SWB: Shopping While Black

[Iron Dog]

Or you could be smart and not wave something that looks remarkably like a real gun at the police.

Being stupid is not a capital offense, last I checked.

If a police officer orders you to drop a weapon or something that looks like one, and you refuse, then you should win a Darwin Award.

[The Sotoan Union]

Or you could be smart and not wave something that looks remarkably like a real gun at the police.

Being stupid is not a capital offense, last I checked.

Heat of the moment dude. They were just following training, and an on duty cop isn't as calm as someone just sitting in front of a computer.

It doesn't justify it, but it's why it happened.

[Maurepas]

Being stupid is not a capital offense, last I checked.

If a police officer orders you to drop a weapon or something that looks like one, and you refuse, then you should win a Darwin Award.

Maybe, but that doesn't mean a cop has a right to make it happen.

[Wisconsin9]

Being stupid is not a capital offense, last I checked.

If a police officer orders you to drop a weapon or something that looks like one, and you refuse, then you should win a Darwin Award.

Being stupid is not a capital offense. Not even being exceptionally stupid.

[Mavorpen]

And I can injure people with a bat. Guess I should just expect the cops to be called on me should I ever decide to buy a bat at walmart because I'm black, right?

There's a huge difference with carrying a bat around, and carrying a gun around.

Except, we're not talking about a gun. We're talking about a TOY gun. And quite frankly, I could do a shit ton more damage with a bat.

And yes, if you're waving a bat at people in a threatening manner, you should be expecting the cops to be called on you.

And since there is no legitimate evidence of the man doing this, this is irrelevant as hell.

[Other Thafoo]

but you know what we can all agree on no matter our politics

that it is a bad thing that a person died, no one likes it when a person dies

[Maurepas]

Being stupid is not a capital offense, last I checked.

Heat of the moment dude. They were just following training, and an on duty cop isn't as calm as someone just sitting in front of a computer.

It doesn't justify it, but it's why it happened.

If a cop can't handle the "heat of the moment" then that training was a failure. If you're trained well you should be as calm on duty as a cop as you are in front of a computer, if you're not or you can't accomplish that feat then you shouldn't be on the force.

[Gauthier]

Since it seems WalMarts are open carry stores, a test would be in order. Have two men walk in at the same time, both open carrying the exact same firearm. One white, one black. And see who gets the cops called on him.

[Benian Republic]

The best part is that if he was white, Ritchie would have probably just considered him a patriotic american defending his second amendment right by open carrying. Because if you're white, you can carry weapons in a wal-mart. But fuck me, don't let that n_gger touch the air guns.

Well it's just as the Founding Fathers intended. They only have access to 3/5s of the Constitution.

Black people didn't count back then

[Iron Dog]

There's a huge difference with carrying a bat around, and carrying a gun around.

Except, we're not talking about a gun. We're talking about a TOY gun. And quite frankly, I could do a shit ton more damage with a bat.

And yes, if you're waving a bat at people in a threatening manner, you should be expecting the cops to be called on you.

And since neither did this man do this, this is irrelevant as hell.

Um read the other links that have been posted, they says he was waving it around.

[Gauthier]

Well it's just as the Founding Fathers intended. They only have access to 3/5s of the Constitution.

Black people didn't count back then

Actually blacks counted as 3/5th of white people for votes.

[Earth in Roughly 1000 Years]

I didn't "flip out", please don't use a tone argument. I'm assuming they didn't feel threatened, because there is nothing to tell me they felt threatened, because no one said they felt threatened. Since no one claimed to feel threatened, I don't have reason to think they felt threatened.

Yeah, you did. Right but your original argument was that they didn't feel threatened, not that you assumed they didn't. Two different things. Thanks for conceding your argument though.

And did that somehow impede you from attempting to describe the situation to the police? Because that's what we're talking about.

Yes, absolutely, I was unable to talk at all for a few hours.

You haven't shown be why they would feel judged.

I don't need to, I my argument was that just because they didn't report it doesn't mean they didn't feel threatened.

[Mavorpen]

Um read the other links that have been posted, they says he was waving it around.

No, the guy who called the cops CLAIMS he was waving it around. And since we have no other witnesses (witnesses he CLAIM were being threatened by it) verifying his claim, we can assume he's full of shit.

[Earth in Roughly 1000 Years]

but you know what we can all agree on no matter our politics

that it is a bad thing that a person died, no one likes it when a person dies

Agreed.

[Infected Mushroom]

Um read the other links that have been posted, they says he was waving it around.

No, the guy who called the cops CLAIMS he was waving it around. And since we have no other witnesses (witnesses he CLAIM were being threatened by it) verifying his claim, we can assume he's full of shit.

not really, we can't assume it

maybe they were distracted by other things

[Nazi Flower Power]

You'd think the title is a joke, but it's not.

22 year old John Crawford was shot and killed by police, in an Ohio Walmart store.

His crime? Shopping for an air gun in the store. His sentence? Death by cop.

Poor guy.

Should the dumbass who called the police face time for this?

No. He did not shoot the guy and had no way of knowing the cops would handle it so badly. Being probably racist is not a crime, he honestly misunderstood the situation, and there is nothing wrong with calling the cops to report something that you think is a crime in progress.

This is the cops' fault for shooting first and asking questions later.

[Maurepas]

Since it seems WalMarts are open carry stores, a test would be in order. Have two men walk in at the same time, both open carrying the exact same firearm. One white, one black. And see who gets the cops called on him.

I smell a "What Would You Do?" premise here...

[The Sotoan Union]

Heat of the moment dude. They were just following training, and an on duty cop isn't as calm as someone just sitting in front of a computer.

It doesn't justify it, but it's why it happened.

If a cop can't handle the "heat of the moment" then that training was a failure. If you're trained well you should be as calm on duty as a cop as you are in front of a computer, if you're not or you can't accomplish that feat then you shouldn't be on the force.

I don't think you know what it's like to have people point guns at you. Or the horrible feeling of quickly trying to decide whether what looks like a gun is a gun or not, and why is this man not putting down the gun, and you were told in training that hesitating in these situations can be extremely dangerous, and HOLY SHIT WHY ISN'T THIS MAN PUTTING DOWN THE FUCKING GUN!

[Mavorpen]

No, the guy who called the cops CLAIMS he was waving it around. And since we have no other witnesses (witnesses he CLAIM were being threatened by it) verifying his claim, we can assume he's full of shit.

not really, we can't assume it

maybe they were distracted by other things

What the actual fuck? You're telling me he's the ONLY one who noticed a person supposedly waving around a "real gun"? Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

[Maurepas]

If a cop can't handle the "heat of the moment" then that training was a failure. If you're trained well you should be as calm on duty as a cop as you are in front of a computer, if you're not or you can't accomplish that feat then you shouldn't be on the force.

I don't think you know what it's like to have people point guns at you. Or the horrible feeling of quickly trying to decide whether what looks like a gun is a gun or not, and why is this man not putting down the gun, and you were told in training that hesitating in these situations can be extremely dangerous, and HOLY SHIT WHY ISN'T THIS MAN PUTTING DOWN THE FUCKING GUN!

You're right, I don't, that's why I'm not a cop. A cop has to be used to it, has to be prepared for it, and has to be able to tell the difference between a toy and an actual weapon, and be calm and collected enough to do it.

If they're not able to accomplish that feat, then they shouldn't be cops. They can do as I do and sit on a computer and talk about cops, because that's all they're good for with regard to police work.

[Infected Mushroom]

If a cop can't handle the "heat of the moment" then that training was a failure. If you're trained well you should be as calm on duty as a cop as you are in front of a computer, if you're not or you can't accomplish that feat then you shouldn't be on the force.

I don't think you know what it's like to have people point guns at you. Or the horrible feeling of quickly trying to decide whether what looks like a gun is a gun or not, and why is this man not putting down the gun, and you were told in training that hesitating in these situations can be extremely dangerous, and HOLY SHIT WHY ISN'T THIS MAN PUTTING DOWN THE FUCKING GUN!

this is a good point

the police have to make life-and-death decisions on a regular basis. Its a very stressful job, given the situation (they were called in about a suspect armed with a gun), and the fact that he refused to drop the gun while waving it around... I think they made a reasonable, if ultimately wrong call.

No one should face any prosecution because there was no malice on the part of anyone (I'm sure the person did not prank call the police, he felt genuinely threatened). The death is regretable though.

[Polkopia]

There's a huge difference with carrying a bat around, and carrying a gun around.

Except, we're not talking about a gun. We're talking about a TOY gun. And quite frankly, I could do a shit ton more damage with a bat.

And yes, if you're waving a bat at people in a threatening manner, you should be expecting the cops to be called on you.

And since there is no legitimate evidence of the man doing this, this is irrelevant as hell.

How is it irrelevant? The only eyewitness who spoke out so far claims he was waving it.

Plus, the gun shot BB's and pellets. I'm pretty sure you could deal quite a bit of damage with one of those if used right.

[Earth in Roughly 1000 Years]

I do know how google works, when someone ask you for a source, all you have to do is provide it. Snarkiness is not required, especially when no one was snarky to you in the first place.

By starting with "I'm not calling you a liar but", the second half is implied to be read "But I'm calling you a liar". I don't like being called a liar.

Edit: I just saw your edit. I see you thought I was referring to the OP case and misread my post. In that case, I'm sorry for the confusion we both faced. Peace?

Yeah, sorry about that. I never mean to sound uncivil when inquiring initially, I am not the best writer though.

[Infected Mushroom]

not really, we can't assume it

maybe they were distracted by other things

What the actual fuck? You're telling me he's the ONLY one who noticed a person supposedly waving around a "real gun"? Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

i'm sure we all have experienced instances in our lives where we were the only ones in the room to notice something, even something quite extraordinary

[Mavorpen]

How is it irrelevant? The only eyewitness who spoke out so far claims he was waving it.

Right, and not a single person has verified that claim, despite the fact that the guy was supposedly pointing it at people.

Plus, the gun shot BB's and pellets. I'm pretty sure you could deal quite a bit of damage with one of those if used right.

And?