Miriam Carey was the woman shot at the Capitol by trigger happy cops. I hate to say that.
I come from a Filipino family of cops and military men, and I was a cop for two years plus myself.
Therefore my sympathies are ALWAYS with cops and my instinct is always to defend them and give them the benefit of a doubt.
However, I can only look at this incident and come away saying the fatal shooting was uncalled for.
Those who would defend the actions of these officers point out that the deceased used a deadly weapon, her car. That she deliberately rammed a police officer's car, and deliberately caused injury to officers, that the officers did not know there was a baby or small child inside the car, that they HAD to shoot when she GOT OUT of the car because they could not be sure if she had an IED strapped in the car, or a bomb strapped on to her.
Well, here's a video of the incident, and although I'm sure you've seen this and others, I'd like to point out that (1) there is no way they couldn't have known about the child. They had the car surrounded from no less than three or four feet away and the windows were not tinted as far as can be made out, (2) in fact one or two of these officers had his hands on the door (rear) but before the driver pulled away, (3) seven or eight shots were fired at this spot of the incident (hidden from view) and it will be safe to assume the driver was wounded already at the resumption of the chase which ended in another area with more shots fired, according to witnesses, (4) if the car was rigged with explosives and the driver was intent on harming anybody, the explosives should have been triggered already before the chase began (a) from its point of origin, (b) at the point when the car was surrounded, or (c) at the instance those first 7 or 8 shots were fired.
This was a mentally imbalanced individual, who was confused and afraid. Even if shots had to be fired, those shots could have been fired to incapacitate the vehilcle, not kill the driver. As for the car being used as a deadly weapon ? Maybe, but the question is why ? If driving a car constitutes possession of a deadly weapon that may or may not be used against an officer of the law, then we all are guilty and suspect and every officer should shoot down dead anyone who runs from a traffic stop and reason the same thing - fear that the car may be loaded with explosives.
They are officers of the law, not executioners. Danger is always a part of their job. It is their job to suppose that there is the very real possibility that they may not come home alive, or at least whole, to their families, but the desire to come home safe at the end of the day should not be allowed to cloud their ability to determine the intent and person of whoever they come into adverse contact with, such as this one.
This citizen did not deserve to be shot. What a hypocrisy it is to want to repeal death penalties and to reverse rulings imposed on criminals whose guilt were established in a court of their peers (whether rightly or wrongly) and yet be quick to authorize the death of somebody on suspicion that they might have a bomb on their bodies or their vehicles, and the desire to come home safe and sound to their families after taking on a job that works against that desire.
sorry, this must not be tolerated, or justified at all.
oh, by the way, from what I hear, she never exited with any firearm from her vehicle.
I come from a Filipino family of cops and military men, and I was a cop for two years plus myself.
Therefore my sympathies are ALWAYS with cops and my instinct is always to defend them and give them the benefit of a doubt.
However, I can only look at this incident and come away saying the fatal shooting was uncalled for.
Those who would defend the actions of these officers point out that the deceased used a deadly weapon, her car. That she deliberately rammed a police officer's car, and deliberately caused injury to officers, that the officers did not know there was a baby or small child inside the car, that they HAD to shoot when she GOT OUT of the car because they could not be sure if she had an IED strapped in the car, or a bomb strapped on to her.
Well, here's a video of the incident, and although I'm sure you've seen this and others, I'd like to point out that (1) there is no way they couldn't have known about the child. They had the car surrounded from no less than three or four feet away and the windows were not tinted as far as can be made out, (2) in fact one or two of these officers had his hands on the door (rear) but before the driver pulled away, (3) seven or eight shots were fired at this spot of the incident (hidden from view) and it will be safe to assume the driver was wounded already at the resumption of the chase which ended in another area with more shots fired, according to witnesses, (4) if the car was rigged with explosives and the driver was intent on harming anybody, the explosives should have been triggered already before the chase began (a) from its point of origin, (b) at the point when the car was surrounded, or (c) at the instance those first 7 or 8 shots were fired.
This was a mentally imbalanced individual, who was confused and afraid. Even if shots had to be fired, those shots could have been fired to incapacitate the vehilcle, not kill the driver. As for the car being used as a deadly weapon ? Maybe, but the question is why ? If driving a car constitutes possession of a deadly weapon that may or may not be used against an officer of the law, then we all are guilty and suspect and every officer should shoot down dead anyone who runs from a traffic stop and reason the same thing - fear that the car may be loaded with explosives.
They are officers of the law, not executioners. Danger is always a part of their job. It is their job to suppose that there is the very real possibility that they may not come home alive, or at least whole, to their families, but the desire to come home safe at the end of the day should not be allowed to cloud their ability to determine the intent and person of whoever they come into adverse contact with, such as this one.
This citizen did not deserve to be shot. What a hypocrisy it is to want to repeal death penalties and to reverse rulings imposed on criminals whose guilt were established in a court of their peers (whether rightly or wrongly) and yet be quick to authorize the death of somebody on suspicion that they might have a bomb on their bodies or their vehicles, and the desire to come home safe and sound to their families after taking on a job that works against that desire.
sorry, this must not be tolerated, or justified at all.
oh, by the way, from what I hear, she never exited with any firearm from her vehicle.
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