In this case, it was a Bernalillo County Sheriff's deputy who shot the man. There is video of the incident from a surveillance camera. It's a frightening and violent encounter.
The man's ex-girlfriend seems to agree that he "needed killing."
The way these things tend to go, this event will be used by some to justify most or all police shootings.
Because someone has been a threat or might pose a threat or because the officer 'feared for his life,' any use of force by police has long been considered justified on its face.
The problem in this case is that after the man had rammed his girlfriend's car, had tried to run her down, and had rammed the deputy's car twice, he got out of the truck he was driving and was backing away from the deputy with his hands up when he was shot and killed.
Whether or not he "needed killing," he was not posing a threat at that moment, nor does it appear from the video that he intended to be a threat at that moment.
Does this make it a justified killing or was it a summary execution?
No comments:
Post a Comment