Protesters carry firearms into Walmart where cop gunned down black man over toy gun

[riqster]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/protesters-carry-firearms-into-walmart-where-cop-gunned-down-black-man-over-toy-gun/

Interesting. Multiple rights in play here: 2nd and 4 Amendments, for starters, along with civil rights questions :

Gun enthusiasts openly carried firearms Sunday in to an Ohio Walmart store where police fatally shot a black man holding a toy rifle.

About 40 open-carry activists protested the Aug. 5 police shooting of 22-year-old John Crawford III at the Beavercreek retailer after a grand jury declined last month to charge the officer who killed him.

In addition to weapons, the demonstrators carried signs that said “I am John Crawford” and “Serve and Protect. Not Serve to Kill.”

More at the link.

[BlueCaliDem]

1. I have lost all faith in Grand Juries since they rely on evidence provided by the Prosecutor -

something I didn't know before. So if that Prosecutor is biased in any way, the jury members won't get the facts they need in order to come to a just decision. So it disheartens me to read that the Grand Jury declined to charge the Officer who had gunned down Crawford in cold blood while playing around with a TOY gun, while a White man open-carries without problems.

The Black community are correct: It's open-carry for Whites and open-season on Blacks. This is just another tragic incident that underscores that racist fact.

[2naSalit]

2. +1

[riqster]

4. +1

[msanthrope]

11. Grand juries have the right to question witnesses and the prosecutor.

If you ever are on one.....don't forget that.

[BlueCaliDem]

13. How many jurors know and understand that? I'd surmise, not that many. They rely on the unbiased

evidence presented by the prosecutor, but if said prosecutor is, in fact, biased in favor of the accused, although jurors are under the misunderstanding/misconception that s/he can't be, ethically, then I'd surmise that there wouldn't be a lot of questioning.

However, I'll happily remember your advice for if I ever have to sit in on a Grand Jury. After discovering Prosecutor McCullough's potential biases that can, not necessarily will but can, explain why he adamantly refuses to recuse himself in the Michael Brown case, the process has opened my eyes a great deal.

[msanthrope]

14. That would be a great sign outside the courthouse where the Mike Brown

jury meets, eh????

[reflection]

17. I recently sat in on one

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5222848

and yes, although my eyes were open anyway, they were definitely opened wider from the experience.

[mopinko]

3. i find this sort of heartening.

the fact of racial disparity is writ so large in this incident that even the most bone headed teabaggers are forced to notice.
have to say, good on them.

[riqster]

5. They realize they could be shot, too.

[Damansarajaya]

6. It's funny how rarely police shoot down men with loaded guns, isn't it.

Especially, loaded rifles whose bullets can cut through a kevlar vest like a hot knife through butter.

Police are totally cowards when it comes to people who can shoot back.

[riqster]

7. Indeed. Compare Occupy with Bundy.

[mopinko]

8. ^^^^^^^^^^^

yup.

[Sparhawk60]

9. Winner Winner!

Bingo, we have a winner. Cops are quick to gun down unarmed men. It is amazing that a group of unarmed protesters will be beaten and shot for being dangerous, while a group of armed men would be treated with kid gloves.

[friendly_iconoclast]

15. Here's a video of the event. Kindly point out the "bone headed teabaggers" for us

Furthermore, the founder of Open Carry Ohio is quoted thusly:

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/10/07/3576457/ohio-gun-rights-leader-police-shooting-victim-likely-would-not-have-been-killed-if-he-were-white/

“I’ve said from the very beginning that race was a factor,” said Virgil Vaduva, who founded Open Carry Ohio. As someone who has long openly carried a gun and associated with others — mostly white — who do the same, Vaduva has first-hand experience with how white gun carriers are treated, even in that very same Beavercreek Wal-Mart where Crawford was shot. Vaduva says he has openly carried his gun there. “If John Crawford were white, if he did not look like he were ‘from the hood’ [as some have alleged], I think he would still be alive today.”...

Vaduva articulated similar wishes to ThinkProgress. While one of the primary goals of all of Open Carry Ohio’s protests is to make the public aware of the state’s open carry law, he said in the case of Crawford, he, too, would like to see Ritchie held accountable. And he would like to see Williams fired if not federally prosecuted.

As for police training, he said he already asked that of police three years ago, when an individual called 911 on him for having a gun at a restaurant. At the time, he had a beard and was wearing a knit hat, and speculated “Maybe I looked a bit too much like a hippy.” Vaduva said the 911 caller described him and his friend as “two crazy guys” but police didn’t take that as a trigger to shoot or even injure him. And he said in the years since, he has dressed nicely while carrying his gun and has never had an incident.

“Unfortunately Beavercreek is a white town,” said Vaduva, a self-described libertarian. “Race was a factor. I am certain.”

[friendly_iconoclast]

16. My request got the response I expected...

[beevul]

10. Strange. The "call 911 and tell them theres a man with a gun" folks are conspicuously...

Strange. The "call 911 and tell them theres a man with a gun" folks are conspicuously silent, both here on DU and elsewhere:






http://www.democraticunderground.com/1172130667

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5598611

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3690810

[sarisataka]

12. I recall forecasting

this exact thing happening

What would your opinion be if a person legally carrying their gun is killed but responding police because they think the carrier has been waving the gun and threatening people?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1172130667
Replies:

Most responsible police will treat a visible gun as a threat.
Nothing more is needed to take down and arrest a suspect.

I don't agree with your premise that displaying a firearm is protected.
It is a threat which should be dealt with as such.

Harshly and with extreme prejudice.

[Eleanors38]

18. What? Right here in DU? "What could go wrong?"

Ah, that TalkingPoint™ point question so promiscuously asked by the culture warriors.

Question Answered.