A cop shot and killed an innocent bystander black man in Los Angeles Tuesday AM

Plot Device

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This is one of the worst stories I've heard in a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRNGC6L3gFs




And here are some print media accounts.

LA Times -- Oct. 29 -- Calif cop fatally shoots innocent man in his yard

Detroit Free Pres -- October 29 -- Cop Kills Man by Mistake




His name was Julian Alexander. He was 20 years old, had only just gotten married back on October 19th, and his wife/widow is due to give birth to their first child in December.

The family claims Mr. Alexander heard a noise, so he went out into the fron yard with a broom in his hand, and a cop who had been chasing a burglar shot Alexander twice with no warning. The wife says she ran outside and found her bleeding husband on the ground handcuffed. He died later at the hospital.



This happened in Orange County, in Anaheim. So it's not LA proper (not Rodney King's neighborhood). But this IS the sort of thing that COULD touch off riots. But ....... right before election day??? Right before an election with the first African American presidential candidate???
 

sulong

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When a cop guns down an innocent civilian, its murder, not an accident.
 

Plot Device

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Okay, what are you trying to say here? It was an accident, PD. A tragic accident. Are you trying to attribute some kind of political motivation here?


No. I'm saying:

a) While my heart goes out to that family,

and

b) While I'm sure the cop feels horrible and might very well be criminally guilty of excessive use of force and also guilty of some unprofessional grievances that encompasses his over-reacting and making a very bad call (the names if such grievances are beyond my layman's knowledge),

my ultimate fear is

c) We might be looking at a race riot in LA over this, and such a riot could happen RIGHT BEFORE THE ELECTIONS.

I'm saying the timing of this tragedy sucks. The Universe can be so sadistic at times.






Consider the hindsight-is-cheap words uttered by French Commander Marcel Bigeard as he surveyed the entire travesty now known as the Vietnam War: "If only it had rained that day."









.
 

mscelina

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I see. So you're afraid this will elevate racial tension right before the election. Gotcha.

Seems to me that if that was going to happen, it already would have started though, no?

ETA: but then again, maybe not. It's still early there. Do you have reason to think that this is a possibility? I mean, are there indications from the media or what have you that the situation is getting tenser?
 

Clair Dickson

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Accidents do happen. I hope that's all this was-- but I have to question it. Maybe this cop needed more time to train in where they have bad guy and good guy targets (My mental image is more akin to the scene in MIB, but anyway.) I fear this cop may have made a dreadful mistake in not taking a few seconds longer to assess the situation.

I believe most people try to do their job well. There are, unfortunately, bad cops. There are bad people in every profession.

I'm sure little will happen to this cop, but something should be done to reinforce the notion that a deadly weapon needs to be weilded with care. Maybe training, desk duty, community service-- something to make this guy a little more careful next time he says a black man with a broom. I mean-- honestly, where did he think the guy he was chasing procured a broom?
 

Sheryl Nantus

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if LA rioted every time a black man was shot the city would have burnt to the ground many, many times over.

it's a sad, awful thing but wishing it turns into the King riots is a bit over the top in hyperbole, don't you think?

*rolls eyes*

people can and do riot for lesser things, anyway.
 

Plot Device

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ETA: but then again, maybe not. It's still early there. Do you have reason to think that this is a possibility? I mean, are there indications from the media or what have you that the situation is getting tenser?

To my knowledge this is all only causing lots of lawsuit chatter, not race riot chatter.

So maybe.

The thing is that this is ONLY hitting national attention as of yesterday.
 

Plot Device

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if LA rioted every time a black man was shot the city would have burnt to the ground many, many times over.

it's a sad, awful thing but wishing it turns into the King riots is a bit over the top in hyperbole, don't you think?

*rolls eyes*

people can and do riot for lesser things, anyway.



Um ... who exactly is WISHING that a riot unfolds??? Certainly not me.
 

Plot Device

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Accidents do happen. I hope that's all this was-- but I have to question it. Maybe this cop needed more time to train in where they have bad guy and good guy targets (My mental image is more akin to the scene in MIB, but anyway.)

My 76-year old mother made the same connection! MIB! :D

I fear this cop may have made a dreadful mistake in not taking a few seconds longer to assess the situation.

I believe most people try to do their job well. There are, unfortunately, bad cops. There are bad people in every profession.

I'm sure little will happen to this cop, but something should be done to reinforce the notion that a deadly weapon needs to be weilded with care. Maybe training, desk duty, community service-- something to make this guy a little more careful next time he says a black man with a broom. I mean-- honestly, where did he think the guy he was chasing procured a broom?

The broom MIGHT have looked like a rifle (not that burglars are known to pack rifles), or maybe he was brandishing the broom like a club.

But still-- the cop shot him--twice, with no warning. And then ran over and handcuffed him.
 

mscelina

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Before we rush headlong into a theory of how and or why the police officer acted as he did, we need more information. What do we know of the burglars? Were they carrying weapons of any kind--particularly anything similar to a broom? What kind of timing are we looking at? Did the burglar run around the corner of the house just as the other gentleman stepped out? Was the cop threatened in any way by the suspects he was pursuing?

There are lots of factors that could be in play here. We don't know enough of them to accurately judge.
 

donroc

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Much may depend upon the content of preachers' sermons on Sunday and if certain individuals demagogue the issue.

There can be accidents. I reported a prowler when we lived in Playa del Rey, Ca. When the police pulled up and I went outside to greet them they drew their weapons. It was scary.

Fortunately I was smart enough to hold up my hands with my drivers license in one. The cops thanked me for making their job easy and one said he wished all people would do that when police come to their homes.
 
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Plot Device

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Before we rush headlong into a theory of how and or why the police officer acted as he did, we need more information. What do we know of the burglars? Were they carrying weapons of any kind--particularly anything similar to a broom? What kind of timing are we looking at? Did the burglar run around the corner of the house just as the other gentleman stepped out? Was the cop threatened in any way by the suspects he was pursuing?

There are lots of factors that could be in play here. We don't know enough of them to accurately judge.


I have gleaned the following:

1) The police report is vague, sketchy, and full of omissions, so the lawyers who now represent the widow are pressing very hard for more info.

2) The cop says he was driving through the neighborhood when he saw four teens strolling along. But when he slowed down his cop car with obvious intension to observe them, the four teens started running. He jumped from his cop car and chased them on foot. And then the four teens splintered into four different directions, and ran through yards and hopped fences. He evidently chose to go after one in particular. The cop rounded the corner of one house and that's when he saw some guy standing in the front yard of a house, holding a broomstick. He then fired two shots into the guy with no warning.

3) A breach in correct police procedure has been cited: he made chase on foot while completely alone, and he did NOT radio for backup. Bad move all around.


I do NOT know what time of say it was (might have been just six AM, might have been almost 11 AM, but I really don't know).

I do NOT know if it was a "bad" neighborhood.
 

rugcat

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There are lots of factors that could be in play here. We don't know enough of them to accurately judge.
We have no idea of what the specifics of this situation were. Speculating on it is pointless.

However, no matter what the specifics, it could resonate in the African American community. Bur riots? I don't think so. Riots are the result of long simmering frustration and tension, sparked often by one particular incident. I don't see that level of anger as was present in the sixties, or even the eighties, for example.
 

Plot Device

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We have no idea of what the specifics of this situation were. Speculating on it is pointless.

However, no matter what the specifics, it could resonate in the African American community. Bur riots? I don't think so. Riots are the result of long simmering frustration and tension, sparked often by one particular incident. I don't see that level of anger as was present in the sixties, or even the eighties, for example.


Well in that case ... anyone here know anything about the socio-political climate in Anaheim??
 

Del

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I have seen nothing to identify the race of the cop. Hopefully no one is going to assume there is a racial issue before he is identified...that would be racist.

What bothers me is how a cop can be this criminally negligent in his judgment and still get paid while he sits at home. If I accidentally killed someone I'd go to jail. Hell, I went to jail when someone trying to exact revenge on me said I hit them with my car. That this cop gets a paid vacation for killing an innocent man sort of pisses me off. That lethal force was intended before a crime had been confirmed is a bit distressing too.
 

Plot Device

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The youtube link is entitled: DN! LA COP EXECUTES BLACK MAN.

:rolleyes:



I know. That YouTube guy is VERY radical and goes for full-tilt sensationalism as far as the titles he slaps onto all his YouTube clips. But he's a huge fan of "Democracy Now" in spite of the fact that "Democracy Now" is a very level-headed news report, IMO, on par in dryness, factualness, and staid style of oratory with "The PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer." It's just a little silly when that guy uses such super-sensationalist titles for all those dry, factual, staid "Democracy Now" clips he posts.
 

roncouch

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In 2005, 55 cops were killed in the line of duty. Another 67 were accidentally killed. There were over 57,000 officers assualted. Most all the officers killed worked for city police departments. We don't hear anything about rioting when a cop is gunned down. (USAToday)
 
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WendyNYC

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Well that's certainly helpful.

No need to get snotty. It's too big to have just one socio-political climate.
About 375,000 people live there and it covers a large area. Some areas are nice, some not so nice. I'd guess that the largest percentage of the population is white, followed by Hispanic or Asian.

It probably leans Republican.

It's very different from LA. I've lived in both LA and OC.