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thismeintiel on 08 July 2016
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method114 said:
thismeintiel said:

And I think it is disgusting to demonize cops when you have hindsight on your side.  Would you have felt the same if it turned out to be a real gun?  If you say yes, you are being niave.  If you say no, then there's your answer.  The cops thought it was real.  Maybe you should rewatch the WHOLE video of that incident, again.  How he bullies people with the gun.  The way he holds it ready in both hands as he walks towards the cops that are pulling up.  Kids aren't always the innocent darlings we wish to make them out to be.

EDIT:  Actually, I have to write a small correction.  Tamir didn't actually have the gun out.  Oh no.  He had it in his hoodie pocket.  As the cops are pulling up, (in the enhanced version) you can clearly see him reaching into the pocket to pull the gun out, that is when they fire.  So, the cops were told the kid had a gun, threatening people, then when they pull up he's walking towards them pulling the gun out of his pocket.  And you people with hindsight on your side like to say he was "only playing" and they should have known it was a toy.  I say this nicely, go pound sand.  That kid knew exactly what he was doing.  He was playing gangsta and got shot doing it.

The fact that you can sit here and say "the kid knew exactly what he was doing" is what's wrong with you. He was 12 years old. He didn't know exactly what he was doing cause if he did he would know it's stupid to pull the gun out infront of cops. I'm not saying the cops should have known. I'm saying they should have given him the benefit of the doubt. Even my CHL instructor told me the same thing and he was disgusted by the shooting.

I don't know what the age limit should be for giving the benefit of the doubt is but 12 is certainly in that age range. At the end of the day it's obvious we wont agree. To you the cops valuing their own lives over the childs is perfectly fine. IMO  they shouldn't have and if it was me I guarantee you I wouldn't have pulled the trigger. The thought of having killed a child without knowing whether it was a gun or not is much worse then death IMO. I'd rather just be dead than kill some innocent kid.

I think the problem is you are seeing this kid as innocent, whereas I do not.  Children that age and younger can, and have, commited horrible crimes.  Now, if he had actually been playing and not intentually bullying passersby, threatening them with a gun, I know I'd feel different.  But this kid felt that having a good time meant bullying random strangers and pointing a gun at cops. He wasn't so innocent.

Botton line, we all have personal responsibility.  And I can say for certain that at age 12 I knew damn better than to act like I was going to shoot a cop that was obviously there for me.  Especially, concelling my weapon so there was 100% no way they could tell it was fake.

But, you are right.  We will have to agree to disagree.  I have to get going, now, anyway.  Appointments to keep.  Still, wish you all the best.