scrubbedexpat099

Let the games begin.

Bnet36

Oh boy shots fired, tear gas...

Pulaski

I didn't see this coming.

Hopefully there won't be more deaths, but quite frankly I'll be shocked if there aren't several more.

sir_eccles

Personally I thought the following news story was going to kick something off earlier today:

BBC News - Tamir Rice shooting: Call for US replica gun law change

Let's change the replica gun law rather than do something about cops shooting kids.

What is it with cops just shooting kids? Did he really think he was in immediate danger? Do cops even think these days?

retzie

I heard this excellent interview with a serving African American police officer on the World Service at the time and was really struck by the phrase "Why was he [the police officer] so afraid of him that he had to use such intense force". That seems to be an angle that is not really discussed here, even though it strikes me as the most important

Michael

Personally I think it has to do with their training that there are very dangerous people out there and if you don't shoot first, they are going to shoot you and police work is a dangerous job. However being a policeman is no more dangerous than being a taxi driver and the vast majority are killed in car accidents just like taxi drivers and very few are shot.

When police are in what is perceived to be a safe neighborhood, they are usually fine and seldom overreact but when they are in a neighborhood that is perceived as dangerous, their training kicks in and they often overreact and every movement is perceived as a possible threat.

An over reaction in one way is good as long as it is not to the extremes where they shoot someone. For instance when downtown San Jose became an area where 10s of thousands visited on weekends, the gangs started coming downtown, starting fights, accosting people, robbing people, or even stabbing or shooting people. The city decided that they wanted to make the downtown safe so for about 5 years they put at least two policeman on every corner during the evenings on the weekends and they started busting some heads and arresting people when they broke the law. The police were proving to the gangs that downtown is their turf and if they want to come downtown, they have to abide by their rules. For those 5 years, most people perceived downtown as a dangerous place since they always saw policeman but eventually there wasn't any more problems downtown. Although the gang members still came downtown, they knew this was not the place to pull the crap that they pull in their neighborhood and opposing gang members got along fine.

After 5 years, the police pulled back and were not seen on the streets but if a fight broke out or something illegal happened, the police were there in a New York minute to reinforce that the police are still there. The police turned downtown into a very safe place and now most people think of downtown as being very safe and the streets are packed on weekends.

md95065

The saddest thing about this is that we live in a country where a police officer could actually reasonably believe that it was even possible for a 12 year old kid to have a real gun.

Michael

Unfortunately that is a reality. Also sometimes it is difficult to tell whether someone is 12 years old or 16 years old. The last link is interesting in that 14 murders were committed by 9-12 year olds in 2011.

12-year-old accused in playground killing among youngest murder suspects in Michigan | MLive.com

California boy, 12, convicted of neo-Nazi dad's murder | Reuters

12-Year-Old Boy Accused Of Homeless Man's Murder In Florida

Boy, 12, charged as adult with murder in fatal stabbing of 9-year-old | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Two 12-year-old girls charged with trying to murder friend to please Internet demon - Telegraph

Florida Boy, 12, Charged as an Adult in Brother's Murder | Fox News

10 Youngest Murderers in History - Criminal Justice Degrees Guide

FBI — Expanded Homicide Data Table 3

johnnybrown532

That is because america breeds psychopaths like we breed chav scum. Like Sean Coffey the kid who travelled to guildford to his online world of warcraft girlfriend that he had never meet in real life. He smuggled the knife into England in his case good job uk border agency. I am surprised he hasn't been mentioned on here.

johnnybrown532

I did. The blacks are so racist. They think it's all because of the colour of their skin and they do nothing wrong and see noting wrong in the way they behave. Neither do the civil rights leaders like Jackson and Sharpdon. If a white kid had been shot in identical circumstances by black officer even a black officer who said did die creepy ass cracker before he pulled the trigger white people wouldn't be kicking off now would they?

Then again the police are equally racist. My daughter was in nyc during the sean bell thing They dismiss a black officer for a firing single shot yet allowed white officer who fired 31 shots reloading his gun to retire with benefits and pension and whatever. Such double standards.

Sally Redux

amideislas

I for one find it both troubling and refreshing.

Aside from the obvious reasons to be troubled by it, I find it equally troubling that if you're black in Spain, for example, you suffer little chance of ever being gainfully employed in any position of significance, and forever shall be segregated into insignificance. And somehow that's perfectly acceptable. Nobody makes any fuss about it. It's just how it is.

I find it rather refreshing because those racist yanks are somehow ironic enough to demonstrably stand up and fight that which they find unacceptable, in this case, something which much of the world assumes is a uniquely American cultural character, no doubt a product of their stereotypical selfishness and greed. Only in America. Unfortunately, their rage may well be misguided.

I can only reckon that like many of the common Yank stereotypes, ironically, racism is broadly considered to be unacceptable over there, and so there's a lot more fuss about it, whereas it's commonly accepted as a fact of life here, so nothing to report, really.

We're generally a bit more inward-focused anyway. e.g., where's my benefits? Spaniards (and especially the French) will eagerly protest about that, but racial equality? What? is there a problem?

Anyway I believe this particular event is far more rooted in rampant gun culture than blatant racism (though not to remotely suggest racism doesn't exist).

After all, a person of colour can actually get a job over there, are allowed to hold leadership roles, become enormously rich, or even become president. And the public goes ballistic whenever a minority is denied equality. I can assure you, that ain't happnin' here. And it isn't only Spain - Blacks don't get much of a break anywhere in Europe. But that's just "how it is".

But then, every 12 year old isn't expected to be packing a weapon either, regardless of their race, so the topic of "cop shooting a black kid" never really comes up.

Racism? Only in America.

Nutek

Prick.

Indeed.

Nutek

I haven't been following this much but, given the "announcement" was going to cause trouble, why do they give advance notice of when the announcement will be made? And why is it at night?

Seems like the only thing they didn't do to guarantee trouble was print tickets.

Pulaski

Tip: if a police officer tries to speak with you, treat him/her politely and with respect. Do your very best to avoid punching him/ her in the face.