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Fort Worth Police Kill Woman Inside Her Own Home


Vic Mackey

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38 minutes ago, TexasHooch said:

I did misunderstand the scope of that decision.  Thanks.  I have to think though,  that the combination of the Plakas decision and Graham V Conner would make it extremely difficult to legally compel a cop to employ a less than lethal response to a situation in which lethal force is a reasonable necessity to protect his own life.  Can we really enact a law that would allow a gun on an officer's hip, but hold him criminally responsible if he doesn't use his OC spray first when a suspect is charging at him with a knife?  Would that hold up constitutionally?

*This is a side discussion that is well outside the known facts of this case, in where there is zero evidence to support that the action was at all reasonable.

I don't see the difficulty. Both decisions deal with what the constitutional minimums are. We can replace those with different standards by enacting laws or policies. The primary difference in the case of civil claim against a police officer is that the claims would be brought under the new law and not under the constitution. Now, a criminal case against a police officer gets a little trickier, as you are balancing a bunch of different rights. That said, generally, the states have authority to control what constitutes a crime. So I don't really see why a state couldn't make a law that said it is a crime for a police officer to fail to use all alternatives before using lethal force. I'm not sure it would be a particularly good law, but I don't see a constitutional issue with it. 

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10 minutes ago, irishtexan said:

You jumped into this conversation firing with the reckless abandon of a white FW cop peering into a backyard window of a house in a predominantly black neighborhood.

Dang my bad. I misread you completely. Too late to delete post, oh well.

Edited by Brian Fantana
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3 hours ago, immortal13 said:

I agree...that poor bastard was literally begging for his life. Didn't matter. Cops got home safe. All in a day's work. 

If you want to be even more enraged...  Brailsford was fired from the force following the shooting.  After he was acquitted, he was re-hired for a day then allowed to retire with disability for his PTSD.  He's got a pension for the rest of his life after he killed an unarmed intoxicated man in cold blood who did nothing more than try not to let his shorts sag while losing the deadliest game ever of Simon Says.   Shaver's widow and child are still fighting in civil court with Mark Geragos as their attorney.  The commanding Sergeant that escalated the whole incident to the boiling point retired shortly after the murder and skipped off to live in the Philippines.

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I was at my sister and brother in laws on New Years Eve about 25 years ago. My BIL shot off some fire works at midnight, we went back inside continued our party.  The phone rang about a half hour later saying it was the Norman PD (yeah, they lived in that shit town) and we all need to come out front with our hands up there were reports of shots fired. My BIL had a neighbor who always played pranks, and we assumed this was him, so we blew it off. They called again, assured us it was no joke. Their house had no front facing windows and the front door was shut, so we couldn't look out to see.  As soon as we opened the front door we could see several cops with guns drawn pointing, we got the fuck out there shoved to the ground frisked etc.. This was back when most people had land line phones. I assume it was standard procedure to call first?  Anyway, that all could've went sideways in a hurry.  If we were in a different neighborhood I guarantee if would've went down differently.   CSB.

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"Officer resigned before his opportunity to cooperate"

"Had the officer not resigned I would have fired him for violations of several policies."

So the officer has resigned in lieu of termination.
Chief said he was going to fire him for violating the UOF policy and deescalation policy.

It's gonna be interesting.

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3 hours ago, TexasHooch said:

I did misunderstand the scope of that decision.  Thanks.  I have to think though,  that the combination of the Plakas decision and Graham V Conner would make it extremely difficult to legally compel a cop to employ a less than lethal response to a situation in which lethal force is a reasonable necessity to protect his own life.  Can we really enact a law that would allow a gun on an officer's hip, but hold him criminally responsible if he doesn't use his OC spray first when a suspect is charging at him with a knife?  Would that hold up constitutionally?

*This is a side discussion that is well outside the known facts of this case, in where there is zero evidence to support that the action was at all reasonable.

I think you're mixing up police department policies with criminal laws.  A policy that a non-lethal instrumentality be used first is just a policy.  Violating it wouldn't subject you to criminal prosecution, unless  you broke the law in some other way.  And the policy would make it less likely that lethal force is used, because the officers would know that they would (at least in theory, because god knows there's no actual discipline ever imposed on these "public servants") be subject to suspension or firing if they kept for example ignoring the OC spray.  

That's separate from prosecuting officers who murder the people they are supposed to serve and protect because they're terrified of their own shadow and on a quasi-military power trip, as plainly happened here.

 

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Late to the topic.  Who gives a shit if she had a gun?  Looking at the video, I hear no announcement of police presence and the cop was moving stealthily around the exterior of the home.  The first thing the victim would have perceived is a person outside their window aiming a gun at them and screaming.  If I had a gun on my nightstand, I would go for it, too.  I would think an armed intruder was trying to kill me.  If there was a knock at the door with an announcement that the police were entering, no one would be dead.

Even if she went for her gun, the cop created the context where someone would rightfully look to protect themselves by any means available.  There is no legitimate defense of that.  How the fuck are PDs not weeding these assholes out before they leave the academy?

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2 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Late to the topic.  Who gives a shit if she had a gun?  Looking at the video, I hear no announcement of police presence and the cop was moving stealthily around the exterior of the home.  The first thing the victim would have perceived is a person outside their window aiming a gun at them and screaming.  If I had a gun on my nightstand, I would go for it, too.  I would think an armed intruder was trying to kill me.  If there was a knock at the door with an announcement that the police were entering, no one would be dead.

Even if she went for her gun, the cop created the context where someone would rightfully look to protect themselves by any means available.  There is no legitimate defense of that.  How the fuck are PDs not weeding these assholes out before they leave the academy?

Yeah, the issue of her having a gun is a whole 'nother layer here.

I mean, it's the whole Texas ethos, driven home by our leadership time and time again -- protect yourself!  Get a gun!  The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun!  So, here's 1) a person in her own home, who 2) hears an intruder skulking around her backyard in the middle of the night, so 3) she does what any Texan with a pistol does -- she pulls it out of the drawer, and has it at her side, in case she needs to protect herself.   And.....4) she gets executed in her own home for doing EXACTLY THE RIGHT THING.

Yeah, I know, don't bring race into it.  But every damned one of us knows that the bold right to carry, right to arm yourself, etc.....well, that goes for white folks.  Not so much for the black folks.  White person with a gun?  Exercising their constitutional rights!  Black person with a gun?  THREAT!  THUG!  Come on, folks.  Shit, just pull up any number of videos showing that EXACT dichotomy.

This story is definitely about our broken system of policing.  It is also almost certainly about race.  And it may well be about the 2nd amendment and the conflicting right to be armed and protect yourself....contrasted with the belief of law enforcement that anyone with a firearm in their possession is subject to summary execution.

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1 hour ago, TornACL said:

Dear nosy neighbors,

If you care enough about your neighbors to be worried when you see something amiss, then go check on them your fucking selves. 

Otherwise you're just being a bored busybody. 

 

Maybe just go over there and shoot them yourself, and save the cops the trip.

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8 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yeah, the issue of her having a gun is a whole 'nother layer here.

I mean, it's the whole Texas ethos, driven home by our leadership time and time again -- protect yourself!  Get a gun!  The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun!  So, here's 1) a person in her own home, who 2) hears an intruder skulking around her backyard in the middle of the night, so 3) she does what any Texan with a pistol does -- she pulls it out of the drawer, and has it at her side, in case she needs to protect herself.   And.....4) she gets executed in her own home for doing EXACTLY THE RIGHT THING.

Yeah, I know, don't bring race into it.  But every damned one of us knows that the bold right to carry, right to arm yourself, etc.....well, that goes for white folks.  Not so much for the black folks.  White person with a gun?  Exercising their constitutional rights!  Black person with a gun?  THREAT!  THUG!  Come on, folks.  Shit, just pull up any number of videos showing that EXACT dichotomy.

This story is definitely about our broken system of policing.  It is also almost certainly about race.  And it may well be about the 2nd amendment and the conflicting right to be armed and protect yourself....contrasted with the belief of law enforcement that anyone with a firearm in their possession is subject to summary execution.

Conflicting right? 

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1 hour ago, TornACL said:

Dear nosy neighbors,

If you care enough about your neighbors to be worried when you see something amiss, then go check on them your fucking selves. 

Otherwise you're just being a bored busybody. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Cajun said:

How bout just mind your own fucking business.

Fuck nosy neighbors.

 

1 hour ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

If you don't know them well enough to go over and check on them yourself, then you don't know them well enough to give a shit whether or not they're getting robbed.

Well, I disagree.  If you see something that looks amiss at your neighbor's house (and a wide open door in the middle of the night might well qualify), then a GOOD neighbor looks into it. And, the neighbor was an old man -- I can see him not wanting to venture over there by himself.

See, this SHOULD be a situation for the cops.  You call 311 and have them swing by to look.  One of them knocks on the door, maybe while another stands back in a safe position.  He knocks, says nicely but loudly "Hello, Fort Worth Police -- is everyone okay in there?"  Lady gets up and comes to the door, and says "yes officer, we're fine.  Just had the door open to let in the breeze."  "Okay ma'am enjoy your evening."  That's how this should have gone down.  That's what the neighbor had every reasonable basis to assume would happen, presuming that something wasn't actually wrong -- in which case, we'd all be glad the cops came by and noticed a door accidentally left open while the family had rushed to the hospital, or maybe someone was inside actually up to bad bidness.

So, we can't assume that the cops will behave like sane and rational human beings.  That's the big fucking problem here.  Because next time I see something amiss at a neighbor's, I'm likely to put MYSELF in harm's way to go check, because I damned sure don't want it on my conscience when Super Duper Tactical Warrior Special Tactical Operator Tactical Cop shows up for a simple welfare check and shoots them dead.  Which is absurd, because I should be able to do just what I said above -- call the cops, have them check, make sure all is secure, and go on to their next call.  IT'S THEIR GODDAMNED JOB.  Which they can't seem to do without killing people.  Making the sign worthy of repeat here:

i28i5ukapny01.jpg

 

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The usual crowd that wonders if these minority victims of police shootings had weapons with them, would do well to remember their hyper paranoia about agents of the state visiting known owners of concealed weapons.  Your hyperbolic bullshit breaks down and so many ways with this story.  

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1 minute ago, immortal13 said:

Conflicting right? 

Yeah.

The right to keep and bear arms.

versus

The right of the cops to blow away anyone with a gun, anytime and anywhere.

Kinda hard to reconcile those.  If you exercise your 2nd amendment right, you can be executed without warning.  That's, ummm, a real problem.

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8 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yeah, the issue of her having a gun is a whole 'nother layer here.

I mean, it's the whole Texas ethos, driven home by our leadership time and time again -- protect yourself!  Get a gun!  The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun!  So, here's 1) a person in her own home, who 2) hears an intruder skulking around her backyard in the middle of the night, so 3) she does what any Texan with a pistol does -- she pulls it out of the drawer, and has it at her side, in case she needs to protect herself.   And.....4) she gets executed in her own home for doing EXACTLY THE RIGHT THING.

Yeah, I know, don't bring race into it.  But every damned one of us knows that the bold right to carry, right to arm yourself, etc.....well, that goes for white folks.  Not so much for the black folks.  White person with a gun?  Exercising their constitutional rights!  Black person with a gun?  THREAT!  THUG!  Come on, folks.  Shit, just pull up any number of videos showing that EXACT dichotomy.

This story is definitely about our broken system of policing.  It is also almost certainly about race.  And it may well be about the 2nd amendment and the conflicting right to be armed and protect yourself....contrasted with the belief of law enforcement that anyone with a firearm in their possession is subject to summary execution.

It's amazing how easily manipulated we were (or how some still are) by the police information tactics. All you need to do is lay down two facts, and the vast majority of people will follow the breadcrumbs on their own. 

First fact: Woman shot and killed by police. New fact: Woman had gun. People will immediately jump to the conclusion that she must have been a) holding it and b) pointing it at the time of her death. The PD Union lackeys don't even need to lie, they just need to put the facts out there and let people connect the dots by themselves. Especially when racial bias and stereotypes come into play. 

Unless something new has come to light, I don't think there's any reporting out there that she even had the gun on her person. It seemed very fishy that the PD release stated that the guns were found "inside the house". 

Fortunately, at least a larger portion of the populace has become wise to this utter nonsense and the attempts to try and discredit victims of the beloved protected union boys. 

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2 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

Wrong, but feel free to take that shit to the cloak room where it belongs

Not like the cops specifically mentioned "there was a gun in the house" in their report or anything, as if it justifies murder. Sorry that you're too sensitive to discuss the issue like a big boy. 

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21 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Late to the topic.  Who gives a shit if she had a gun?  Looking at the video, I hear no announcement of police presence and the cop was moving stealthily around the exterior of the home.  The first thing the victim would have perceived is a person outside their window aiming a gun at them and screaming.  If I had a gun on my nightstand, I would go for it, too.  I would think an armed intruder was trying to kill me.  If there was a knock at the door with an announcement that the police were entering, no one would be dead.

Even if she went for her gun, the cop created the context where someone would rightfully look to protect themselves by any means available.  There is no legitimate defense of that.  How the fuck are PDs not weeding these assholes out before they leave the academy?

The purpose of police academies is to weed out people who aren't like this asshole.

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2 minutes ago, TornACL said:

First fact: Woman shot and killed by police. New fact: Woman had gun. People will immediately jump to the conclusion that she must have been a) holding it and b) pointing it at the time of her death. The PD Union lackeys don't even need to lie, they just need to put the facts out there and let people connect the dots by themselves. Especially when racial bias and stereotypes come into play. 

Unless something new has come to light, I don't think there's any reporting out there that she even had the gun on her person. It seemed very fishy that the PD release stated that the guns were found "inside the house". 

Yep.  So far, they could write the same narrative about me.  They could make noise on my back porch in the middle of the night.  I could go to a window to see what the noise was.  The cop hollers "putyourhandsupBANG!" and shoots me through the window.

"The subject did not comply with verbal commands to put his hands up.  Multiple firearms were found inside the house."

I'm a fucking Texan dad with several shotguns and such in my house.  But from the initial reports, I would be a noncompliant murderer, who was a millisecond away from killing a brave cop, who just wants to get home to his family.

Just now, wildcat09 said:

The purpose of police academies is to weed out people who aren't like this asshole.

This.  X1000.

Seriously, law enforcement is completely fucking broken.  They insist on starting with sub-standard clay, then they mold it into terrified, aggressive, assholes who think every one of us is an insurgent stalking the streets of Fallujah.

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8 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Also:

Fuck the police! Comin' straight from the underground
A young nigga got it bad ‘cause I'm brown
And not the other color, so police think
They have the authority to kill a minority


Remember how much shit NWA got for "Fuck the Police"?  If all this shit is going down now with documentation via cell phones and body cams, how much was going on back in the day when it was only an African American's word vs the PD?  NWA was not nearly hostile enough.

NWA was clearly soft as shit.  Seriously.

And what Burnt Eyes said above DOES have merit -- shit's so bad, even white folks are figuring out how messed up it is.  That's something, I guess.

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6 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Not like the cops specifically mentioned "there was a gun in the house" in their report or anything, as if it justifies murder. Sorry that you're too sensitive to discuss the issue like a big boy. 

I'm not sensitive to the fact that she had a gun, or if she didn't 

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Quote

See, this SHOULD be a situation for the cops.  You call 311 and have them swing by to look.  One of them knocks on the door, maybe while another stands back in a safe position.  He knocks, says nicely but loudly "Hello, Fort Worth Police -- is everyone okay in there?"  Lady gets up and comes to the door, and says "yes officer, we're fine.  Just had the door open to let in the breeze."  "Okay ma'am enjoy your evening."  That's how this should have gone down. 

This is how it happens in....ahem, "good" neighborhoods. 

I've called the cops twice in my life. Last time was when some contractors who were doing work at my place got some of their shit lifted in the middle of the night. I heard the guy doing it because I was up smoking a pork shoulder, and I knew the dipshit had hopped the fence into the alleyway.

It actually crossed my mind after calling, that I better make sure I'm right out front and visible in the light when Johnny Law rolls up, in case I get assigned some idiot cowboy with an itchy trigger finger who shoots at shadows. Fortunately that was not the case, and the guy was more interested in the smells coming out of the smoker than writing a police report, but he eventually got around to it.

One of the most infuriating things about the press conference today is that we've already been through this shit with that old white dude who got blasted inside his own garage when he pulled a weapon on cops who were snooping around his house unannounced. Remember, the case where they showed up to the wrong fucking house for an alarm call.  If I recall correctly, when that happened we were all told about how they'd train officers not to be complete morons. Whiff!

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yep.  So far, they could write the same narrative about me.  They could make noise on my back porch in the middle of the night.  I could go to a window to see what the noise was.  The cop hollers "putyourhandsupBANG!" and shoots me through the window.

"The subject did not comply with verbal commands to put his hands up.  Multiple firearms were found inside the house."

I'm a fucking Texan dad with several shotguns and such in my house.  But from the initial reports, I would be a noncompliant murderer, who was a millisecond away from killing a brave cop, who just wants to get home to his family.

This.  X1000.

Seriously, law enforcement is completely fucking broken.  They insist on starting with sub-standard clay, then they mold it into terrified, aggressive, assholes who think every one of us is an insurgent stalking the streets of Fallujah.

You think the cops know how to climb a spiral staircase?

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24 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

 

 

Well, I disagree.  If you see something that looks amiss at your neighbor's house (and a wide open door in the middle of the night might well qualify), then a GOOD neighbor looks into it. And, the neighbor was an old man -- I can see him not wanting to venture over there by himself.

See, this SHOULD be a situation for the cops.  You call 311 and have them swing by to look.  One of them knocks on the door, maybe while another stands back in a safe position.  He knocks, says nicely but loudly "Hello, Fort Worth Police -- is everyone okay in there?"  Lady gets up and comes to the door, and says "yes officer, we're fine.  Just had the door open to let in the breeze."  "Okay ma'am enjoy your evening."  That's how this should have gone down.  That's what the neighbor had every reasonable basis to assume would happen, presuming that something wasn't actually wrong -- in which case, we'd all be glad the cops came by and noticed a door accidentally left open while the family had rushed to the hospital, or maybe someone was inside actually up to bad bidness.

So, we can't assume that the cops will behave like sane and rational human beings.  That's the big fucking problem here.  Because next time I see something amiss at a neighbor's, I'm likely to put MYSELF in harm's way to go check, because I damned sure don't want it on my conscience when Super Duper Tactical Warrior Special Tactical Operator Tactical Cop shows up for a simple welfare check and shoots them dead.  Which is absurd, because I should be able to do just what I said above -- call the cops, have them check, make sure all is secure, and go on to their next call.  IT'S THEIR GODDAMNED JOB.  Which they can't seem to do without killing people.  Making the sign worthy of repeat here:

i28i5ukapny01.jpg

 

I'm fine having a neighbor that watches my back in a world where cops aren't scared of their own shadows while at the same time wanting maintain their "Hero" status.  

That ain't the world we live in.  What "should be" and what is are two entirely different things.

Mind your own fucking business or give me a shout yourself.

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Just now, Cajun said:

I'm fine having a neighbor that watches my back in a world where cops aren't scared of their own shadows while at the same time wanting maintain their "Hero" status.  

That ain't the world we live in.  What "should be" and what is are two entirely different things.

Mind your own fucking business or give me a shout yourself.

Yeah, I mean, that's where we are.  And that's fucked.  My choice shouldn't be 1) put myself in harm's way by going to check on what MIGHT be a dangerous situation, or 2) put my neighbor in harm's way because I called Officer Tactical Itchy Trigger Finger to make a standard welfare check.  It's ridiculous that those are our choices.

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Ridiculous?

Shit, try 100%, no question about it, unacceptable.

That's why when LEOs cry about how tough their job is, how they're unappreciated, blah blah blah, it's just that -

Blah Blah Blah

 

Bottom line for me:  Short of a crazed Incel holding a chainsaw to my neck, you see something askew and are worried for my safety and you decide to call the cops?  Well, you're no friend of mine.  Period

 

Edited by Cajun
Strike that, just don't ever call the cops on my behalf, ever. I'll take my chances.
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If the victim had begun blindly unloading a firearm at the flashlight coming through her window at 2AM and killed this dipshit (now former) LEO she would:

 

A) be considered an example of a fine Texas woman exerting her 2A right to protect her home & family. The NRA would use her in pro-2A promotions. 

or 

B) i'm just kidding. The victim's a black woman. Ft Worth LEO would have sent an entire SWAT team down there to plant evidence before until they suddenly became fearful for their safety & cut her down with a hail of bullets.

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The same going on about "why did he call the police" will be posting on other threads about how the reluctance to call the police when dealing with violent crime is a plague on Black neighborhoods. Can't be selective about this. 

Edited by naija
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I'm surprised they got it done so quickly. It only took 64 hours to arrest him after he recorded himself murdering that woman, and then we all got to watch him murder that woman. But we still had to wait for him to get arrested for murder. Even though the entire world watched him murder that woman.

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