watching the video over and over my take is this :
The Subject :
the subject had a bad record and violent history , the subject did not follow police commands and did dumb moves which were taken as a threat by the cops , the subject was not unarmed
The Cops :
poor skills to commit the arrest , the cops let this man walk too much before arresting him to the point that this man was able to resist the arrest and walk to his car , there was no need to shoot him several times if the cops were neutralizing the subject quickly without lethal force before he went to his car
Overall: I think both sides were wrong , the man for resisting the arrest and not following commands and the cops for taking poor decisions and showing low skills to arrest a subject quickly and effectively.
With so many cops there, why wasn’t one coming around from the back of the vehicle. They could have been able to put themselves between the guy and the car door. Monday morning quarterbacking…
As with most things you have to wait a day or three to find out what actually happened. Amazingly it was the Daily Mail (English News) that published the “Whole” video along with the factoids that Blake was a convicted felon, had an outstanding felony arrest warrant and a bad habit of hiding guns in his car as a felon. Struggled with PD and was tazed and went to his car.
Poor optics for the police YUP! 7 rounds in the back is not really a good thing to have on your defense list.
That said here is a lesson you us all. 7 rounds of 9mm into the torso at fair close range. He’s still alive, the only one that stopped him was the spine shot.
It will be interesting to see what the toxicology test comes back with what was in his blood.
I heard word that Mr. Blake was, by local police, “known to carry illegally” and carry in his vehicle. I don’t know how/if this may or may not help them. They also tazed him to no effect. Given those two points the fact he is going directly to the driver’s area of the vehicle would make me take up trigger slack real quick.
Now a rant…
WHO in the hell doesn’t know things are getting serious when cops are yelling with their weapons drawn. And the person they are yelling commands to is YOU! How can anyone justify Mr. Blake’s actions in this situation? Whether he had a gun in the car or not, his actions are directly responsible for the outcome. You can’t force an officer’s hand during an extremely tense situation with your actions then expect to be able to play Monday morning quarterback later! Everyone that does not think this was a justified shooting needs to go through a ‘Shoot/No Shoot’ scenario training exercise. Even if it doesn’t change their mind, they will definitely have a way better understanding of how tense a situation can be and just how fast it happens.
First you respond to a dangerous situation there’s a man holding a knife that’s not compliant. The officers can only be justified if they go home in a coffin. People that say they reacted inappropriately have never been in a situation they could be killed in. As a society we’re really getting to the point we don’t deserve police protection when we have to start defend ourselves and those we love maybe then some will get the point. Comply or suffer the consequences and the rioters will loot the wrong place and be in the same boat.
Don’t resist arrest. A forceful arrest is never going to look pretty on video. Not sure they should have shot him, but I was not the person there that had to make a life or death call in less than a second…
When you have 2 or more officers with weapons drawn, it is time to comply. Call your lawyer and sue if you are treated wrong. Almost all the recent videos of people getting shot by the police were resisting arrest. Don’t do that S###!
Thug? Do you know the man? Ever spoken to the man? Was his kids in the car? Wasn’t his fiancée at the scene? Sounds like a family man to me that didn’t comply with the police. Be careful with those racist dog whistle words. You’re not the only one who picks up on them.
He was a known criminal, had warrants, had a knife, was ARMED… and has been known to have firearms… and was totally ignoring police commands and had already been in a physical altercation.
The world is in a heightened stressful place right now. We do not need infighting among those who believe in the Second Amendment.
Please refrain from name calling of anyone in outside of the Community. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we can be civil and respectful in our disagreement.
I’m still holding out for a little more information. Yesterday there was a photo that came out that he was holding a knife in front of him and said he was getting a gun out of his car, besides being wanted on a sex assault warrant. So if you have an offender with a weapon, refusing to be arrested and potentially getting in a car where there were young children, I’m not sure what the public wants the police to do any more.
The bigger question is, where is the chief and why hasn’t he made a statement yet to put out what he can to try to save his city from any more destruction? If he’s being muzzled by the dem mayor then he has to decide if it’s time to put in his pension paperwork too since after all this he’ll be the scapegoat anyway, he might as well go out doing the right thing and his head held high.
It honestly seems like many in the public have decided. They have decided that no offense should be punished. They want to do whatever they want and not be touched by law enforcement. They feel entitled by their warped worldview and feel they are above the law.
A Republic based on the rule of law cannot exist when such people defy the law and justice. This victim complex and perpetual outrage by the left is out of control. It is feeding on itself in a cycle that is destroying civil society as we know and understand it. They grow more emboldened and defiant by the day. They smell weakness and are exploiting it to levels never seen before in the US.
I have older friends who swear 1968 was not this bad. That is really saying something folks.
Something has to give, and soon. People are afraid, but they are also angry and sick to death of the violence and reckless, unreasoned hate.
As I stated above, withholding judgement till all the facts are out.
That said, the mayor never should have made the statements that he did basically throwing the officers under the bus.
Also, the protests should never have been allowed to get out of hand. Curfews are not being enforced, peaceful protests are being allowed to turn into destructive riots, and as of last night, people are getting killed. Yet no meaningful action to quell the violence. THAT is unacceptable.
Ditto on that. On the news, I heard one of the city officials say that their police officers did not have body cams. He referenced budget issues. Hopefully the officers had their own, if that would be allowed.
Tipping point? A couple of videos I watched today clearly showed home and business owners firing warning shots that did finally scare off the “peaceful” protestors.
“Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers released a statement criticizing the shooting before knowing the full details.
‘While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country,’ Evers said according to the AP. ‘We stand with all those who have and continue to demand justice, equity, and accountability for Black lives in our country …’”
Any police protection he receives should immediately be removed. His comment is horribly reprehensible.