Another Police Killing: Disabled Black Man Holding a Spoon. Racists Online Cheer.

[TorchTheWitch]

21. it says right in the article why the officer shot him

He didn't know he was disabled or that he was holding a spoon rather than a knife until after the fact. He had to make a split second decision when he saw a man charge at him with something shining in his hand. Who among us would not have assumed the same? It's so easy to point the finger of blame after the fact from the comfort and safety of your chair with information only gotten from hindsight. It wasn't you or me that was the one facing the person unknown to be disabled or carrying a spoon that charged at us with something shiny in his hand. Civilians with guns tend to make a lot more mistakes just like this and worse when faced with someone that broke into their home that charges at them with something shiny in their hand but they aren't so easily condemned with information gotten after the fact.

He broke into someone's garage. He charged at the officer. He charged at the officer wielding something shiny in his hand. The officer has no idea that he's disabled and no idea what was in his hand was a spoon and had every reason to believe some nut caught breaking into someone's home charging at him with something shiny in his hand was wielding a knife and intent on using it on him. Is he supposed to wait to get stabbed by the person in order to determine what the shiny thing in his hand was? Was he supposed to just let him attack him with or without a shiny thing in his hand? Disabled or not, shiny thing or not, what was the guy's intension in charging at the officer with a spoon? Cripes, any civilian this happened to would have assumed it was a knife and they were being charged at to be attacked, and if they had a gun would have shot at them, too.

You're just looking for excuses using information from hindsight after the fact to condemn a police officer for shooting a person unknown at the time as disabled that just broke into someone's garage and charged at them with something shiny in their hand that was believed reasonably to be a knife. Never mind how reasonable it was for this officer to believe they were being attacked by a knife wielding assailant that just broke into someone's property and that if it was you that it happened to would have made the same reasonable assumption and that if you had a gun on you very well may have shot at him, too. Though maybe you would have just run away hoping you wouldn't get overtaken by the person and killed. And as a civilian you have that option. A police officer never does. It wasn't you that had to go face whoever broke into this woman's garage or you that was faced with a person charging at them with something in their hand that appeared to be a knife and reasonably assumed to be a knife. How easy it is to play armchair quarterback in hindsight from the safety and comfort of your chair.

It's sad that this disabled spoon wielding guy was killed. But what that officer did was reasonable and correct and any civilian in their position with a gun would likely have done the same thing though a civilian has the option to run away whereas a police officer does not.

Just when is it that you're going to be signing up to do what they have to and *cough* show them all how it's done? *cough* That's right. When hell freezes and pigs fly.