The Killing of Rayshard Brooks
We have all the seen the videos of the police chatting with Rayshard in a good way about why he was sleeping in the car due to over consumption of alcohol. Whether parked or moving, since he was behind the wheel of car, it is a DUI. Period. That's not even at issue. At that point, police have no choice but to make the arrest as per their protocols and to enforce the law on the books, which does not give an option to let the DUI walk home. If you are a driver of a vehicle or even a bike while intoxicated on something and the police stop you, its a DUI.
That said, the police and Ray were cordial and all up until the cop told him he was being arrested for it. That is when Ray knew he could not allow it to happen and a scuffle ensued where the two officers tried to handcuff him. That failed when Ray took the cop's stun gun and fired it (I believe) but missed and then took flight down the road trying to escape. Up to this point, no harm to Ray or police bad actions had happened.
Are the cops just suppose to let him run away? Training tells them to pursue. So they do and it is now one officer pulls out his gun and fires Ray in the back twice, killing him. What if Ray had been a shoplifter or busted for crack or whatever? Was the cop justified? This is where training and experience comes in. It varies all too much. Had the cop simply wounded Ray in the leg crippling him, he would be alive and in jail no doubt. End of story. Experience in a cop's aim might have done this. If police are not to use their guns when a criminal is fleeing, at what point is it fine to use? Only if they are threatened? That seems a little unfair and in favor of criminals.
Had Ray simply not ran and accepted his poor decision, he would be alive and blaming himself for the DUI. If he had not grabbed the officers stun gun and fire it, the situation would not had put them in fear of danger or heightened anxiety. That said, all policemen should be trained to not kill but cripple a fleeing suspect in the legs or arms. But that is split second stuff, a decision by both that changed lives forever in different ways.
The cop that fired the shot killing Ray, is now faced with jail for a split second mistake. The DA may try for premeditated murder, but the elements are not there for it but they are for involuntary manslaughter. He didn't mean to kill Ray, only to stop him with a reckless disregard of life. In the end, one shot did not kill, it was the second one that did. It was a bad decision that police face all the time: When should I pull out my weapon?
But the anger expressed is also out of whack with this killing. The whole incident began when a person at Wendy's fast food called police about a suspicious black man in a car in their lot. He had been there awhile giving patrons the creeps. The police arrive to save the day. Then this mayhem event unfolds due to several bad reactions from both sides.
Ray is killed. But then what happens? Angry people and some others who just cause mayhem burn Wendy's down to the ground. WTF? Selfish actions that no doubt many people's jobs and incomes from the same neighborhood!
Makes one think what is THIS really all about.
