How a Texas Cop Who Killed a Double Amputee Holding a Ballpoint Pen Got Away With It

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/how-texas-cop-who-killed-double-amputee-holding-ballpoint-pen-got-away-it



On October 24, the Houston Police Department announced the results of its yearlong investigation into the shooting death of Brian Claunch, a mentally ill double amputee killed by an officer last September after refusing to drop a pen. HPD cleared the officer, Matthew Marin, of any wrongdoing.

That may not come as a surprise, since HPD hasn’t found a single police shooting unjustified in at least six years. Between 2007 and 2012, HPD officers fatally shot 109 people and injured another 111. All those shootings were found justified. (For the full story on HPD shootings and beatings, read the Observer investigation here.)

But some expected this case to be different. Claunch was wheelchair-bound and had one arm and one leg. He was definitely aggressive—officers were on the scene because Claunch was agitated, shouting threats and demanding soda and cigarettes—but he was also obviously disabled. HPD reports that Claunch backed an able-bodied officer into a corner and slashed at her with a shiny object, prompting her partner, Matthew Marin, to shoot him. But it’s difficult to visualize Claunch simultaneously moving effectively and posing a serious threat with one arm, even if he had been holding something more deadly than a ballpoint pen. Claunch was also known to be mentally ill; he lived at a small group home for men with mental illness. For all these reasons, some observers expected this shooting to be considered unacceptable.

And at first, it seemed like it would be. Houston’s police chief issued a statement two days later calling Claunch’s death “tragic” and announcing that he’d asked the FBI to investigate. CNN picked up the story, as did The Guardian and The Huffington Post. The Houston Chronicle issued a scathing editorial, stating plainly, “If an officer cannot deal with a mentally ill double amputee waving a silver pen without resorting to deadly violence, then he probably should not be a police officer.” It concluded, “HPD must explore serious reforms. Houston should accept nothing less.”

[janlyn]

1. Is it just me?

This seems to be more prevalent lately. I'm curious about the numbers country wide on the number of shootings. Time to research, and see what I can find.
I have wondered for a while how common this was as a whole. I have an ex-brother inlaw who was, along with another officer under investigation for a shooting. I can't say all officers are like my ex-brother inlaw but, he is a very angry man. He has a contempt for the people he is supposed to serve.
And race definitely plays in that attitude. He is a bigot plain and simple. I am so glad that I rarely see him!