What kind of fool holds onto a gun and refuses to surrender with his hands up when confronted by police? Darwin award.
Sorry for this family’s loss, and sorry for the mistakes police sometimes make in going to the wrong place to arrest a suspect.
But when police order you to put down your gun and put your hands up, it’s not that hard to understand what is meant by that in the English language. And almost always, it allows you to breathe another breath.
I don’t know everything about what happened, obviously. But I know one thing: If he hadn’t been standing there with a pistol in his hand, he’d have more likely survived the incident. So score another victim of the deluded and paranoid notion that “guns keep you safe.” They certainly didn’t this time.
The kind of person who listens to Michelle Fiore.
The kind of person who has the romantic notion the NRA perpetuates that he’s the hero in his own personal action film…and he, single-handedly will defend the Constitution from the “sheep”.
Easy for you to say.
Have you ever had anyone break down your door in the middle of the night and rush in pointing guns at you and screaming for you to drop YOUR gun? You have 1 second to comply or you are dead.
Not much time to figure out what is happening is it?
His gun most assuredly did NOT keep him safe.
A very accurate response. Sometimes, I’d like the police to show up at Michelle Fiore’s house. Let’s see what happens.
Perhaps, reserve judgement until an investigation has occurred. In past situations caught on video tape, police repeated commands consist of two rapid orders and then shots fired. See Tamir Rice and John Crawford.
Luck for him he had a gun or he probably would have died on the spot. Lucky for his family he’s a whit guy and they may see some justice, so to speak, against the police.
The officers “gave verbal commands for Powell to drop his handgun which he did not comply with,”
???
The officers “gave verbal commands for Powell to drop his handgun which he did not comply with…”
that is, at least, not before they shot him.
This is why we need body cams. Who can believe the police anymore?
Before I could judge this I’d want to know if he knew they were police officers. The one bit of the officer’s shoulder doesn’t look as if he’s wearing a uniform, and the article doesn’t indicate if they ID’d themselves in any way before ordering him to drop his gun. So, one possible scenario is that he answers the door and finds three husky strange men crowding the door and ordering him to drop his weapon. His robe-clad wife is standing behind him, and he obviously wants to protect his home and his wife. Now… while I suspect even in the case of non-police trying to invade his home, his gun wouldn’t do him any good, I can understand how he might make the quixotic attempt to stand up to them.,
OTOH, if he knew they were officers he might have just panicked and frozen, or still felt he had to defend his home and family, given the often justified fear of police.
Or the policemen’s story might be false.
OK, I’ll ask, why the fuck was he holding a gun at home? Normal Tuesday night fondling session?
NRA: Remember kids, having a gun at home will keep you safe!
Agreed! How would he know that they really are police officers? And, how long did the officers wait for him to comply with their commands before shooting him?
So I’ve been reading the various responses here, and I have to give an alternative response. We really don’t know much about what happened here, and the details will come out later, But this stuff happens really fast, and the Police have come to the point where they shoot first and ask questions later, In a situation like that, it’s easy to see why someone would defend themselves, particularly if they had no reason to expect the Police would ever come through their front door in a violent fashion. I’m not sure what I would do, and I have no idea what happened, as none of us do. But on the list of responses one could have, opening fire is definitely on the list.
In short, what if it turns out the police treated this white guy the way the do black people.
(And yeah, I’m with the crowd saying that the current “immediate compliance” model really doesn’t work. When something dramatically unexpected happens, it takes most people several seconds at least to process what’s going on.)
What picture are you referring to? Not the one in the article that appears to be cropped from a family portrait, right?
Georgia is an open carry state. Now do we see why having more guns is not the answer.
“We have been notified that special agents of the GBI wish to speak
to Mrs. Powell and, when she is available, we will meet with the
investigators and cooperate in every way…The Powell family is most thankful
for the wishes and prayers of neighbors, friends and the community and ask
that the prayers continue through this difficult time.”
This tender solicitude for the victim’s family is in marked contrast to the openly dismissive attitude that police departments typically have when the victim of a police action is black. I can’t for the life of me figure out what the difference is here.