Don't let it fall on me
The clouds came back today. The stuff on my screen was gray and gloomy, too.
First, Clarence Thomas explained to us the difference between a machine gun on the one hand and a semi-automatic rifle with a bump stock on the other. What a mensch. Reading that opinion felt like watching a horror movie.
Then I saw that those fine Boeing airplanes continue to be a thrill ride. Corporate America will be the death of us all.
But it got worse. Then came Friday afternoon, time for a news dump by the scoundrels. Sure enough, today's when we learn that the Vancouver, Washington police department has broken its silence on the guy they killed last weekend. The deceased now has a name and an age: Vadim Sashchenko, 43. And the cops, having watched all the video many times over, now have their official story all lined up. Everybody knows what to say. He had what looked like a gun. He pointed it at Officer Brandon Riedel.
Both of which statements are true.
A potential problem for the cops, however, is that although the guy did in fact point a gun or a replica of one, he threw it away into the street a split-second before Riedel fired four shots, killing him.
By the time Riedel fired the third and fourth times, the man and the gun are clearly at least 10 feet apart, probably more like 20. Riedel paused between his second and third, and between his third and fourth, shots.
You can watch the whole thing here, all edited and tidied up by the police, if you're willing to watch a homicide. The first four minutes are the crucial part.
Between the time Riedel puts his cruiser into park and time he fires the fourth shot, it's less than seven seconds.
Riedel has now killed three people in four years. He's been on the force for six.
The "investigation" is being led by the Clark County sheriff's department, which knows all about killer cops. They've got a few themselves.
So went Friday.
I am SO sick and tired of this! So much for protect and serve…
ReplyDeleteIt may very well be that the cop didn't see that he had thrown the gun away until it was too late. But the officer seems to have been panicking. He's killed three people in four years. Something's not right.
DeleteI witnessed an early life lesson that smart people argued in court and stupid people argued in the street with a cop
ReplyDeleteThere was no argument; not a word was spoken, as far as i can tell. He give the cop the finger, then pointed a gun right at the patrol car, I get it. But the last shot, after that last pause, when the gun is clearly on the ground in the middle of the street, was questionable in the extreme. Being a jerk and having a vicious dog is not a capital offense, and even if it were, the police are not judge, jury, and executioner. At least not yet.
DeleteWords aren’t the only way to argue
DeleteAnd we all just witnessed a life lesson where apologists are willing to make themselves look ridiculous in order to defend unjustified murder, because reasons.
DeleteIf you take a self-defense firearms course, the two things they pound into you are:
1. never point a firearm at anything you don't want to destroy
2. you are only allowed to use force by law in threatening situations.
If this cop was still firing on this guy when the gun (real / false / etc. doesn't matter in this context) was 10+ feet from him after being voluntarily thrown away, the instant it was thrown away is the instant the threat stopped, and the instant this became murder instead of self defense.
I think the cop did everything he could do. The guy pointed a gun at him, and after that the cop was focused on saving his own life. You can't blame him for not seeing the guy had dropped the gun. Cops are trained to aim for the body mass and not to stop shooting until the subject is down. I think he will be exonerated of any wrong doing. I have a bigger problem with them shooting the dog with the nonlethal round. The dog was scared and confused, not vicious. His ears were up and his tail was down. If one of them would have grabbed the leash the dog would have followed along. I guess the dog was lucky they didn't just put a bullet in his head.
ReplyDeleteWell, of course the cop will be “exonerated.” The question is whether he should be. And maybe there will be a civil lawsuit.
DeleteThe dog is fine. It’s depressing that so many people care more about the dog than the man who was executed for the crime of being mentally ill.
Watch the video again. The perp pointed the gun at the Vancouver officer. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes….
ReplyDeleteYes, and then he threw it into the street.
DeleteSplit second decisions.
DeleteHow many officers have died because they waited?
Always the question with no answer provided. How many police have died? Tell us.
DeleteTragedy. An apparently mentally ill individual points a (fake?) gun at police and get shot and dies. Not sure what other outcome was expected in that situation. You can point to the history of shooting people by this officer but what would others do in this situation?
As to the civil lawsuit to follow, Clark County doesn’t roll over like City of Portland does so we’ll see in a few years.
Cop waits two seconds before deciding to kill the guy. Cop is trained that once the gun is down, you stop shooting. Instead he's trained, "Once you see the gun, you're dead." They used to be brave. They used to heroes. Now, not so much.
ReplyDeleteClark County will pay, just as they're paying now on Kevin Peterson. Bunch of cowboys.