QOTD: A criminal justice expert
by digby
“They don’t like it when people don’t listen to them, and things can quickly become violent when people don’t follow their orders.”
Nice little civil rights you have there. Be a shame if anything happened to them.
That quote is from this excellent article from the Marshall Project about police shootings and how few cops are ever found guilty even if charged with a crime — crimes like shooting unarmed citizens in the back.
It’s a chilling article. And the lack of accountability, endorsed by the public, explains why these incidents continue to happen. The public seems to think that cops should be allowed to beat, torture and shoot people without repercussion. One assumes they wouldn’t feel that way if it happened to them but most people seem to think it won’t.
This is who we are here in the land of the free.
Update: Another one. No harm no foul …
It was a mistake.
That’s the blasé explanation Oklahoma officials gave after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white deputy who accidentally pulled his gun when he meant to use his Taser.
The botched encounter was captured on a disturbing video released by police on Friday — nine days after the fatal Tulsa shooting.
“He shot me! He shot me, man. Oh, my god. I’m losing my breath,” Eric Harris says as he struggles on the ground following the April 2 shooting, which flew under the radar until video emerged a week later.
“F— your breath,” a callous officer can be heard saying. “Shut the f— up!”
Reserve Deputy Robert Bates, 73, shouted “Taser! Taser!” before pulling the trigger on his gun, firing a round into Harris.
“I shot him!” the former policeman says, dropping his gun. “I’m sorry.”
Bates was assisting other deputies who were trying to take Harris into custody after the felon fled from police during a sting operation, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office’s said.
“You shouldn’t have f—–g ran!” another deputy screams, as Harris is held down by his neck and head.
Robert Bates, 73, shot to death suspect Eric Harris in Oklahoma after pulling out his gun instead of his taser, authorities said.
Harris, who was in his 40s, was pronounced dead about an hour after the shooting, authorities said.
He had bolted from officers who were trying to arrest him for selling a 9 mm. semiautomatic pistol and ammunition to undercover cops.
Harris, who was unarmed, had reportedly done time for assault and battery on an officer.
He was “absolutely a threat when going down,” Tulsa Police Sgt. Jim Clark said at a news conference.
Eric Harris was shot and killed by a reserve deputy who fired his gun after mistaking it for his taser, according to a statement from the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s Capt. Billy McKelvey claims the arresting officers were not aware Harris had been shot, despite the gunshot noise and Bates’ admission. They called paramedics and firefighters, and rendered aid when they realized, McKelvey said.
“He made an inadvertent mistake,” McKelvey said.
Sgt. Dave Walker told the Tulsa World that police “would not investigate the death unless the sheriff’s office asked them to, and they have not asked us to.”
.