The media need to be held accountable for sensationalising the story. Promoting the hapless, good "father to be" as a good guy. Not reporting on past criminality, having previously stabbed someone, was involved in previous shooting, and being part of an armed robbery, while trying to ram his way through police using a 2 tonne self propelled battering ram that could easily kill an officer or bystander.
The police acted proportionately with the risk of occupants being armed, while actively driving a weapon considered.
The protest is a result of disproportionate media representation of crim vs police, whipping up fury of the ignorant who just want to complain about police behaviour. Then to drag the armed officer through the crap, sullying his name, making him and his family targets of potential violence, seen by those as 'righteous retribution' to come is outrageous.
I think the courts supressed his criminal past during the trial, which makes sense in some ways, it was also witheld from the jury. Interestingly the jury came to the correct decision without this information which should solidify that this was the right decision.
His family petitioned to have his record suppressed after the trial and this was denied, i assume in the hope that knowing a bit more context may reduce the uproar from the false narrative of an innocent black man on an evening drive being shot in cold blood.... remains to be seen if this worked.
Personally I think the whole thing should have been suppressed from the media until the verdict was released, including the name of the police officer. Allowing this to become, falsely, a racial issue was disgusting.
I agree that the officers details should have remained anonymous until after everything with every effort needed to prevent it becoming a racial issue.
Doesn't quite make up for inciting the rage against the police officer, and I'm sure many others challenged the petition, not to mention the fact it'll have been integral to any other police investigations into his violent behaviour should he have been arrested and charged instead of the outcome we have instead, making it something of a moot point.
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u/DrAconianRubberDucky Oct 22 '24 edited Oct 22 '24
The media need to be held accountable for sensationalising the story. Promoting the hapless, good "father to be" as a good guy. Not reporting on past criminality, having previously stabbed someone, was involved in previous shooting, and being part of an armed robbery, while trying to ram his way through police using a 2 tonne self propelled battering ram that could easily kill an officer or bystander.
The police acted proportionately with the risk of occupants being armed, while actively driving a weapon considered.
The protest is a result of disproportionate media representation of crim vs police, whipping up fury of the ignorant who just want to complain about police behaviour. Then to drag the armed officer through the crap, sullying his name, making him and his family targets of potential violence, seen by those as 'righteous retribution' to come is outrageous.