Video Shows Officer Fatally Shooting Unarmed, Pleading Man

[Mockingbird]

Quote

 

Newly released body camera footage shows a police officer shooting an unarmed man in an Arizona hotel after the man sobbed and pleaded with officers not to shoot him.

 

The graphic video, which was released after a jury on Thursday acquitted the officer of murder and manslaughter charges, stoked outrage on social media and renewed calls for reforms in law enforcement.

 

 

“This, to me, is the most horrific shooting I’ve ever seen,” Mark Geragos, a lawyer for the widow and the 5- and 8-year-old daughters of the man, Daniel Shaver, 26, said in an interview on Saturday. Mr. Geragos, who said he had seen thousands of body camera videos, said the footage was evidence of “the criminal justice system at its worst.”

 

On Jan. 18, 2016, six officers were called to a La Quinta Inn and Suites in Mesa, Ariz., after guests reported seeing a man with a gun in the window of a fifth-floor room. The video showed Mr. Shaver and a woman walking into a hallway as Philip Brailsford, a two-year veteran of the Mesa Police Department who was wearing the body camera, trained an AR-15 rifle on them.

 

Another officer can be heard ordering them to get on the floor and threatening to shoot if they do not comply.

 

“If you make a mistake, another mistake, there is a very severe possibility you’re both going to get shot,” the officer says in the video. He shouts at Mr. Shaver, “If you move, we are going to consider that a threat, and we are going to deal with it, and you may not survive it.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Mr. Shaver says at one point. “Please do not shoot me,” he says at another.

 

The officer’s commands at times seemed contradictory.

 

“Do not put your hands down for any reason,” he tells Mr. Shaver. “Your hands go back in the small of your back or down, we are going to shoot you, do you understand me?”

 

“Yes, sir,” a tearful Mr. Shaver responds.

 

But immediately after, the officer commands, “Crawl towards me,” prompting Mr. Shaver to lower his hands to the floor and begin moving toward the camera.

 

 

A few seconds after beginning to crawl, Mr. Shaver twists slightly to his right, his elbow pointing upward. As someone shouts, “Don’t!” Officer Brailsford begins firing.

 

During his trial, Officer Brailsford testified that he had fired five times, The Arizona Republic reported.

 

[...]

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/us/police-shooting-video-arizona.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

[T3X4S]

Its horrible that it happened - and it shouldn't have.  But I will play devil's advocate and say - how many times do you have to tell someone not to do something ?
Did it deserve deadly force ?  HELL NO - why not tase him ?
It was obvious the 90lb little cop loves giving demands and throwing his position around - but damn that idiot would not listen.
Again - NO reason to shoot him.... NONE.
Its horrible that the little girls are without their father because of some punk kid who saw Judge Dredd too many times.
Tase/ non-lethal projectiles would have been perfect for this situation.  But, I am, not a cop, I do not know what its like to be in that position, I'm sure emotions/adrenaline are sky high....BUT - no reason for deadly force.

That cop should have his badge taken away for life.

[Circaflex]

That was sickening to watch. That cop is a coward.

[The Evil Overlord]

I saw this on my twitter feed... Didn't this happen last year, and the video was only released recently?
Still sick to shoot an unarmed man, on all four, crying and begging the cop not to shoot.

[Mockingbird]

23 minutes ago, The Evil Overlord said:

I saw this on my twitter feed... Didn't this happen last year, and the video was only released recently?
Still sick to shoot an unarmed man, on all four, crying and begging the cop not to shoot.

It's murder: that's what it is.

 

Police brutality is a huge problem.

 

Unfortunately, groups like Black Lives Matter made it to be about race when it's a much bigger problem.

 

The reason we are not seeing major reforms right now is that when these groups make it about race, they take attention away from the real problem.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

I would even go on to say that groups like Black Lives Matter do disservice to blacks.

 

When my relatives (my mother is from Alabama) hear about police shooting an unarmed black man, they roll their eyes.

 

Now, if they were to hear about police shooting an unarmed black man, they would express more concern.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Mockingbird

[300z]

20 minutes ago, The Evil Overlord said:

I saw this on my twitter feed... Didn't this happen last year, and the video was only released recently?
Still sick to shoot an unarmed man, on all four, crying and begging the cop not to shoot.

Yes, this isn't new. That cop is a crazy ###### who shouldn't be anywhere near a badge, let alone a gun. Last year there was a couple stories about his AR15. 

[macrosslover]

36 minutes ago, The Evil Overlord said:

I saw this on my twitter feed... Didn't this happen last year, and the video was only released recently?
Still sick to shoot an unarmed man, on all four, crying and begging the cop not to shoot.

The cop already went to trial and wait for it.......was found not guilty.  Once again a jury of reasonable people and not the social media mafia has determined that this was not murder.  A terrible tragedy yes, but not murder.  The video was released by the judge upon the conclusion of the trail.

 

The commands he gave the guy are normal commands given in these types of situations.  They (a woman was with him and taken with no incident) were even asked prior to this if they were drunk or couldn't comprehend the instructions and they both said no.  This guy died because he couldn't listen to basic instructions, I initially thought he went for a gun.  It was only after watching it multiple times did I realize he was pulling up his shorts.

 

We had that luxury, the cop had to make a decision in a split second.  Guess wrong and he could die or guess wrong and you shoot an unarmed man.  Thankfully cops aren't judged by the power of hindsight and 20/20 or we wouldn't have any police in this country.   I know the anarchists would love to see that day, but most of us would rather not.

[wakjak]

10 minutes ago, 300z said:

Last year there was a couple stories about his AR15

 

Like how it was engraved "You're F###ed".  And they still let him get away with murder.

[Circaflex]

Another article I read, stated he is no longer an Arizona Police Officer.

[boo_star]

6 minutes ago, wakjak said:

 

Like how it was engraved "You're F###ed".  And they still let him get away with murder.

According to the article the judge didn't let them tell the jury about that.

[macrosslover]

16 minutes ago, Circaflex said:

Another article I read, stated he is no longer an Arizona Police Officer.

No his department fired him almost immediately after the shooting.  However, their official reason was that he violated policies in an unrelated matter, not this one.  That's become the norm for almost all police shootings today, in this hypersensitive media environment, any police shooting good or bad will likely cost the officer his/her job with that department.

[DocM]

1 hour ago, boo_star said:

2 hours ago, wakjak said:

 

Like how it was engraved "You're F###ed".  And they still let him get away with murder.

According to the article the judge didn't let them tell the jury about that.

Because that writing wasn't written by the officer, it was a label on a piece of accessory equipment, which was department approved. These can be ejector port covers, charging handles etc.  It therefore did not address the officers current State of Mind and was not germane.

 

Also; he was told not to move his hand towards his back again or he'd be shot, having done it with both hands previously. What did he do? He moved a few feet, then moved his hand towards his back again. Third strike.

 

Actions have consequences, and that is the exact move done to draw a handgun from the back of ones pants - a common carry location.

 

As for using a Taser, that would not have worked.

 

First, he was too far away. The Taser company representative said so, and in fast-moving events like this a Taser is the wrong tool. 

 

Second, he was near a door. In this kind of situation there's always the possibility that he lied and there is a third person in the room. That person could be armed, ready to ambush any officer who tries to get closer.

 

And guess what? There were guns in the room.

 

Sometimes there is no good solution.

 

The testimony in this trial by people who do firearms training, supervisors, and other experts was that this was a good shoot and they would have shot under the same circumstances.

 

I agree.

Edited December 10, 2017 by DocM

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Former Officer Brailsford thought he was playing a video game. He definitely has a problem with those "protect the hostages" missions.

 

2 hours ago, DocM said:

in fast-moving events like this

My perception of time could be different, but it seemed to me that they had plenty of time.

 

I've watched many videos of this sort, the pattern is the same.

 

Crazy trigger-happy cops (who should never have been recruited in the first place) arrive at a scene all pumped up. They purposefully abuse their authority, give complex and conflicting messages to their victims in order to confuse them so they can have an excuse to pull their triggers, act in a completely unprofessional manner, lose it first themselves, start screaming like girls, and then shoot multiple times to kill without giving a warning shot.

 

How can they be acquitted of any wrongdoing is beyond my understanding.

[macrosslover]

20 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

without giving a warning shot.

 

There is no police department in the United States that would authorize the use of warning shots.  Every shot must be accounted for.  Where would he have shot a warning in this particular situation, that wouldn't have endangered the life or some random person?  That bullet isn't going to magically stop because it's a warning shot.

[DocM]

2 hours ago, Mirumir said:

>

My perception of time could be different, but it seemed to me that they had plenty of time.

Not from the time that he put his hand behind his back, the third time if you count the once each for both hands when he first received a warning. 

 

The average draw and fire from the waist is about 1 second, and you have to react before they start moving their hand forward. Most people have a reaction time of .25 to .40 seconds, including cops, which you have to subtract from that 1 second. 

 

The remainder is the amount of time the cop has to make his decision. 

 

Quote

They purposefully abuse their authority, give complex and conflicting messages to their victims in order to confuse them so they can have an excuse to pull their triggers, act in a completely 

 

There was nothing confusing about the instructions he was given. 'Get on your knees, put your hands behind your head, crawl towards me.' Any child knows how to crawl using just their knees. The woman he was with executed those commands absolutely perfectly.

 

Quote

unprofessional manner, lose it first themselves, start screaming like girls, 

 

He was speaking clearly and loudly, just as they are trained to do. If he didn't understand what the cop said he had something in his ears.

 

Quote

andvthen shoot multiple times to kill without giving a warning shot.

 

Warning shots are illegal in the vast majority of US jurisdictions, and a cop can be fired for using them. They too often ricochet or fly through structures, striking innocent parties downrange. 

 

Shot straight up, they can still come down with enough velocity to seriously injure someone. They are are no safer than  holiday revelers shooting guns in the air on New Year's, practice which public service announcements discourage and for damn good reason.

 

There was a case last summer in the Detroit area where some moron fired a .weapon upwards. It came down, passed through through the roof of a house and barely missed a 14 year old girl on the second floor.  Buried itself in the floor, it did.

 

Quote

How can they be acquitted of any wrongdoing is beyond my understanding.

 

Because the jury was told by numerous firearms and training experts that the cops actions were correct and they would have fired in the same circumstances.

Edited December 10, 2017 by DocM

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

1 hour ago, DocM said:

 

Before the victim was told to crawl to the officer, he was lying on the floor face down, buttocks up. It was visible at that point that he had nothing to hide in his waist. 

 

The rules of engagement need to be revamped.

 

Why couldn't they just come up to the room, knock its door, and ask if everything was ok? If they could come in and search it?

 

There was no need for this macho cop show. The idiot with a gun was standing in the hallway several meters away from the hotel-room, being completely unstable. 

 

Law enforcement officers' first priority when arriving at a scene should be to cool things down, not *beap* heat them up and go berserk.

[DocM]

3 hours ago, Mirumir said:

Before the victim was told to crawl to the officer, he was lying on the floor face down, buttocks up. It was visible at that point that he had nothing to hide in his waist. 

>

 

Sorry to disagree, but it is not clear. There are inside the waistband holsters for very small weapons like the Ruger LCP which could hide it inside the pants and not be easily seen at that distance.  Extra points if the tail of his shirt covers his belt. My wife has an LCP and it's so small it can be hidden in a bra holster.

 

This is not the smallest of the concealable carry weapons, but it can drop you dead as Caesar. .

 

 

 

[ctebah]

Lock the cop up for the rest of his life and set the precedent for the rest of cops that think about doing anything similar.

[+Warwagon MVC]

That cop had some major issues, he was yelling at him even as he's complying with everything he was saying. That video is obviously clear that he was going shoot that guy no matter what. He had an itchy trigger finger. I'm actually surprised he didn't shoot the guy sooner. If that guy had farted he would have shot him.

[DocM]

Why, because he used a strong, firm voice with unambiguous warnings? That's how they are trained to do it.

[ctebah]

13 minutes ago, DocM said:

Why, because he used a strong, firm voice with unambiguous warnings? That's how they are trained to do it.

No, watch the video again.

[The Evil Overlord]

10 hours ago, macrosslover said:

The cop already went to trial and wait for it.......was found not guilty.  Once again a jury of reasonable people and not the social media mafia has determined that this was not murder.  A terrible tragedy yes, but not murder.  The video was released by the judge upon the conclusion of the trail.

 

The commands he gave the guy are normal commands given in these types of situations.  They (a woman was with him and taken with no incident) were even asked prior to this if they were drunk or couldn't comprehend the instructions and they both said no.  This guy died because he couldn't listen to basic instructions, I initially thought he went for a gun.  It was only after watching it multiple times did I realize he was pulling up his shorts.

 

We had that luxury, the cop had to make a decision in a split second.  Guess wrong and he could die or guess wrong and you shoot an unarmed man.  Thankfully cops aren't judged by the power of hindsight and 20/20 or we wouldn't have any police in this country.   I know the anarchists would love to see that day, but most of us would rather not.

I only said is was a sick to shoot an crying, unarmed man, I hadn't gone as far as calling it murder.

But now I've just made up my mind, it was callous and cold blooded murder of a clearly panicked man. And obviously a sign of what social media has been saying all along, that cops in America are out of control, shooting unarmed, non threatening civilians.

[+Raze Subscriber²]

No matter how others spin this, the officer was acting in a manner that escalated the situation.  The man that was killed was obviously scared and confused and the cop was acting like a power-tripping bully.  Yes officers have to act quickly to protect themselves, but this officer was ridiculous with his commands.  IMO it was murder.  I realize I was not present at the trial, but I seriously doubt I would believe differently after seeing the video.  These types of situations happen far to often in the US and it shows something is very wrong with how some officers deal so poorly with such events.

[SierraSonic]

There was no point in making the man crawl forward, the cops could have approached when they had him spread out on the floor. Everything that extended this situation was a liability to everyone's safety. Most of these videos are from people who can't follow commands because they are either inebriated or not capable to do so, and police training clearly lacks proper situational awareness training. Why does every officer in a large group have to have a weapon out? Can't a few go in with Taser's and get an order to shoot first during approach? The guns could be used as a secondary attack based an increase in danger or when a different command is issued. I'm sure most people would rather someone be shot with a Taser when on the ground spread out over dying while being told to crawl forward because they tripped or picked up their pants.

[alpha2beta]

A power hungry sick ######, you could clearly see that he was looking for any excuse to shoot him. ######## MURDER!