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Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by TheMagicHorsey on Thursday March 24, 2016 @09:40AM (#11352628)
Why would a person ever point a taser with a laser sight at uniformed police in this country?

Yes this is a tragedy, but how are police supposed to react to a gun-like object pointed at them, in the heat of the moment?

Cops get shot also. They are nervous on the job. As we would be, in their position. Are they supposed to react to a pointed gun with understanding and open arms? I just don't think that's practical.

Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by foldr on Thursday March 24, 2016 @09:47AM (#11352691)
Cops always say that they feared for their life when they end up shooting an innocent person. If we just take their word for it, we're effectively saying that there are no circumstances under which we can legitimately criticize the police for killing someone (because the officers involved will always say that they perceived their lives to be in danger).
Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by raverbashing on Thursday March 24, 2016 @09:49AM (#11352715)
Yes, but then the situation is evaluated

One of the reasons for body cameras

Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by foldr on Thursday March 24, 2016 @09:51AM (#11352736)
There isn't any camera footage in this case, is there? There is, on the other hand, witness testimony to the effect that the police are lying.
Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by eli on Thursday March 24, 2016 @09:47AM (#11352683)
Witness Testifies Alex Nieto Never Drew Weapon

http://missionlocal.org/2016/03/witness-testified-alex-nieto...

Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by raldi on Thursday March 24, 2016 @10:06AM (#11352847)
And multiple other witnesses, including non-policemen, testify that he did.
Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by hutzlibu on Thursday March 24, 2016 @09:49AM (#11352710)
Thats the whole point. The victim worked in security - he knew about police work.

So either the police was lying (as one witness said) or they did not identify themself as police

Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by Rapzid on Thursday March 24, 2016 @09:54AM (#11352760)
Not just worked in security; "He had graduated from community college with a focus on criminal justice". The article leads us to believe that they identified themselves from 90ft away near or after dark with "Show me your hands". If they are not lying it certainly sounds like he was not convinced they were police and they did a poor job of identifying themselves.
Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by beachstartup on Thursday March 24, 2016 @09:48AM (#11352702)
> Why would a person ever point a taser with a laser sight at uniformed police in this country?

this is why police continue getting away with it. there are people out there like TheMagicHorsey who just believe everything they say, no matter how ridiculous or nonsensical.

upon hearing something totally and utterly unbelievable, he thinks "this guy was crazy", instead of "the police are lying their asses off to cover their own ass, who you gonna believe, cops or the dead guy?"

and bless his heart, that's probably because he's never had to deal with the police in any meaningful way. good for him. must be nice.

Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by TheMagicHorsey on Tuesday March 29, 2016 @12:38AM (#11379518)
You mustn't make too many assumptions about people with no information in their profiles.

But you should read about the witness testimony in this case before you leap to conclusions.

Have you seen my post history? I'm highly skeptical of state actors, including the American police. But in this case, there seems to be several witnesses backing up the police story.

Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by zahmahkibo on Thursday March 24, 2016 @09:44AM (#11352655)
Please provide evidence he pointed the taser at them.
Re:Death by gentrification: the killing that shamed San Fran... by eric_h on Thursday March 24, 2016 @01:14PM (#11354568)
That police officers get nervous and can be consumed by an adrenaline fueled fight or flight response (while armed) seems to be part of the problem.

I wonder if there's a pharmaceutical solution to this problem that would suppress the adrenaline and the fight or flight response to allow officers to remain cool headed even if someone is threatening them with a gun (or appears to be as was, perhaps, the case in this instance).