Akron police release results of Jayland Walker internal investigation; finds use of force 'objectively reasonable' by officers
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Jayland Walker was fatally shot by eight members of the Akron Police Department on June 27, 2022. The Walker family has filed a $45M lawsuit against the city.
  • dragnet@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    131·
    11 months ago

    So according to the article:

    • He had already shot at the police, and they did not know he was no longer armed when later they shot back
    • They attempted to tase him before resorting to deadly force
    • At the end, when capture was inevitable, he reached for his waistband and mimicked drawing and pointing a weapon, making this more of an intentional provocation to lethal force as an alternative to incarceration

    If the first fact is truthful, this guy is responsible for making the situation a matter of life and death in the first place. If the second is truthful, the police attempted to resolve the situation without causing undue harm. If the third is truthful, then why would you expect or even want the police response not to involve shooting first?

    Police do a lot of heinous things because we keep allowing them to get away with it. Maybe this situation was even one of them, if they lied about the facts. But if so, this article doesn’t support that position very well.

    • Doug Holland@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      44·
      11 months ago

      The first thing to remember is that most TV news coverage of police incidents, life this one, are based on police press releases. For additional perspective, WKYC also quotes the Fraternal Order of Police, and inserts a supportive press release from the Mayor-Elect’s office. Not everything’s in there, but everything there is from one perspective.

      It’s the official story, and for those who choose to believe official stories, it’s The End. If you’re convinced this was a righteous kill, that was the intent.

      When cops speak, especially cops after a questionable incident, they are at least as likely to be lying as Donald Trump. From decades digging into police misconduct, I believe next-to-nothing from cops but unedited & unredacted bodycam video, or footage filmed by bystanders.

      For a different perspective, start with the family’s lawsuit PDF, here., which casts doubt that Mr Walker fired even a single shot toward officers, who soon fired more than 90 shots at him, by eight cops aiming at an unarmed man.

      I don’t know how many bullets an Akron standard-issue police gun holds; if it’s they’re less than 12-shooters, some officers would’ve needed to reload.

      • dragnet@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        51·
        11 months ago

        I’m well aware that articles have bias and the police are unduly trusted. But if articles like this are the standard for police wrongdoing, then we’re saying that we should automatically side against the police in all scenarios where they use force. If that is not a self-evidently moronic point of view, then you are beyond helping until that changes.

        That last bit is not directed toward you. You are providing more perspectives backed by sources, which is the reasonable place to start.

      • michaelmrose@lemmy.worldEnglish
        21·
        11 months ago

        It appears to say he wasn’t firing AT them not that he didn’t discharge his weapon. So he fired a gun while being conspicuously followed by the police then ran.

        Maybe we should focus on situations like justice for the young teen they jumped out of their car and gunned down before the car could even stop who wasn’t pointing his bb gun at anyone rather than dumbasses who try to scare away pursuing cops with actual gun fire and get shot. Would be be alive if he was white? Probably? Is that fair? No. Would our time be better spent on actionable situations. Yes.

  • sharpiemarker@feddit.deEnglish
    52·
    11 months ago

    I hate how often I come to these comment threads to post “Jesus Fucking Christ…”