Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHow US Police Turn Drivers into Moving Targets
from Guardian UK:
Moving Targets
US police have fatally shot 30 people in moving vehicles this year, despite federal guidelines advising them not to. Why have police departments pulled the trigger on drivers rather than reform?
Tommy Maness had no choice but to shoot, they said.
Called to tackle a supposed late-night fight at a roadside diner in Alexander City, Alabama, the 34-year-old police corporal saw Emerson Crayton Jr, a young black man, hurry into his Ford SUV in the restaurants parking lot and start the engine.
Maness knocked on the drivers window and told Crayton to get out. But Crayton, 21, reversed out of his space. Then he turned his wheels toward Maness, police chief Willie Robinson alleged, and tried to run over the officer. Maness could not get out of the way of the vehicle, so instead he fired his Glock pistol into it at least three times. Crayton, who was unarmed, died from a shot to the head.
According to an Alabama state bureau of investigations file on the shooting obtained by the Guardian, however, things unfolded differently.
Maness acknowledged to investigators that, in fact, he sidestepped the truck as he shot. A recording from his body camera showed that despite the SUV continuing to move forward after the driver was shot, Maness was not struck. Actually, the vehicle swung sharply away from him as it brushed by and headed to the highway.
Its a straight cover-up, Craytons father, Emerson Sr, said at his home in nearby Dadeville. Fact is, the officer did get out the way. Asked about the video footage in an interview in his office, Robinson repeated: People see what they want to see. ....................(more)
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/01/moving-targets-police-shootings-vehicles-the-counted
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
6 replies, 1000 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (13)
ReplyReply to this post
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
How US Police Turn Drivers into Moving Targets (Original Post)
marmar
Sep 2015
OP
So... he "thinks" the vehicle is being driven towards him and decides it's a good idea
cui bono
Sep 2015
#3
AuntPatsy
(9,904 posts)1. We are being watched by the world it seems....
Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)2. K&R nt
cui bono
(19,926 posts)3. So... he "thinks" the vehicle is being driven towards him and decides it's a good idea
to kill the driver, ensuring that the vehicle will then not be able to stop and most assuredly hit him? Yeah, right. Who believed that excuse?
GummyBearz
(2,931 posts)4. The vehical was being driven towards him, and he decided
it's a good time to find out what its like to kill someone without any repercussions... thanks, officer friendly!
edit, just in case:
niyad
(113,343 posts)5. ummm,correct me if I am wrong, but isn't one's first instinct to at least attempt to jump out
of the way of an oncoming vehicle? and, if the officer had time to pull out his gun and fire three shots, one would think he had more than enough time to get out of the way.
niyad
(113,343 posts)6. dear murderous thugs and police:
please do not assume that everyone is as brain-dead as the ammosexuals. some of us actually have more than two brain cells that arc, and know absolute bs when it is being fed to us.