The Rude Pundit: Video of St. Louis Police Shooting a Man Is Way Fucked Up

[meegbear]

The Rude Pundit ain't gonna pretend to be a cop. He ain't gonna pretend to know what it's like to constantly have to see the worst of humanity behaving in the worst ways possible. And he sure as shit ain't gonna pretend to know what it'd be like to be a cop in any place close to Ferguson, Missouri, these days.

But the video of the police shooting of Kajieme Powell in St. Louis? Well, that's some fucked up shit right there. Watch the whole 6 minute thing if you've got six minutes to take from watching every manner of celebrity and politician and friend waste tubs of water and ice in order for charity.

You'll hear the guy with the cell phone giggling as he follows Powell, who was apparently acting erratically and had just shoplifted a couple of energy drinks. You'll see the cops pull up in the distance and jump out of their car with their guns pointed at Powell, who shouts, "Shoot me" while waving what close-up of the video shows is a fairly small steak knife. And while initial reports said that the police said that Powell was 2-3 feet away from the cops, you can see here, in the very second the cops started shooting, it's a bit more than that:



Another thing that shocks the man filming is the speed with which the cops didn't just shoot Powell dead, but shot him a dozen times. Within seconds of pulling up and getting out, Powell is down, falling forward, off the ledge, landing 2-3 feet from the police officers. So there.

The police will tell you that there was no guarantee that a taser would have worked. They will tell you that they are allowed, if someone is threatening with 20 feet, to shoot to kill. They will tell you that shooting to kill is the only way to assure the officers are safe.

But here's the problem you ought to have with this: Isn't it the job of the police to make sure the public is safe? Until the cops arrived, Powell was a weirdo who stole some shit. But he hadn't threatened anyone. And, as the video clearly shows, Powell was near no one when the police car pulled up. The officers didn't try to talk to him. They didn't back away and give him some space to calm down. Powell even moved from being right near the police to up on the lawn, a bit further away.

Put aside your heroic thoughts that you might have tased Powell or shot him in the leg. Are police in the United States or, at the very least, St. Louis, trained to merely execute someone than to perform the more complicated task of trying to talk them down? Was the first cop just too fucking nervous from everything he had seen in Ferguson so he thought that this was it, that it was go time for the race war? Did they take into account that there were people around who might have gotten caught by a bullet that missed or went through Powell? The cops put handcuffs on Powell after he was on the ground, presumably dead. Was that to make the shooting seem more legit?

And look at what happens after the shooting. The shocked camera guy immediately falls into obeying every cop who shows up (although he bravely does not stop filming). They push people back further and further, to where cell phones cannot film what is happening to the body, making sure what happens next is out of view, from what we've seen so far. How much room do they need to investigate or is it just to ensure the safest cover-up?

Something stinks here. The only question is how far into the trash we'll have to plunge to find its source

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2014/08/video-of-st-louis-police-shooting-man.html

[global1]

1. There Were Two Cops And Just One Powell.....

Why couldn't one cop try and talk Powell down while the other one kept a gun trained on Powell in case he came too close or tried something with the small knife - they say he was brandishing? Instead both cops jumped out of the car and almost immediately began unloading their guns on Powell.

[ybbor]

2. "Isn't the job of the police to make sure the public is safe."

Exactly! Do firemen worry about their lives when they come up to a house on fire with victims inside? I may be completely wrong, but it seems as if they are willing to sacrifice their lives to ensure the safety of others. These cops immediately shoot to kill this guy out of over-exaggerated fear for their lives.

Cops have a tough job, but like firemen, they knew that when they joined up to SERVE the public. Too many are in it for the power and control aspect. Many, it seems, join to have the chance to apply their strongly held prejudices, especially racial ones.

[LiberalArkie]

6. It has been for a very long time that if a person wants to help people and save lives, they become

firemen. However if a person wants to kill and serve themselves they become policemen. Go back to the Elliot Ness era and probably before.

[hootinholler]

16. Actually no

There are court cases where it was upheld that the police do not have a duty to respond or provide protection.

[FiveGoodMen]

31. Then what do we need them for?

[Hoppy]

17. Figure it this way.

If the cops "off" all of the public, then the public is safe. Job successfully completed.

[frylock]

28. firefighters and police are in completely different leagues..

firefighters do their job unquestionably knowing their lives are at risk. cops these days seem to be more concerned with self preservation, and nothing else.

[ybbor]

29. Yes this seems to be true

And firemen seems to be more regular Joes.

Now I do know a lot of the LEOs in the ski town I lived in in CO but they were a whole different breed of people. First of all they moved to a ski town initially, and then got into law enforcement. They were people who I could have a beer with and were totally cool. Unfortunately they are not the norm in these larger forces.

The fireman on the other hand would not only drink with you they would drink you under the table!

[ReRe]

3. K&R

I DID watch the full video not long after it was uploaded. Unbelievable.

My sister and I could have gotten that knife away from that young man with NO GUNS. I guess the cops in MO just gave up trying to talk to people in these situations. The kid did not have a gun. I swear, I have never seen so many wimp cops.

If they are so GD afraid, why in the hell are they cops?

[bullwinkle428]

4. STEAK KNIFE. I guess these cops were terrified by the possibility that

Powell was going to BEHEAD the two of them in one fell swoop if they didn't turn him into a block of Swiss cheese in under 3 seconds.

K&R.

[Dont call me Shirley]

5. Powell was self-immolating, making a political statement

[ecstatic]

7. I agree. Maybe suicidal but also a martyr.

This is yet another extremely disgusting example of how useless and out of control the police are.

[MindPilot]

9. I had not thought of it that way before.

You could be right.

If I that was the goal then all I can say is, well played Mr. Powell; well played.

[SCVDem]

8. When there are TWO cops against one person

They could have drawn nightsticks and circled the man. One would have been able to parry while the other pokes him.

The other option would be to get back into their urban assault vehicle and close the windows while calling for back-up. Then slowly retreat a bit until the situation improves.

A knife doesn't get through auto safety glass.

Either way the man lives.

But that's not the point when the suspect is black, is it?

These cops are poorly trained COWARDS and should be fired!

Cigars, cigarettes and energy drink. That's the cost of a black life.

[Generic Other]

25. I thought the same

A patrol car is as good as an armored tank in this instance.

But that would look like backing down to the pea brained cop. I suspect these dudes talk about shooting to kill all the time. I recall during the Bush years on DU when Miami was having massive cop responses at demonstrations, some secret tape of the boys in blue talking about "shooting to kill" being the best strategy. They really sounded calloused and clearly had a reckless disregard for citizens' lives, particularly protestors. I think they like to brutalize pretty young girls at protests. And clearly, they find sport in brutalizing black men in any situation where they have the opportunity and the sense that they face no risk of consequences for their actions. They are full of bravado. They laugh off their behavior as sending a message to serve as a warning to the rest of the "riffraff."

We have all to one degree or another become fodder in their war against crime. They kill our kids. They taser our seniors. They raid our homes. They harass us rather than help us.

[scmoore120]

11. Suicide by cop.

Based on Rachel's coverage and the cell phone video, This person wanted to provoke a shooting.

1) He shop lifted from 2 stores, one reported him having a knife when calling the police.

2) He did not flee but instead placed the shop lifted items in plain view.

3) He purposely walked toward police pointing guns at him yelling "shoot me".

Personally I think he was trying to re-enact the Michael Brown incident.

[valerief]

20. That's what it looks like, almost like performance art. Bizarre. nt

[Generic Other]

26. And the bystanders knew

They kept telling him to let it go...not to go there.

[alcibiades_mystery]

27. All the more reason to back away, call for EMS, and not kill the man

And it wouldn't be "reenacting the Michael Brown incident," as Michael Brown was unarmed.

[Rex]

12. The video makes the cops look like chickenshit cowards.

Which I guess a lot of them are. They fear an eating utensil, so they unload their clip into his body...and then back up the crowd so there are no pictures. I hope St. Louis is an exception and not the rule.

[ksoze]

13. Fear an "eating utensil"?

So an axe would be a woodcarving aid? Seriously, a crazed person with a knife should make anyone scared. Planes have been hijacked with smaller weapons so not sure you should judge the fear factor based on how you describe a knife which is used frequently to kill.

[Rex]

15. A steak knife? Sorry but they look like two big cowards.

He didn't charge them or attack them. They just unloaded out of fear? Pathetic.

[WillyT]

21. Yep... And Cuffing A Dead Body... I Guess They Were Afraid He Might Rise From The Dead...

Either that, or it was a nice little trick for those filming...

[daleanime]

14. What the hell is wrong with people....

how can anyone approve/justify this shit?

[Fred Sanders]

18. Rude one, I had the same thoughts yesterday. I think a lot of people who watched the video still

defend this indefensible murder that may be worse than Mike Brown...and it is on HD, no need for endless media speculation, which is probably why the mass media is ignoring it, not enough speculation involved to fill the endless cable time with endless prattle.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025422906


"The militarization of the public has led to the militarization of the police force that has to deal with all those 300,000,000 guns...obviously they are afraid of the locked and loaded public, who would not be? All those guns have to be somewhere and they could be anywhere, anytime."

But killing a guy with a steak knife?

Folks, watch the whole video and if you do think this not a omicide you are not thinking clearly.

The badge is not a license to kill. Imagine two men without the badge doing this....it would be murder.

I am not above a little self promotion, so I also present you this, I think you will enjoy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025426367

[valerief]

19. Kwestions Kwestions Kwestions. Not Reasonable Answers.

KKK. NRA. Tools of the oligarchy at work.

[GoneFishin]

22. Fucking panzies. Cower in your car if you are afraid of him. You are supposed to be trained

Last edited Fri Aug 22, 2014, 12:41 PM - Edit history (1)

professionals. If you are going to pee your pants and start shooting whenever someone waves a nail clipper at you then go get a job where you don't need a pair of balls (metaphorically).

[Overseas]

23. Sad K&R. Too much to say.

[Owl]

24. They shot him 9 times (according to one report)? Or perhaps a dozen times?

[jwirr]

30. Having watched it on Rachel I think it may have been suicide by cop but I also think the cops could

have handled it differently.

[Catherine Vincent]

32. That's what I was thinking after I saw the video

"The officers didn't try to talk to him. They didn't back away and give him some space to calm down."

They came out with guns blazing and acted as if they were responding to perps with AK47s robbing a bank! This was just horrible to me and no kind of punishment for these cops. Probably received a medal.

Rest in peace, Kajieme Powell.

[Cha]

33. "Something stinks here. The only question is how far into the trash we'll have to plunge to find

source."

May the investigation find out and eliminate it.

thanks Rude and meegbear

[SammyWinstonJack]

34. REC!