Apparently, even in an open carry state, if you don't happen to hear the cops telling you to put down the BB gun you're carrying because you're on the phone, even though you're not actually pointing it at anyone or firing at anyone, it's perfectly legit for the cops to decide you have to be shot dead.
Quoth the police chief, "The quick response of officers was instrumental in containing this situation and minimizing the risk of customers." Except, of course, that there was no actual situation, and no customers were at risk. Except for Mr. Crawford.
Police Will Not Be Indicted in Shooting of Black Walmart Shopper Holding BB Gun
A grand jury in Ohio has chosen not to indict two police officers in the shooting of John Crawford, the Dayton-area man who was killed in a Walmart while carrying what turned out to be a BB gun. Crawford was shot on August 5, and a special grand jury was…
Unreal. And everyone knows that if he was a white man, he'd be alive today.
Why is this so damned difficult, people?
It certainly seems likely.
The video in the article is damning. This not a person acting violently, or threateningly. He's not pointing the gun at people — he doesn't even seem initially alarmed. He's not even holding the rifle in both hands. Yet not only was he seen as a threat (again, in an open-carry state), but the only possible thing to do was to gun him down.. But that's good, expected, by-the-book police work in Dayton, it seems.
A man standing in a supermarket waving a gun around- it can clearly be seen moving from “6 o’clock” up to vertical “12 o’clock”, and back again. Its not resting by his side, you can see it being swung back and forth. This isn’t someone with a pistol in a holster, this is someone with what appears to be a rifle in his hand, moving it about.
@LH He’s on the phone, playing with something in his other hand. And, yes, if it were in fact a real rifle and I were standing nearby, I would be pretty nervous. But unless he’s actively pointing it at someone, I can’t imagine that gunning him down in the face of no active threat makes any sense.
Did we all hear about this one: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/ferndale-officers-in-trouble-for-prank-with-stray-dog/28019542 ?? Three police officers went to leave a stray dog in their dispatcher's front yard and got the wrong address, so the chief has promised they'll definitely be disciplined for this inexcusable behavior.
All I can think is, "They should have shot a black man on the way out – then they wouldn't be in trouble." sigh
+Kingsley Lintz Sigh.
+Kingsley Lintz +Dave Hill
Sigh
Takes less than a second to get a rifle in the ready position. You can’t tell its a replica.
Mine is obviously a British point of view- Why the hell does he need to carry a rifle round a supermarket?
@LH – It was, as I recall, a BB gun that he had picked up from a shelf at the store to buy. He didn’t bring it in with him.
Which raises the question of whether the family could file a wrongful death suit against the BB gun manufacturer for making something that looked so realistic, and the WalMart for leaving stuff on the shelves that could get a customer shot for carrying.