White Lives Don’t Matter, Either

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Watch these California Heroes execute a recalcitrant but unarmed teenager – shooting him again, after he’s on the ground and dying and clearly not armed:

Dylan Noble died in June after police shot him four times, twice as he approached officers, twice while he was on the ground, still moving.

His family thinks Fresno police didn’t need to use deadly force.
An internal affairs investigation will look into whether police procedures were followed and whether there were other options. A review by the district attorney will determine whether the two Fresno police officers should be criminally charged.

“We’re shocked and appalled that the city of Fresno would continue to defend the actions of its officers,” said Stuart Chandler, an attorney for Veronica Noble, Dylan’s mother. “Clearly the only appropriate response is to accept responsibility and commit to changing practices of the police department.”

Note that Noble did not have a rifle or a handgun. The scaredy cat Heroes ended his life in a hail of gunfire because he briefly had one of his hands behind his back.

Two armed Heroes – their guns drawn and pointed at this kid – blew him away on account of that.

It is enough that these Heroes (here it comes, again) “feared for their safety.”

It is truly bizarre that – on the one hand – the public is conditioned to regard these heavily armed, body armor-wearing creatures as “heroic” and yet at the same time conditioned to accept hair-trigger escalation and use of lethal force as the first resort – and not necessarily in response to a lethal threat but rather because the Hero “feared for his safety” – as heroic.

A real hero would have put his “safety” at risk for the sake of a kid who was upset and recalcitrant but hadn’t done more than fail to comply and made a few gestures that implied he might be armed. Real heroes don’t pump 19-year-old kids full of lead because they fear he might be armed.

Keep in mind that if you or I or any other not-cop shot someone and claimed we did so because “we feared for our safety” – without clear evidence of an imminent lethal threat to our own lives –  we’d be arrested and charged with felony murder.

Why are Heroes held to a lesser standard?

 

 

 

 

10 COMMENTS

  1. I’m a bit late to the party here, so forgive me. I haven’t seen anyone mention it, but this guy is obviously committing suicide by cop. It’s clear he understands “visible” precisely because he keeps making motions to keep one hand “not visible” in a way that mimics reaching for, presumably, a weapon of some kind. He even reaches into his waistband area again after being shot, while lying prone.

    Many cops do indeed seem not to care for “any lives” other other than their own. But this is suicide by cop.

  2. I never did figure out how to post a feedblitz from GritsforBfast.com but there’s a study that’s totally flawed and non-scientific that Grudge, Rush Rimball and NYT are spouting as true, no racial bias in cop shootings.

    • I agree, Rich.

      What has to change is the willingness of the public to tolerate vigilante policing. This business of cops prowling around in search of laws to enforce.

      There must be a critical mass turning away from this and back toward the idea of police as peace keepers who pursue people who’ve caused harm (as opposed to violated some law or other).

  3. This very well might not be the one carrying a rifle. Good chance they pulled over an innocent guy and killed him without even the pretense of a traffic violation.

    If he was the guy seen walking he never even had a weapon just a piece of plastic and some clay. Hardly something to be pulled over fot. Then barked at and shot like an animal.

    Fuck that. And fuck whoever wants to blame the victim. Or find an excuse for this cold blooded murder. If you arent outraged by this. You are a complicit asshole. And well deserve the EU/Russian/Chinese Dresden style bombing runs that will eventually come if you dont find your humanity pretty gotdam soon.

    Der tag kommt shitbirds.

    • The original report was of a man wearing camoflauge. Dylan was not wearing camoflauge. As soon as that obvious fact was noted. He should have been released right away. No more dog and pony show. There is no probable cause, thus he must b let go right away and they should resume their search elsewhere.

  4. Eric,

    Why are Heroes held to a lesser standard?

    Duh Eric. It’s the law. (Ok Probably not. It just seems that way.)

    That video was disturbing.

    I do not know what law Dylan violated, but Dylan was stupid.

    • He does not make his hands visible right away. (Maybe hard of hearing?)

    • 3:36 gets out of truck — not good with armed (and apparently nervous) “pheroes”

    • 3:51-4:09 Dylan has his hand behind his back out of sight and told many times to make his hand visible (in addition to go to the ground). I can understand him being shot at this point. I may not agree with it, but I can see it as a reasonable action due to Dylan being an idiot.

    • 4:22 Shooting an individual lying on the ground moving (due to being shot which got him to the ground) must be an example of above and beyond the call of duty. This (above and beyond the call of duty actions ) is what really should get the pheros in trouble. The department will probably say the pheros followed procedure and call it a day.

    • Maybe he wasn’t familiar with the term visible. When Franz asked Django if he were positive of a man’s identity Django said he didn’t know. Turned out Django just didn’t know what positive meant.

      There have been people so stupid I wanted to shoot them but it wouldn’t have been a good excuse. My desire was to raise the IQ of mankind.

      I worked with a guy from Mississippi who finally moved back there. Someone made the comment his moving raised the IQ in Tx. and Mississippi.

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