Quote:
Originally Posted by Compellingly Smart
I have found that many who generally leap to the defense of cops in situations where unarmed black kids are gunned down are condemning the actions of this officer....
If you are referring to people who have posted in the various threads in this forum about various police and neighborhood watch shootings, I think that your characterization of "leaping to the defense of cops" is way off base. I've read most of these threads and what people are leaping to is finding justice in a fair way (with defendant protection, reasonable doubt) and truthful way (credibility of witnesses considered and so forth).
In the Michael Brown case I assumed the officer at a minimum committed manslaughter due to his over reaction to the situation. But then the video of the bystander taken while Brown's body was still on the ground came out and I heard the testimony of a witness before the meme's came out, before the witnesses were told what the accepted story should be, and it was clear from that early honest testimony that Brown was the person who forced the outcome of the event to occur. It was the truth coming out, a truth that even the DOJ had to acknowledge, that allowed Wilson to go free.
I don't see many people jumping to the defense of cops, I see people declining to jump to the worst case "cops are bad" conclusion before we know what really happened.
In the SC case, strong evidence has come in against this cop, and people are following the evidence, just as they followed the evidence in previous cases. I respect those people more than the people who are ready to convict any cop involved in a shooting before they know many facts of the case, and that hsppens too often in this forum.