of his pocket. So he not only has a history of illegally carrying guns, but also resisting arrest in a violent manner. Alton Sterling was a lifetime criminal, this isn’t in doubt. Based on past behavior and the fact that you’d legit be insane to sell CDs for cash on that part of Baton Rouge without having a gun on you for self defense and like I said, I’d bet $100 he was carrying. I’m sure the investigation will show he was. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/24 "2016-07-08T05:52:30Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I disagree, Alton Sterling was a man with multiple felony convictions, including at least one incident that caused him to become a registered sex offender. He was illegally carrying a firearm. His shooting may or may not be legally justified, but I’ll take 1000 less of him and 1000 more of the four cops who died today any day of the week. Whoa. Way to undercut your previous post. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Some of us are not on either “side”. How about you? I am against race war. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/25 "2016-07-08T05:55:53Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I disagree, Alton Sterling was a man with multiple felony convictions, including at least one incident that caused him to become a registered sex offender. He was illegally carrying a firearm. His shooting may or may not be legally justified, but I’ll take 1000 less of him and 1000 more of the four cops who died today any day of the week. You missed the point. Nobody had to make a choice between Alton Sterling getting shot and four Dallas police officers getting shot. In an ideal world, none of these people would have been shot. If you disagree - if you are happier living in a world where Alton Sterling was killed than you would be living in a world where he wasn’t killed - then there is something very wrong with you. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/26 "2016-07-08T06:00:29Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > Okay you’re right–it is unproven. But I would bet $100 he had a gun on him. I still am not saying whether that shooting was justified or not, but no, I don’t have absolute proof he had a gun. > > I think most reasonable people conclude he was carrying. He had a 2009 arrest in which he was also illegally carrying a gun, and violently resisted arrest. **During the process of subduing him his gun fell out of his pocket.** So he not only has a history of illegally carrying guns, but also resisting arrest in a violent manner. > > Alton Sterling was a lifetime criminal, this isn’t in doubt. Based on past behavior and the fact that you’d legit be insane to sell CDs for cash on that part of Baton Rouge without having a gun on you for self defense and like I said, I’d bet $100 he was carrying. I’m sure the investigation will show he was. Oh, I’m sure the investigation will show he was carrying. I’m sure the cops will be legally in the clear. By the way, where did you get the part I bolded? At what point in the video did you see the gun fall out of his pocket? If it fell out of his pocket during the struggle, why did the one officer have to pull a gun out of the dying man’s pocket? If it fell out of his pocket during the struggle, why was it necessary to shoot him? Where are you getting your information from? ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/27 "2016-07-08T06:01:00Z")
BTW, the clock is ticking: who will be the first right-wing jerk to blame this on Obama? Prize for the first link! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/28 "2016-07-08T06:07:26Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > BTW, the clock is ticking: who will be the first right-wing jerk to blame this on Obama? Prize for the first link! Former congressman Joe Walsh says [this is now war, watch out Obama](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cm0S9XHVIAAYo7D.jpg). He deleted that one, but several other remain. Edit: Since then, he [said](https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/751284978340622336) that he wasn’t calling for violence against Obama but that Obama’s words are killing cops and we need to defend the cops. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/29 "2016-07-08T06:11:02Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Oh, I’m sure the investigation will show he was carrying. I’m sure the cops will be legally in the clear. > > By the way, where did you get the part I bolded? At what point in the video did you see the gun fall out of his pocket? If it fell out of his pocket during the struggle, why did the one officer have to pull a gun out of the dying man’s pocket? If it fell out of his pocket during the struggle, why was it necessary to shoot him? > > Where are you getting your information from? The bolded part was from his 2009 arrest–which isn’t the one during which he died. Also known as the other time Alton was illegally carrying a firearm and fighting with police. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/30 "2016-07-08T06:12:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You missed the point. Nobody had to make a choice between Alton Sterling getting shot and four Dallas police officers getting shot. In an ideal world, none of these people would have been shot. > > If you disagree - if you are happier living in a world where Alton Sterling was killed than you would be living in a world where he wasn’t killed - then there is something very wrong with you. You said the death of a serial violent criminal was just as bad as the death of these police officers, and I take great offense to that (I’m not a cop–I mean as a citizen.) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/31 "2016-07-08T06:12:49Z")
I’m, pitting AR-15s. Not only the shooters - the “person of interest” was a protester who brought one to the rally. His brother said it was unloaded and that the guy (at prodding from his brother and friends) immediately gave it to a cop when the shooting started. What kind of world do we live in where someone brings an AR-15 to any kind of a rally? Let’s stop making it easy for bad guys to outgun the cops, okay? A reporter was near one who was returning fire with a handgun which wouldn’t even reach up there. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/32 "2016-07-08T06:40:52Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’m, pitting AR-15s. Not only the shooters - the “person of interest” was a protester who brought one to the rally. His brother said it was unloaded and that the guy (at prodding from his brother and friends) immediately gave it to a cop when the shooting started. > What kind of world do we live in where someone brings an AR-15 to any kind of a rally? It’s called the USA. I was going to mention the guy with the AR-15. It’s amazing when it’s pointless trying to identify a shooting suspect as someone “walking around with an assault rifle” because that happens to describe pretty much anybody and everybody, especially in Texas, where it also probably describes your grandmother and your dog. But I know that gun nuts have a response to that, in the form of any of about a dozen slogans on bumper stickers issued by the NRA declaring that guns are not the problem. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > … Scared and wary cops are the prime reason for many of the shootings that have been getting publicity lately, and this is only going to make them even more scared and wary. Cops in America are scared and wary because they’re obviously worried that the ordinary citizens they encounter every day in ordinary situations – on the street, in traffic stops, or anywhere else – might not have enough guns. Remember folks, guns are the solution, not the problem! ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/33 "2016-07-08T07:03:44Z")
Reports are that a fifth officer has died. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/34 "2016-07-08T07:05:48Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > The bolded part was from his 2009 arrest–which isn’t the one during which he died. **Also known as the other time Alton was illegally carrying a firearm and fighting with police**. Nothing you wrote indicated you were talking about a previous gun incident; thanks for clarifying. re: the bolded part: So now you know he was carrying illegally when he was killed? First you know, then you admit you don’t, now you make an assertion of fact again… ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/35 "2016-07-08T07:45:34Z")
Prior to making contact with him, the police were called because Sterling allegedly pulled a gun on someone while he was selling CDs outside a convenience store. The cops arrived knowing he was probably armed. Proof? No. But certainly a reasonable suspicion and cause to be alert for the possibility. I haven’t read whether the police knew of his rap sheet at the time they made contact, but if he’d been identified and the cops had pulled up his history they’d have had even more reason to suspect he was armed and likely to resist, which he did despite having been tasered. The owner of the convenience store said he saw the police pull a gun from his pocket after the shooting. > [@](#): > > The owner said Sterling did not have a gun in his hand at the time but he saw officers remove a gun from Sterling’s pocket after the shooting. [Cite](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/louisiana-police-officer-fatally-shoots-suspect-40346546) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/36 "2016-07-08T08:04:32Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > A reporter was near one who was returning fire with a handgun which wouldn’t even reach up there. Um, no. Not unless they had a handgun that was less powerful than my .177 air rifle (and even it can easily hit things on the top of a building). The puny .22LR can actually fly a quarter mile. Any handgun that the cops are going to carry is going to be accurate to about 30 meters, and lethal far beyond that. The buildings these people were on weren’t out of that range. A pistol isn’t the ideal weapon for those ranges, but it’s adequate. Not to mention, Dallas police are equipped with AR-15s themselves. That officer may not have had one, but others immediately on the scene did. The dipshits who did this might tell themselves that the deaths of black persons at the hands of police justify this, but they’re members of the stupidest group of motherfuckers on this planet. BLM might be misguided sometimes, but I wouldn’t lay this at their feet. This is the act of someone who operates on the same level as Timothy McVeigh. I’m not a fan of the death penalty, but if Texas pays them back the way I expect them to, they’ll be the last people I’m concerned about on death row. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/37 "2016-07-08T08:30:15Z")
Police lives matter too. And if some of the rabble rousers who try to stir things up every time there’s an officer-involved shooting would keep their damn mouths shut until incidents had at least been investigated we might save a world of grief. And it might help if Obama didn’t keep jumping in before he knows all the facts. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/38 "2016-07-08T08:40:08Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Some of us are not on either “side”. How about you? On this particular issue, I’m on \*\*John Mace’\*\*s side. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Niply\_Elder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@The\_Niply\_Elder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Niply_Elder)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/39 "2016-07-08T08:41:37Z")
The police are bringing this on themselves unfortunately. They are fomenting civil unrest in the population with their unwarranted killings and terror tactics, which the black population has long complained about, but hardly anyone cared for their claims. Now with the advent of ubiquitous video technology, the evidence of police misconduct is overwhelming like a rolling tsunami. Police are fools for continuing their tactics as if nothing’s happening. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355/40 "2016-07-08T08:42:08Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > The dipshits who did this might tell themselves that the deaths of black persons at the hands of police justify this, but they’re members of the stupidest group of motherfuckers on this planet. BLM might be misguided sometimes, but I wouldn’t lay this at their feet. I _would_. BLM’s favourite martyrs have always been a pair of violent criminals who died attacking innocent people. What did they think Michael Brown was going to do with that cop’s gun after he stole it, exactly? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-cops-dead-at-least-7-more-wounded-by-snipers-at-dallas-protest/759355.md?page=3)