In a message dated 12/11/01 7:04:29 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: << > I don't like these splitting hair arguments, but there have been plenty
> of police who have legally killed individuals who were not firing > weapons at the officers. The Learning Channel, or some show like it, > showed police in LA killing the driver of a stolen army tank. The tank > had killed no one, just caused massive destruction. The tank was > stopped, it had driven onto a concrete wall and broken it's track. The > police rushed the tank, popped the top, and told the guy to get out. > When he didn't....bang. No tear gas, no wounding shot. Sounds like excessive force to me. Tear gas would almost certainly have forced him out of the tank. But then, this *is* the LAPD of course; they do have a reputation to think of... :-) >> Consider this nitpicking, but.... I can't, really just *cannot* believe I'm about to defend the LAPD of all groups, but second or third-hand stories rarely provide a complete picture. You assume you know the full situation from the description. Do you know if the tank driver was armed and threatening? Did the cop have the ability to shoot to disable? IMO, you shouldn't say 'tear gas would have forced him out of the tank' without knowing the full picture. You don't know the answer to the question: Did the cop think he himself was in imminent danger? If so, according to US law, he would have been justified in using force -- possibly deadly force -- to defend himself. That's probably what the jury thought too. If not, well, it *was* the LAPD. God forbid the thief was Black or Latin, or he'd have been crucified, not just shot to death. Along the same lines: About ten years ago, the Guardian ran commercials which told the same story from three separate points of view and three different camera angles. 1) A young, guilty-looking man running away from a police car. 2) The same man, running away from the police car and about to run into an old woman and (we presume) mug her. 3) The same man, hurling himself at a woman, knocking her down and saving her life from a huge piece of debris falling from a building. The commercial's catch-phrase: We give you the full picture of today's important events. Jon
