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Teenage knife fights a time honored tradition?
- Thread starter Deo Vindice
- Start date
To many, it seems so.
Strange all around.
I don't understand the modern concept of using Twitter posts to demonize positions. Find a couple of Tweets, put them up, and hey presto, you have an evidenced strawman to push back on. I get that Valerie Jarrett is not JUST a random twitter person, and by all means, push back on her opinion.
To be clear;
- I'm probably a liberal, at least by American standards.
- I see no issue in shooting armed people with an immediate intent to use said weapon to cause imminent harm to another (depending on context, tasers or pepper spray may or may not be more appropriate).
- I can recognize that part of the reason there is now a reaction to lots of shootings involving a black person being shot by police is based on the historical use of force when inappropriate, and that this continues to the present time.
Subduction Zone
Veteran Member
Why make such a racist statement?
Subduction Zone
Veteran Member
This was unfortunately a no win situation for the police officer. He would be decried as being racist if he let the attacker kill the other girl and as we know he has been called racist for saving the black girls life.
There does need to be some police reform but this was not an example of it.
There does need to be some police reform but this was not an example of it.
simply stating fact, nothing racist about what I said, police are disarming knife wielding white guys all the time
Augustus
…
epronovost
Well-Known Member
He was unarmed during his arrest as his gun was still in bag inside the car according to your source. That hardly consist of a counter-example of an arrest of an armed black suspect.
On another note, I can understand why some people wish the situation was handled differently. I knife armed 16 year old girl seems like the sort of suspect that seems reasonnable to engage and disarm without the need to kill. Unnfortunately, reality is different then that and asking a person to engage in hand to hand combat a knife weilding agressor is extremely dangerous. While tragic, I do believe the shooting was justified. I'm actually surprised no one else was injured in the process as there was a crowd and another person that could have bit hit by a poorly ajusted shot or a ricochet.
^ this
Also, given that the assailant was lunging at a young girl pinned against a car, it very much looks like any possible "hand-to-hand combat" would only have been possible after the vicious knife assault was successful. It seems to me that the police officer was, to the best of his ability, trying to prevent an ugly murder.
And, yes, the outcome was tragic. Demonizing the officer only makes it more so.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Don't forget the guy with a sword much less and knife. He may be on one of the top bad *** , bad guys of all time and nope. They did not kill him.
epronovost
Well-Known Member
Police officers and soldiers are trained to fire in small controlled burst aiming for the chest area as to maximise their chance to kill or seriously injure a person. A single bullet from a small caliber weapon might not be enough to kill or maim someone especially if they are in process of attacking someone else.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
All this talk reminds me of those Latino gangs with switchblades in the 70s. It was a big thing then.
Of course New York in that era banned switchblades.
Of course New York in that era banned switchblades.
I think they're banned everywhere, but how do you ban 'steak knives?
Augustus
…
Until they actually arrested the 2 snipers they didn't know how many weapons they had on them at the time. The assumption being the DC Snipers had immediate access to firearms and were willing to use them.
Anyway, the police obviously arrest numerous armed black suspects every day, it was just a response to the inane trope that they only shoot black people and always find a way not to shoot white people.
The same with the assumption that if a black person is killed by a white cop, it must be racially motivated, see George Floyd for example.
When you fit anecdotes to preconceived narratives you will always have sufficient 'proof' of whatever you want. Black women are far less likely to be killed by police than white men.
If he'd done nothing we'd probably be seeing:
"White cops does nothing as black teen stabbed to death"
'They only protect white folk, black lives mean nothing....'
What a truly stupid, irrelevant, and irresponsible comment. What do you think should have happened had the sword been within a couple of feet of slicing down some girl pinned up against a car?
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
It's more in response to insinuations that police will just shoot a black man with a weapon and not white people.
Stupid, irrelevant, and irresponsible makes for a broad definition depending on how one is looking at it.
.
Yes, and what I see is someone dabbling in false equivalencies while avoiding questions. It's insensitive verging on pathetic.
epronovost
Well-Known Member
While this is true, there is an abundance of evidence that police use a disproportionate amount of force against black and poor people compared to white and rich people. Nobody is holding a completely black and white thinking. The expression of it is cynical sarcasm as a rethorical tool not a literal statement of fact (at least in such an overwhelmingly large amount of case that it should be considered a norm to ease communication). Not recognising this is trying to strawman someone.
As for how the media would have reacted had the police officer failed, it's probable it would have been met with cries of outrage. It's a tragic situation. There is almost no good ending possible. There will always be a large amount of malcontent. Had the police officer stopped the stabbing without killing the girl and the without her victim suffering injuries, you might have people complaining and being outraged by the fact a teenage girl tried to stab to death another.