There is no law that says firing a taser at an officer is punishable by death. it is a slippery slope where next you say, he threw a rock (which can do as much or more damage as a taser which is a limited use non deadly weapon). What if the perp throws a small piece of wood at the officer, can he be blown away for that?
I'm not saying the officer took the "best most optimal" course of action. You're right, cops should be trained in hand to hand combat, martial arts, whatever. Certainly wouldn't hurt, can only help. I'm just saying this cop should not be charged with anything.
Again, the cop is pulling his piece out while chasing the suspect before the taser is fired at him. I think he was shooting him whether he had the taser or not because if you are chasing someone, why are you grabbing for your gun. Also he was catching up to him and could have tackled him, baton-swatted him, tripped him, or several other things they could have been trained to do in the academy but were not.
Well, should be an interesting case. We'll see. It should held in another jurisdiction, can't get a fair trial in Atlanta.
I think as well that criminal charges might not be appropriate though not the popular position. I think fired is the message being sent in this case to officers, that you need to make better choices on when to draw your weapon and a drunk guy unarmed and running is not someone you need to gun down in the middle of the street, IMHO.
I actually believe that this officer in Atlanta is more likely to be convicted than the officer in the Minneapolis case - IMO based on their actions related to department policies, Keep in mind that Minneapolis had a policy allowing choke holds; Derek Chauvin did not violate department policy by using one. Only time will tell.... and I am not accounting for the likelihood of jury bias, fair trial, etc. in my opinion.
Sorry but you are wrong there. Minnesota guy did not use a Choke Hold, he put his knee on the neck of a handcuffed subdued person for 8 minutes while the person was complaining they could not breath. There is NOTHING in the Minnesota PD manual that permits that, he went way above and beyond whatever was allowed and Chauvin is going to jail, especially when they flash his pic of him looking all smug driving his knee into Floyd's neck ignoring the cries. He put his knee on the neck of an unarmed man face down in the street with handcuffs on for 8 minutes. Do me a favor and step away from your computer and lay down on the floor with a timer. Put your hands behind your back and shove your face into the carpet (FLoyd was on conrete) and stay there for 8 minutes. Have a fmaily member knee your neck. Chauvin could have lifted his knee and put his hand on his back to hold him and achieve the same goal. His actions were excessive, uncalled for and in violation of police policy and caused his death. he going to prison.
I can think of no reason whatsoever why the officer should not be charged with at least the lowest degree of homicide. As far as the "message being sent to officers" that you will get fired for drawing your weapon, the fucker - along with a lot of these cops- already has a very long disciplinary record- including a written reprimand for inappropriate drawing a firearm and other abuses. The black guy was involved in bad behavior- drunken driving, resisting arrest etc- so that cannot be cleaned up and does not need to be. That would have been for the court to work through. But there was zero risk to just letting the fleeing felon flee. You had him on cam for identification, plus his frigging car there which would have led to him almost instantly. So you get a warrant for his arrest and go pick him up the next day. Shooting a suspect twice in the back never looks good in court, and if someone wants to spin the taser defenses, good, and good luck with it. The officer should and will have to defend himself in court and that is fine. Four kids had their father blown away due to an unjustifiable use of lethal force and the only price the police should pay is that the officer is fired? Ahhh. no. I may be a law and order guy but I feel ZERO impulse to defend these dem plantation clown shows.