Georgia Tech Student Activist shot dead by campus police

[JA]

How is it at all relevant that he was an LGBT activist, aside from muh identity politics.  Is it believed the police were targeting a gay?

They weren't targeting anyone. They were responding to a call that he was carrying a gun. Turns out he was carrying a knife, and when they tried to get him to drop the weapon, he dared them to shoot him. They obliged.

That's no excuse to shoot him dead. They could've easily neutralized him and contained the situation without taking his life. This is simply excessive use of force.

[JA]

How is it at all relevant that he was an LGBT activist, aside from muh identity politics.  Is it believed the police were targeting a gay?

They weren't targeting anyone. They were responding to a call that he was carrying a gun. Turns out he was carrying a knife, and when they tried to get him to drop the weapon, he dared them to shoot him. They obliged.

That's no excuse to shoot him dead. They could've easily neutralized him and contained the situation without taking his life. This is simply excessive use of force.

And how do you propose they do that without being stabbed?

There's this amazing thing called the human body and there are many places on it where a person may be shot that'd inflict enough pain to neutralize them without inflicting a fatal wound. A competent, well-trained police officer would've been easily capable of making such a shot at that range without endangering himself either.

[JA]

How is it at all relevant that he was an LGBT activist, aside from muh identity politics.  Is it believed the police were targeting a gay?

They weren't targeting anyone. They were responding to a call that he was carrying a gun. Turns out he was carrying a knife, and when they tried to get him to drop the weapon, he dared them to shoot him. They obliged.

That's no excuse to shoot him dead. They could've easily neutralized him and contained the situation without taking his life. This is simply excessive use of force.

And how do you propose they do that without being stabbed?

There's this amazing thing called the human body and there are many places on it where a person may be shot that'd inflict enough pain to neutralize them without inflicting a fatal wound. A competent, well-trained police officer would've been easily capable of making such a shot at that range without endangering himself either.

Please become a police officer. Just please do it. You'll be singing a different tune quickly.

The only new tune I'd be singing is an even stronger support for the outlawing of private ownership of guns and more robust public funding for mental health care, anti-poverty programs, and improved education.

[JA]

How is it at all relevant that he was an LGBT activist, aside from muh identity politics.  Is it believed the police were targeting a gay?

They weren't targeting anyone. They were responding to a call that he was carrying a gun. Turns out he was carrying a knife, and when they tried to get him to drop the weapon, he dared them to shoot him. They obliged.

That's no excuse to shoot him dead. They could've easily neutralized him and contained the situation without taking his life. This is simply excessive use of force.

And how do you propose they do that without being stabbed?

There's this amazing thing called the human body and there are many places on it where a person may be shot that'd inflict enough pain to neutralize them without inflicting a fatal wound. A competent, well-trained police officer would've been easily capable of making such a shot at that range without endangering himself either.

LOL.

It's true. Cops over here are trained to shoot to immobilise rather than kill; hitting the legs or arms.

Even those areas can be deadly.

Being shot practically anywhere has the risk of causing death. However, at least the greatest effort possible was invested into minimizing the chances of a person losing their life. You can't blame a police officer for defending themselves, but you can blame them for intentionally killing a person when it wasn't absolutely necessary.

[JA]

How is it at all relevant that he was an LGBT activist, aside from muh identity politics.  Is it believed the police were targeting a gay?

They weren't targeting anyone. They were responding to a call that he was carrying a gun. Turns out he was carrying a knife, and when they tried to get him to drop the weapon, he dared them to shoot him. They obliged.

That's no excuse to shoot him dead. They could've easily neutralized him and contained the situation without taking his life. This is simply excessive use of force.

And how do you propose they do that without being stabbed?

There's this amazing thing called the human body and there are many places on it where a person may be shot that'd inflict enough pain to neutralize them without inflicting a fatal wound. A competent, well-trained police officer would've been easily capable of making such a shot at that range without endangering himself either.

Please become a police officer. Just please do it. You'll be singing a different tune quickly.

The only new tune I'd be singing is an even stronger support for the outlawing of private ownership of guns and more robust public funding for mental health care, anti-poverty programs, and improved education.

Oh yeah.. advance your politics as a police officer. Would work well lol

Doesn't seem to particularly hurt the ones who harass and gun down low-income and minority Americans...

[JA]

How is it at all relevant that he was an LGBT activist, aside from muh identity politics.  Is it believed the police were targeting a gay?

They weren't targeting anyone. They were responding to a call that he was carrying a gun. Turns out he was carrying a knife, and when they tried to get him to drop the weapon, he dared them to shoot him. They obliged.

That's no excuse to shoot him dead. They could've easily neutralized him and contained the situation without taking his life. This is simply excessive use of force.

And how do you propose they do that without being stabbed?

There's this amazing thing called the human body and there are many places on it where a person may be shot that'd inflict enough pain to neutralize them without inflicting a fatal wound. A competent, well-trained police officer would've been easily capable of making such a shot at that range without endangering himself either.

Please become a police officer. Just please do it. You'll be singing a different tune quickly.

The only new tune I'd be singing is an even stronger support for the outlawing of private ownership of guns and more robust public funding for mental health care, anti-poverty programs, and improved education.

Oh yeah.. advance your politics as a police officer. Would work well lol

Doesn't seem to particularly hurt the ones who harass and gun down low-income and minority Americans...

Oh yeah cops are out to kill the poor and minorities.. one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

I suppose you never bother to read your own posts then...

Considering the harassment, intimidation, profiling, and murder experienced disproportionately by low-income and minority Americans at the hands of our ill-trained, militarized, and institutionally racist and classist police forces, I will stand by what I said. The police officers who engage in such activities are, through their actions on the job, expressing and advancing their moral and political beliefs, which are bigoted.

[JA]

How is it at all relevant that he was an LGBT activist, aside from muh identity politics.  Is it believed the police were targeting a gay?

They weren't targeting anyone. They were responding to a call that he was carrying a gun. Turns out he was carrying a knife, and when they tried to get him to drop the weapon, he dared them to shoot him. They obliged.

That's no excuse to shoot him dead. They could've easily neutralized him and contained the situation without taking his life. This is simply excessive use of force.

And how do you propose they do that without being stabbed?

There's this amazing thing called the human body and there are many places on it where a person may be shot that'd inflict enough pain to neutralize them without inflicting a fatal wound. A competent, well-trained police officer would've been easily capable of making such a shot at that range without endangering himself either.

Please become a police officer. Just please do it. You'll be singing a different tune quickly.

The only new tune I'd be singing is an even stronger support for the outlawing of private ownership of guns and more robust public funding for mental health care, anti-poverty programs, and improved education.

Oh yeah.. advance your politics as a police officer. Would work well lol

Doesn't seem to particularly hurt the ones who harass and gun down low-income and minority Americans...

Oh yeah cops are out to kill the poor and minorities.. one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

I suppose you never bother to read your own posts then...

Considering the harassment, intimidation, profiling, and murder experienced disproportionately by low-income and minority Americans at the hands of our ill-trained, militarized, and institutionally racist and classist police forces, I will stand by what I said. The police officers who engage in such activities are, through their actions on the job, expressing and advancing their moral and political beliefs, which are bigoted.

1. Which posts?

Pick one

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So, out of the literally thousands of police killings in the past few years, you think one example is going to disprove something? If you read what I wrote, I specifically said "experienced disproportionately by low-income and minority Americans;" that means there are cases wherein people who're neither low-income nor minority experience those problems at the hands of police. As for the case of Philando Castile, with what part of institutional racism are you having trouble? It can manifest in the actions of a person of any background; African American cops can be just as or even harsher towards African American suspects than White cops. Just because the cop and suspect belong to the same race doesn't mean racism isn't playing a role.

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No? I never said all police were bigots; police forces as institutions and, arguably, the majority of police as persons are bigoted and frequently work to advance a morally abhorrent agenda, but that doesn't mean every police officer must, by necessity, be a bigot. A person is not the institution, nor is the institution a person; they often act as their own agents. Personally, I wouldn't be a police officer because, among other reasons, I object to many of their practices and the laws they're required to enforce.

[JA]

The idea that it's easy to shoot to wound is a Hollywood fiction.

The police in Finland have a policy to shoot in the legs. From 2003 to 2013 the Finnish police fired their service weapon 122 times. Only 7 of those cases led to a fatality.

This policy was followed even when dealing with the recent terrorist stabber: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Turku_stabbing

Who the hell do you think you are coming into this here thread spouting verifiable facts that contradict the narrative adored by most Americans?!

[JA]

How is it at all relevant that he was an LGBT activist, aside from muh identity politics.  Is it believed the police were targeting a gay?

They weren't targeting anyone. They were responding to a call that he was carrying a gun. Turns out he was carrying a knife, and when they tried to get him to drop the weapon, he dared them to shoot him. They obliged.

That's no excuse to shoot him dead. They could've easily neutralized him and contained the situation without taking his life. This is simply excessive use of force.

And how do you propose they do that without being stabbed?

In ancient times peace officers could do this thing called "talking" which the officers would use before panicking and killing the people they are supposed to protect.

Talking to a suspect signals weakness. We must assert our dominance by firing a pre-emptive strike into their chest.