This cop was acquitted of murder and the lesser manslaughter charges. To me the demands he made of this guy freaked him the hell out and he didn’t know which way was up.
He does make a very stupid reach backward that could be interpreted as reaching for a gun, but this cop created the scenario that led to this. He could have simply had him lay prone with his arms out and they could have walked up on him and controlled and cuffed him.
Making the guy crawl towards them makes little sense, unless the cop secretly hoped the guy would f*ck up and he would get to shoot him.
Oh, before you think my statement was a bit over-the-top, this is the cops rifle.
The judge didn’t allow the jury to see the gun because he said it was “too prejudicial.”
You’re damn right it’s prejudicial, it speaks to the state of mind of this cowboy.
Here’s the video.
Had this guy been black, Mesa would be in flames right now.
Another fing murder hiding behind a badge. I’ve been sweating the Your’re Fucked “engraving today”. One of the options on our lowers is “Safe” and “UrFcked” on the safety selector engraving. Not doing it anymore.
Fucking tattooed pajama boy.
A natural born Psychopath, who played too many Video games !
Sanctioned murder. That an Xbox bozo.
Just lay on the ground and wait.
Yet another case where a corrupt judge disallows pertinent information from being presented to the jury because the evidence would make this murderous, government goon “look bad”. I also read that the jury was not allowed to see this video for the same reason – the judge only released the video in the last day or so.
This is a longer video (about 5 minutes) that shows the entire confrontation and proves just how evil this jerk hiding behind a badge (a woman and a man walking out of a motel room and immediately confronted with this hyper-violent cop). It is clear that he was on a severe power trip and that he had malicious intent of intimidating and disrespecting the rights and human dignity of a citizen and killing him simply because he somehow believed that a badge provided him with the authority to do so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBUUx0jUKxc
This “cop” deserves to be put in a supermax prison in general population until he is dead by natural or unnatural causes. This case is just more reason why I personally have lost practically all respect for our “law enforcement” agencies and our “justice” system as things stand today. Even when cops outright murder innocent people, the criminal enterprise that is our government won’t allow their revenue streams and “cash reserves” to be interrupted by holding corrupt individuals accountable.
For those who wonder what happened to the kids at school who had few friends and got picked on a bit. They often times become cops. I actually know a couple that did just that.
To clarify about the video from my above post, I understand that the jury was only allowed to see the few seconds where the murder victim reached behind him (apparently to keep his pants on) and the shooting itself. They weren’t allowed to see the entire scenario in the context in which it occurred.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: cops are nothing more than overgrown schoolyard bullies who found a legal outlet to abuse people.
Why did the cop make the guy crawl? Because it was degrading and allowed him to exercise power over his victim. Because that’s what bullies do. They don’t want to just just hurt you, they want to degrade and humiliate you.
The next cop I meet that’s not a worthless sack of shit will be the first cop I’ve ever met that’s not a worthless sack of shit.
This video almost made me throw up. They were called to someone pointing a rifle out a window. So yeah I get them being a little freaked out. I don’t know if this was the guy someone saw or not, he did have pellet guns in the room. What’s even worse is the idiot giving the instructions was another cop, not the one who shot him. He retired and left the country shortly after this, the cop who pulled the trigger was fired 2 months after he murdered the guy. How the hell would anyone have acted in this scenario, plus add in he was drunk.
Not all cops are bad, but often the case is the bad seeds are protected. I’m sorry I defend some cops, such as the one who shot Brown. Some though should pay for their crimes and never do, many never even go to trial and you never hear about it. I know of two cases where cops shot men while they were handcuffed and on their knees and were ruled justified shots. Another where two cops opened fire on a drunk guy with a hammer in his garage who was several feet away from them and never made a move towards them, it also was ruled a justified shoot. He was well known to the cops, they had made multiple calls to his house before for domestics and it was well known he would blather on for awhile and then go willingly to jail. He was probably a waste of air, but still I don’t like a world where the mentality is shoot first.
Maybe lawyers were different in Shakespeare’s day?
Flat out murder.
The jury did get to see the video, it was only during opening statements where they only saw a few minutes, but the entire video was shown in court.
They just kept it hid from the public until after trial. I can only say I do believe in karma and what goes around comes around. Some day both of these sorry cops will get theirs, we just might never know about it.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/2017/10/26/jury-sees-body-cam-video-ex-mesa-officer-fatally-shooting-unarmed-man/803368001/
I usually give cops a lot of leniency. But this was over the edge. They had him completely subdued. While compliant subject was prone, they could have easily walked up behind him with a set of cuffs and deescalated the situation. This one cop has done irreparable damage to the reputations of honest, competent policemen. He needs to be held accountable.
Neither are being held accountable, the one giving the instructions retired and left the country and the one who pulled the trigger was just acquitted.
The problem today is poor training and lack of common sense and too many rambos.
“STOP! or I’ll SHOOT!”
The smart ones stop and turn themselves in.
The dumb ones GET SHOT!
The rest DON’T RUN.
This used to be legal; there’s a scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life” wherein the cop shoots at the back of the fleeing, unarmed George Bailey.
The 3rd degree used to be legal, until Miranda.
Han shot first and was fully justified.
This is partly attributable to the militarizing of the police. They are trained like soldiers rather than peace officers.
It used to be production of a weapon that instilled the fear of imminent serious bodily injury or death was the test, but this demonstrates it’s now furtive movements that create the same apprehension.
Lesson here is to tell the tatted roid-raging scumbags to kindly shoot you in the back as you lie on your face, arms and legs out, not moving anything under any circumstance.
That was a clear setup for murder. It’s probably Federally-mandated felony-stop type procedure as well, so wire your shit together now on how to keep it from happening to you and yours.
It’s ALWAYS safer to kill unarmed people (unarmed women and children, even more).
Ask any cop.
Ask any raghead.
Ask any random bomber.
Ask any thug in Chicago, New York, St. Louis, Boston, LA, &c.
izlamo delenda est …
This is what happens when you dress up a scared little boy like a man and give him a gun.
Actually, BFH Mesa would not have gone up in flames, because no blacks live in Mesa. That city is the Mormon’s Second City. Only Salt Lake City has more Mormons
Central Phoenix, on the other hand, would have exploded
There seems to be a flaw in AZ law that allowed this cop to escape. There is no involuntary manslaughter charge, where negligent behavior will get you convicted of homicide. You have to show “recklessness”, almost akin to 2nd degree murder.
This whole arrest was handled very poorly. The perp was utterly terrified by the cop and was trying to comply but was paralyzed by fear. How many cops have ever been shot by a sniveling white guy who’s complying with their every request. And the threatening manner of the cops is clearly aggravating the situation.
That by itself would have cleared the bar for involuntary manslaughter — your inappropriate manner caused the behavior that led to the shooting. The dude’s wife will definitely win a wrongful death suit
I didn’t realize this had been posted to IOTW, and sincerely appreciate that it’s getting at least some attention. The video made me sick, since I’ve always felt very pro law enforcement. The disgraceful behavior of both the cops and the judge are absolutely appalling.
I’m pleased to see that most comments reflect my own outrage at this sickening murder by a sicko with a badge.
Good God, the poor guy had kids too. I can’t imagine what they must be feeling about this.