"Fuck Your Breath"

[kpete]

Video shows Tulsa man’s last moments alive after accidental police shooting (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT)

:large

https://twitter.com/BayAreaIntifada/status/587123665520594944

It was a mistake.

That’s the blasé explanation Oklahoma officials gave after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white deputy who accidentally pulled his gun when he meant to use his Taser.

The botched encounter was captured on a disturbing video released by police on Friday — nine days after the fatal Tulsa shooting.

“He shot me! He shot me, man. Oh, my god. I’m losing my breath,” Eric Harris says as he struggles on the ground following the April 2 shooting, which flew under the radar until video emerged a week later.

“F--- your breath,” a callous officer can be heard saying. “Shut the f--- up!”

MORE:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/video-shows-tulsa-man-shot-deputy-meant-stun-article-1.2181787

another video:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=576444525791519

[L0oniX]

1. OMG what a monster.

[n2doc]

2. Evil

And he'll probably get away, maybe even get rich from a gofundme grift.

[marym625]

3. omg.

Oh my fucking god.

No words.

[tabasco]

4. The police profession seems to attract homicidal bullies

Our society is rotten and our police are just a symptom of that rot.

[KingCharlemagne]

7. Not 'just' a symptom, but I take your point. During Occupy Los Angeles, we

struggled mightily with the question of whether police were part of the working class, i.e., the prototypical 99%, or whether they occupied some special status within the economic system. I came to view them as 'class traitors,' working class folks who identified with, and were dedicated to, enforcing the property relations and privileges of the 1%. I've always intended to go back and review what my Socialist and Communist forbears had to say on the subject but never seem to be able to make the time.

[KansDem]

20. "The police are the domestic version of national defense"

Might be why Walker exempted the police from his trashing of public sector unions--

Republicans and unions are like oil and water: They don’t go together. Except for one big exception. Republican politicians support police unions and unionized fire fighters too, often exempting them from the scorched earth policies they direct toward other public sector unions, like teachers and government workers.

“The police are the domestic version of national defense,” says Sam Popkin, a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego. “The reason that Republicans love them so much,” he explained, it that Republicans “identify very strongly in a time of change and turbulence with the troops that provide order. The police are very popular with Republicans and with the middle class in general.”

When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker cracked down on collective bargaining rights of public-sector unions, he exempted cops and fire fighters. He feared the police might go on strike and join the protestors. Videos of that pairing could have doomed Walker’s entire effort. “It’s a decision by politicians not to bite off more than they can chew,” explains James Sherk, a labor policy expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation.

--more--
The GOP and Police Unions: A Love Story

...enforcing the property relations and privileges of the 1%

[tblue37]

28. When the power holder in any group gives a bullyboy someone to bully, he cements

that bullyboy's loyalty. It's a natural relationship among certain hierarchical social species.

[Still In Wisconsin]

63. That is EXACTLY why Walker exempted police unions.

If the people here were ever to go the "torches and pitchforks" route against Walker, he knows that the police, and especially the State Patrol, will be his muscle.

[GoneFishin]

46. You may have zeroed in on a very, very important dynamic. "... occupied some special status

within the economic system...". It may explain why it is in the 0.1% interest to give cops special law breaking privileges. Republicans throw their white base bones with coded messages that they are "better than those other people" while sharing none of the economic plunder with them. Likewise special law breaking privileges are a bone thrown to cops at no cost to the 0.1%, while earning the cops' loyalty so they will protect them from the rabble who they are screwing in increasingly crooked ways.

[KingCharlemagne]

53. Back in December, Matt Taibbi published a little-noticed op-ed piece in Rolling Stone that

points up a nascent crisis in legitimacy among the local constabulary forces, a powerful paragraph of which is excerpted below:

Law-enforcement resources are now distributed so unevenly, and justice is being administered with such brazen inconsistency, that people everywhere are going to start questioning the basic political authority of law enforcement. And they're mostly going to be right to do it, and when they do, it's going to create problems that will make the post-Ferguson unrest seem minor.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-police-in-america-are-becoming-illegitimate-20141205

Taibbi's are words few dare utter, but many are starting to think.

[GoneFishin]

62. Thanks for the link. I also like this choice quote regarding Eric garner :

" ... on Wall Street, the pure unmolested freedom to fleece whoever you want is considered the sacred birthright of every rake with a briefcase.

If Lloyd Blankfein or Jamie Dimon had come up with the concept of selling loosies, they'd go to their graves defending it as free economic expression ... "

[KingCharlemagne]

64. OT, but I teach English as a Second Language so, of course, I'm thinking about how I would teach

the expression "rake with a briefcase" to my Advanced Conversation class (which has been discussing politics recently). I get a lot of material for my classes from these threads, including a recent reference to the Republican presidential field as 'scheming guttersnipes'

[GoneFishin]

69. 'scheming guttersnipes' is good. Even "scheming" by itself is pretty versatile when discussing

Republicans.

[yallerdawg]

49. Howard Zinn on "the guards:"

"...the Establishment cannot survive without the obedience and loyalty of millions of people who are given small rewards to keep the system going: the soldiers and police, teachers and ministers, administrators and social workers, technicians and production workers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, transport and communications workers, garbage men and firemen. These people-the employed, the somewhat privileged-are drawn into alliance with the elite. They become the guards of the system, buffers between the upper and lower classes. If they stop obeying, the system falls."

When they begin to "question authority," become self aware and responsible, then they'll understand how the 1% bought them, and this will initiate what Zinn described as "the revolt of the guards." It will come. It is inevitable. Is it getting closer?

[KingCharlemagne]

61. Some of my Socialist comrades refer to this same cadre as the "Labor Aristocrats," workers given

just enough crumbs by the global elite as to lose sight of their true global class status, i.e., as workers who must survive by selling their labor. (Helps to explain why the American labor movement historically has aligned itself with the American bourgeoisie and not with the global proletariat.)

Excellent quote by Zinn; thanks for sharing it.

[yallerdawg]

66. "The Global Proletariat"

Excellent reminder that it is not just about US.

[blackspade]

106. I agree completely.

Class traitors indeed.

[shaayecanaan]

108. jack London referred to "arthurist" unions in the iron heel

Not just police, but those who worked in essential services. In time, they lost any attachment to class struggle and became narrow syntechnics motivated only by collective self interest, the same as the surgical colleges and other professional associations.

[KingCharlemagne]

109. Ah, I had forgotten Mr. London's contributions to our understanding of the class struggle. I find

V.I. Lenin's distinction between a class "in itself" (that is, lacking class consciousness and therefore capable of acting on behalf of its class interests) and a class "for itself" (fully conscious of its class identity and capable of acting on behalf of its class interests) a useful one when it comes to the constabulary.

To wit, the cops have only their 'labor' to sell and are, be definition, working class. Hence a class 'in itself'. But, by the same token, they lack consciousness of their class identity (or have lost it, to pull from London's thinking) and thus are incapable of acting on behalf of their class.

Many thanks for your annotation!

[Maraya1969]

72. Here is some information about why some cops have the same mindset of criminals

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inside-the-criminal-mind/201302/criminals-who-become-cops

First, it is essential to underscore that most police officers are honorable and conscientious in their valiant service to the community. However, decades ago, when the late Dr. Yochelson and I were interviewing career criminals in our study at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., we discovered that a significant number of them, when they were youngsters, aspired to careers in law enforcement. They reported being attracted by the uniform, the badge, the gun, the fast police cruiser and, most of all, the thrill of pursuing and catching the “bad guys.” It was the excitement and the ability to wield absolute power over other human beings that attracted them as well as the prospect of being cited as heroes for doing so. None of these individuals whom we studied in our research program actually became policemen because they lacked the self-discipline to obtain the requisite education and training

When a person with a criminal personality becomes a law enforcement officer, problems invariably result. Stories of “police corruption” appear in the media from time to time. You have the cop who uses excessive force and who may ultimately be sanctioned for “police brutality.” Or there may be the officer who pulls a motorist over and offers to forego issuing a citation if she “agrees” to have sex with him. Or there may be the policeman who confiscates drugs but uses some of them himself. Then there is the cop who accepts a bribe in exchange for turning a blind eye and not reporting a crime.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/The-Danger-of-Americas-Police-is-the-Mindset-Not-Military-Weapons-20140824-0034.html

Police impunity in the U.S. is the norm. A study found that 99.8% of 1,500 officers involved in killing civilians were never convicted.

[marble falls]

5. We need to deal with this on a national level. Local authorities seem to have lost control.

[KingCharlemagne]

8. Have they 'lost control' or are the police merely executing (npi) their actual

wishes, i.e., to keep a boot on the throat of the working class?

[marble falls]

25. Either way its detrimental to all citizens: disproportionally so if the executed is black, male...

under thirty, poor, faced by a white cop .....

[KingCharlemagne]

37. And detrimental to the notion of a 'republic,' I think. What do you think President

Obama and the DoJ should do about it? Or President Obama's sucessor(s)? I'd like to see the DoJ get a hell of a lot more assertive in shutting down local law enforcement (or bringing it under federal supervision), much like has happened or promises to happen in Ferguson. Not sure whether my preference is practical, though.

[marble falls]

39. I agree. Its a national disaster and it needs a Federal response.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

51. Working class? Seems like a color problem to me

This disgusting pile of human garbage considers his victim meaningless because he is black, plain and simple.

The rage over this shit is about to happen, they could avoid it but they seem not to want to.

If this was happening to white people at the hands of black people, well, there would be no discussion.

[KingCharlemagne]

56. Yeah, I take your point. My experiences have been colored by the time

I spent at Occupy Los Angeles in the fall of 2011 and watching the poor of all races be treated like shit and brutalized by the pigs. That this treatment lands disproportionately on people of color is, I think, by now beyond all dispute.

Thanks for the annotation.

[Dont call me Shirley]

107. White and latino homeless and mentally ill....

was the majority of cop killings in Albuquerque. The population in ABQ largely Latino and white, about 2% AA. The DOJ did step in and the APD under its supervision. The killings have slowed down. The war against the people is against the most vulnerable, which in many urban areas is people of color.

[951-Riverside]

57. Creating a national federal police force won't work either, why?

Because if the local departments are dissolved, you'll have the same psychos on the national police force except if they're federal they can claim national security and sit on these videos for decades or just not record them.

The only way we're going to fix this is by firing, charging, convicting and imprisoning all cops in that video for decades otherwise its going to keep happening because there are no consequences.

but, that's not going to happen so in a few hours another unarmed man or woman will get shot in the back or the head and the same vicious cycle will continue until finally all hell breaks loose.

[marble falls]

74. absolutely, positively donot want a national police force on the streets.....

I want a fair procedure for investigating police shootings and I want it out the hands of the police depts involved. I also want a law requiring police to live in the municipalities they serve.

[jmowreader]

80. Could you live with "within 15 miles of the municipality" if necessary?

Under most circumstances I'd say "yes, cops should live in the communities they police." In the case of cops who patrol the high-rent district, "as close as practical" would work.

[abelenkpe]

6. Those cops still employed? Nt

[Trillo]

9. I'm guessing this cop is either a sociopath or psychopath. NT

[dixiegrrrrl]

83. the cop that shot him is 73 years old.

He is listed as a "reserve cop" and gave the by now familiar claim he though he was using his taser.
Which does not explain why, with 3 cops on the guy, he needed tasing.

"The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office told reporters on Friday that 73-year-old reserve deputy Robert Charles Bates fatally shot Harris during an undercover operation on April 2, after pulling out his service weapon instead of a stun gun.

Bates is an insurance company executive assigned to the Violent Crimes Task Force. The sheriff's office said Bates spent time with the Tulsa Auxiliary Police, and is a former full-time officer."

http://mashable.com/2015/04/12/video-of-eric-harris-shooting/


It sounds as if the shooter was not even a regular cop on the force.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

10. .....

sickening....

no words....

[cilla4progress]

11. I hate to say this,

this is really awful to say...but my theory is the spike in these attacks is racist backlash for our first AA President. These cops are doing to these victims what they would like to do to our President - it's a threat.

[heaven05]

14. "I been sayin it"!!!!!

+1000

[freshwest]

19. Agreed. Just the thought he'd be nominated in 2008 drove some people crazy and there were racist

attacks against black people which made the news.

There was not an increase in rage from AA's. This is white rage against black people progressing in the system in the way that many of us think it should be. They would tear the nation into pieces to stop this.

Just as their kindred spirits did before the Civil War. That's why so many civilians are armed at combat level, which also threatens 'peace' officers trying to maintain civil society and prevent anarchism.

Defunding government is something they've sold to everyone and the sad fact is that laws passed to protect the disadvantaged, women and minorities have no meaning if the funding is not there to enforce it.

I am guessing that in some venues the PD are reduced to handling violent crime only and not doing any positive form of community policing. They have a skewed view of life.

And as you say, they want to do this to Obama, but can't get at him. It has been noted by some that the military and law enforcement attracts the less open minded and conservatives.

By cutting out all programs and social safety nets that alleviate problems before they get to the point of the law being called out, this will happen more and more if the citizens don't take control through elections.

Thus society devolves into fascist holdings where all have to obey the richest and most aggressive in their neck of the woods. It's not called terrorism, but it is.

[cilla4progress]

22. Was just reading today's NYT op-ed

about the rage on the right toward Pres. Obama. Also have open another DU window with clips from Pres Obama's presser yesterday calling out these douchebags (apologies to actual douchebags...).

One of the NYT commenters likened Pres Obama to Gorbachev: a progressive peace-pushing transformative Presidency that was not fully appreciated in its time esp. by Russia's people, and that ultimately - the country - backslid. Interesting analogy. Chilling.

[libdem4life]

34. May I humbly suggest the words "cretins or troglodytes or bigots" as labels for

insufferably ignorant males...because it's never used for females. Apology accepted, however.

[cilla4progress]

48. You certainly may!

It's like my daughter says: you can't say "shit" on TV, but you can say "bitch"!

Thank you for fine-tuning my sensitivities!

[libdem4life]

90. Again, thank you. I get similar lessons from the young 'uns myself and keep on learning.

[freshwest]

84. That seems to have happened in some quarters, aided and abetted by big money.

Very big money with a bad agenda. I remember MLK, Jr.'s fear.

Something like, when black people achieved their goal, they would find 'instead of the promised land, a house burned down' to deny them.

With its last dying breath, so to speak, that not his words, he was speaking of the moral bankruptcy of the war machine. What the Koch brothers have tried to do is exactly that. And it's so wrong, and will destroy all of us who don't want to bow and scrape before those guys.

Let's make sure we deny them in 2016 and keep moving forward.

[GoneFishin]

47. I think you are completely right. If you are cop and a raging racist under the surface,

and ready to blow because there is a black man in the White House, who are you going to take it out on?

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

55. I can assure you this backlash is real and takes place in business too, the story I could tell

you about a con business partner punishing and cheating a partner because he voted for Obama.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

87. Some of it is also the general fear of black people getting "uppity"....

A lot of white cops out there feeling it's their duty to "make sure they know their place".

[uponit7771]

99. +1, somethin

[heaven05]

12. and it goes

on and on and on and on.......... fuck every breath that cop takes, from now on..

[Cryptoad]

13. Do these Human Hunters get a

pseudo Head Mount for their Trophy Room???????

[2naSalit]

15. And THIS, my fellow Americans

is what we've become in this nation. This is allowed. THIS is what has become of that BART execution cop's acquittal a few years ago. THIS is America in the 21st century and it will apparently get worse unless we stand up to this abuse of citizens, we have become a nation devoted more to inhumanity than anything else and we can be seen engaging in this travesty all over the planet on a daily basis.

So what ARE WE going to do about it?

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

86. " So what ARE WE going to do about it?"

Lets try a change of tactics by using social media to publish the actual phone numbers of the police departments involved in these tragic beatings and shootings and then phone them in mass to complain, no texting, no emails, just plain spoken words to let them know how many citizens are truly pissed off, tie up their damn phone lines with messages of protest, force them to change, let them know that we're not going away. Phone them over and over. Make them hear the message.

So what ARE WE going to do about it?

LETS TRY THAT !

[jtuck004]

16. "who "said he" accidentally pulled his gun"< Just wanted to add a necessary correction. n/t

[ybbor]

17. I am so sick of this shit!

When do we get to throw the whole fucking bushel out? I think we need to pull up all the trees and burn the fucking orchard down!

Then plant something new. Maybe strawberries, at least when those go bad everyone can see and we can just put them down the disposal.

As a matter of fact, we should put this entire crop into one giant woodchipper and burn the chips afterward.

The system isn't broken, because if it was someone would have tried to fix it. They sure as hell seem to like it the way it is! Sick fucking bastards! The whole lot of 'em!

[B2G]

18. I think this really may have been a mistake

The cop who shot him can be heard saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" in the video.

Why do we have 73 year old cops on the street??

[tblue37]

31. Is the cop saying, "F_ your breath," not the same one who shot the man? nt

[B2G]

33. No, I believe it's a different cop

The one who shot him was saying "I'm sorry".

[tblue37]

35. Thanks. I am too deaf to understand words on videos, so I wouldn't be able to tell

who is speaking.

[jtuck004]

44. You mean treating a black man like a piece of spoiled meat? Or the "accident". ?

[TorchTheWitch]

101. I'm aghast that they were using a 73 year old retired officer on the street

Seventy-three, minimal training, and having him work the street as a regular officer? Madness.

[NorthCarolina]

21. According to RawStory the cop was 73 years old.

Maybe it's time to think about re-instituting the COLA for Social Security recipients so they don't need to find other meas of income.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/watch-police-release-graphic-video-of-tulsa-man-as-he-was-killed-by-cop-who-thought-he-pulled-his-taser/

[B2G]

24. More info here.

He wasn't being paid and is pretty well off.


http://m.tulsaworld.com/newshomepage1/sheriff-s-office-reserve-deputy-who-fired-fatal-shot-was/article_3d1f3fe7-43cd-5fa1-9e8c-d8b3aefe2504.html?mode=jqm

[hatrack]

30. But he gave them lots of shiny toys, so he can play cop now, and shoot people, too!

EDIT

Bates apparently is not alone as both a donor and reserve deputy. While the Sheriff’s Office has not released its full roster, Clark said other wealthy donors are among the agency’s 130 reserve deputies.

“There are lots of wealthy people in the reserve program,” he said. “Many of them make donations of items. That’s not unusual at all.”

Bates has donated multiple vehicles, guns and stun guns to the Sheriff’s Office since he became a reserve deputy in 2008, Clark said. The Sheriff’s Office did not have an itemized list of donations made by Bates available Monday and deferred that question to the county commissioners’ office, which tracks those items.

EDIT

http://m.tulsaworld.com/newshomepage1/sheriff-s-office-reserve-deputy-who-fired-fatal-shot-was/article_3d1f3fe7-43cd-5fa1-9e8c-d8b3aefe2504.html?mode=jqm

[arcane1]

76. What?? Rich people are allowed to BUY a badge and rough up poor people????

Is this some sort of sick fantasy camp??

[Runningdawg]

78. No, it's Oklahoma

I live in Tulsa, you should see the shameful way the news is spinning this story. Oh poor old cop, he got confused....BS this was a man who bought his badge and who had NO business being on the streets. The news also says they won't show the whole video believing its "too graphic" for its viewers.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

81. Where I live, Cook County Illinois used to give out badges to ...

... friends and donors.

I worked with several people who had guns and badges. The father of the owner of my company, a millionaire many times over, would tool around the suburbs with his driver in his own black Crown Vic with flashing lights embedded in the front grille.

[arcane1]

82. I need to go back to bed. Sometimes ignorance is indeed bliss.

[dixiegrrrrl]

85. The guy bought his right to be a pretend cop?

He was just a ride along?????
He committed murder, then. Was in no way a legal cop.

god, I can see the lawsuits now.....

[daleanime]

23. I can't watch it.....

I know I should, but I just get sick at the idea. God damn it, what are we becoming?

[tblue37]

26. Their entire attitude in a nutshell. Posters and posts should spread this

example far and wide.

[Madmiddle]

27. The murderous thugs, police, are getting worse.

[Iggo]

38. They're the same.

It's just there're more video cameras now.

So they get caught more often.

[MrMickeysMom]

29. Pathological… EOM

[treestar]

32. How did they come to have a 73 year old still on the street with a gun?

The other cop that said that is pretty horrible.

[ScreamingMeemie]

58. Unpaid reserve deputy, playing cops and robbers for free.

[treestar]

71. while they are paying zero

it would seem better to have one less cop than any extra 73 year old cop. Or couldn't they find other volunteer work for him, like the proverbial behind the desk position? Sounds like a dumb idea all round. And it's because he made an error of the type expected from the elderly. Good grief, such a tragic waste.

[Iggo]

36. Cops.

[Thespian2]

40. When will

this carnage end? How long can people be subjected to a police-state? No longer do Americans need look at other parts of the world to see the devastating effects of police brutality against fellow human beings.

[B2G]

41. Another story:

In the video, provided to the New York Daily News, a body-cam captures an officer in a foot pursuit of Harris who is subsequently tackled in the street.

As the officer instructs Harris to roll onto his stomach, a gun shot is heard.

Bates can be heard, saying, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” as Harris yells, “He shot me!’ while another officer is heard saying, “You f*cking ran.”

“He shot me! He shot me, man. Oh, my god. I’m losing my breath,” Harris then said.

“F*ck your breath,” an officer can be heard saying. “Shut the f*ck up!”

Bates can once again be heard lamenting, “I shot him. I’m sorry.”

Harris, who had been under investigation for narcotic sales, was rushed to a local hospital where he later died.

According to authorities, the 73-year-old Bates was attempting to use non-lethal force on Harris, resulting in the tragic death.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/watch-police-release-graphic-video-of-tulsa-man-as-he-was-killed-by-cop-who-thought-he-pulled-his-taser/

[Enthusiast]

42. How is the officer's sentiments toward the man different from that of the Nazi SS?

It is one and the same. Only the uniform is different. This is the kind of action and callous disregard for life we would expect from storm troopers toward Jews in Nazi Germany.

[GoneFishin]

52. Just replace the uniforms, use black & white film, and substitute "you have a tail light out" with

"show me your papers" and I doubt anyone could distinguish the two.

[JEB]

43. Class traitors is absolutely correct

as a poster above stated. I just read an interesting and related article over at Counter Punch.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/04/10/disarm-the-police/

[AgingAmerican]

45. If they chase someone in a vehicle

And that vehicle crashes, ejecting the perpetrator, the cops almost always savagely beat the person. They know the person may have a broken neck or massive internal injuries, but they do it anyway. The police have devolved into barbaric savages.

Police in this country have no honor.

[WinkyDink]

50. "Stuff happens!" "Democracy is messy."~~~Donald "Tamiflu" Rumsfeld.

[Downwinder]

54. Is that voluntary or involuntary manslaughter?

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

59. Just watched the video...that's it, something WILL be done otherwise there is

gonna be massive violence and destruction.

this is insane, HOW MANY MORE OF THESE VIDEOS DO WE NEED????

[840high]

67. Time for us to become

involved beyond posting on a message board.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

68. Exactly, I marched in seattle for "I cant breathe" but I dont know what else to do

[840high]

73. I've been engaging cops

in my town in conversation about what's happening. My hope is that they realize we pay attention and find these actions unacceptable. Have written to my Governor.

[Stuart G]

60. Awful beyond words...k and r..nothing else to say..

[Octafish]

65. Kick for Police training where fatally wounded suspects get nothing but a knee on their head.

Pure NAZI Just-Us.

[awoke_in_2003]

70. fuck the police. nt

[The Wizard]

75. Our police problem must be addressed sooner rather than later(NT)

[arcane1]

77. Finally watched the video. Even the TASER was excessive, if you ask me.

When you're on the ground and 5 guys are roughing you up, a taser is excessive force.

[tomm2thumbs]

89. the use of a taser at the moment it was fired (as a gun) did not appear necessary

Agreed.

[arcane1]

91. Same wtih Oscar Grant: when face-down and cuffed, a taser is nothing but torture.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

79. How the fuck does Oklahoma or any other place let untrained volunteers wield a gun and Taser?

I'm guessing the "eh honest mistake" official response is not the same as what we'd see if it was a white citizen killed, but then I'm guessing Grandpa Volunteer wouldn't have been so quick with the Taser/gun either.

Isn't the municipal government liable for a huge lawsuit for allowing such a situation?

I know no one cares because BLACK DUDE but come on already.

[JDPriestly]

88. There is something seriously wrong with the recruiting, hiring, firing and determination of

psychological fitness process used by our police forces.

Some of the cases have involved lone officer who might understandably been frightened facing a potentially dangerous felon alone. That is not an excuse but it could explain the outrageous behavior of the police officers.

But if the video is representing a true story, then there is a serious problem because more than one officer was present and there was no reason for the officer to fear for his life.

The excessive use of force by our police officers appears to be a widespread and is clearly a very serious problem.

Instead o examining students and teachers in our schools, maybe we should be spending more money on the examination and verification of fitness of the officers on our police forces.


Assuming this video is true (I did not dare to click the link -- doesn't look quite right), this is scandaloous.

[Cheese Sandwich]

92. Abusive cops are a national crisis. What will it take to make it stop?

[libdem4life]

93. More cell phones and normal citizens who are brave enough to send it to a news outlet.

For the average person, this seems to be overwhelming lately. But for minorities, it's every day life. We are better than that as a nation, and at least some people are waking up and saying "NO".

[Alkene]

94. "And the truth is,

there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there?"

[blkmusclmachine]

95. Murder

?

[WillTwain]

96. Fire them all and make them re-apply for their old jobs after strict review.

[PatrickforO]

97. So...police officer as psychopathic murderer...

[Catherine Vincent]

98. I just put this on my FB page

I can't believe this!

[uponit7771]

100. Cold.. Callus Murder... The cop will get a medal, he will be praised and given time off with pay

[lovemydog]

102. Charge him with murder.

Anything less is unacceptable.

And I'm sick of seeing all the posts that say, stuff like 'oh he'll get a medal.' I know why people have a cynical attitude. But this is not the time for cynicism. This is the time for demanding a murder charge. And taking to the streets to demand it.

[Jesus Malverde]

103. The investigation...

In a news conference Friday, expert witness and Tulsa Police Sgt. Jim Clark said he investigated the matter at the request of the Sheriff’s Office. Clark determined Bates, 73, committed no crime when he fired his .38-caliber pistol once instead of the Taser he meant to deploy, even referring to him as a “victim.” There also were no policy violations, Clark said.

http://m.tulsaworld.com/newshomepage2/attorney-questions-official-report-in-fatal-shooting-by-tulsa-county/article_86292aa0-3466-5f83-ac43-78b4a87a3fb4.html

[rainmaker21]

104. There is another new disturbing cop video out.

12 cops beating one man with over 80 blows after he's surrendered, including devastating elbows and groin kicks. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d46_1428632483#comment_page=3

[Jesus Malverde]

105. I hadn't seen the long version of the video.

Thanks for the link and welcome to DU!

[Jetboy]

110. There are a lot of folks who are no friend of the Left who are also outraged about this

one and the other man shot in the back the other day.

Folks are saying, 'gee maybe the black people were right about the police' where before they had given the police and Zimmerman the benefit of the doubt.

Much like Bull so-n-so and his Alabama police dogs and bully force back in the 60s opened the minds of white America, so has these incidents of shooting unarmed black men in the back. A change is gonna come and very soon.

[blackspade]

111. Sick fuck.

Where do they dredge up these racist assholes?

[napkinz]

112. The inhumanity of 'Fuck your breath' should stop all of us cold

by Steven W Thrasher

It’s hard for black Americans to catch our breath these days: from Michael Brown to Eric Garner to John Crawford to Tamir Rice to Walter Scott and now Eric Harris, we just keep getting the wind knocked out of us as we bear witness to death after unnecessary death of black men at the hands of the police.

Those who police us, however, can breathe quite easily.

Watching a “police officer” yelling “Fuck your breath” as a knee is placed on the head of Harris as he’s dying, watching a police officer shoot Scott in the back, it’s clear that the inhumanity on display is not an aberration. It looks too much like these men being hunted: part Doom, part Cops. The police stalk Harris down like an animal, and you can hear them breathing so clearly just before Harris is shot, before he says “Oh my god! I’m losing my breath!”, before the cops explain how little that matters.

“Fuck your breath.”

I’ve encountered that sentiment before, at a pro-police rally outside New York’s City Hall in December 2014. Off-duty cops and their supporters chose to taunt Eric Garner from beyond the grave with his dying words (“I can’t breathe,” said some people 11 times) and by wearing shirts which read “I Can Breathe.”

Black Americans can’t breathe when we witness such sadistic glee, even though it’s just a restatement of an obvious, if painful, truth: they can breathe, and those of us who live under white supremacy as administered by law enforcement cannot. The cops, smug with all-but unassailable employment and pensions (for now), don’t care that black people can’t breathe when we’re being unconstitutionally stopped-and-frisked, subjected to illegal chokeholds, allegedly having evidence planted on us, or being told the depths of law enforcement’s apathy after being shot.

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/13/white-supremacy-takes-the-breath-away-from-black-americans

[napkinz]

113. Goldie Taylor tweet ...