Reply To: The Shooting of an "Unarmed Man"
@Matt, the general answer to all of your points is that, yes, a cop can shoot someone who is disobeying lawful orders and is setting up a situation which is a danger to the cop.
The #1 skill we can teach police to prevent such shootings is how to read minds, because if you’re a cop and someone is coming at you despite your instructions to maintain distance and all themselves to be frisked, you’re not the one who knows what the subject’s intentions are. Only the subject knows whether his appearance of being unarmed is the reality.
This is a picture of one of the knives I own. It’s got an 8″ blade and can be tucked out of sight under a shirt of jacket, but it can be out and in someone’s neck in an instant.
This is why we let cops shoot people who turn out to be unarmed. This is why we are loath to prosecute them or convict them when they are prosecuted.
