Being a policeman is a license to kill these days.
This story is unusual in that the killing was somewhat accidental. The cop was a rookie in a dark stairwell, not an experienced officer shooting someone at point blank range.
I noticed at the time that no other officers were being held accountable and the uproar was growing. And then Lo and behold this Asian American was singled out for retribution.
I really believe he was a scapegoat. His having his weapon drawn was not all that uncalled for. He didnāt mean to shoot the victim although he did have his gun out and was on guard. A noise scared him and his gun went off. Perhaps he shouldnāt be a cop but he was a rookie.
This is nothing like the blatant executions perpetrated by many of the other killer cops.
Now donāt come down on me as someone who excuses cops for wrongdoing. I have read every @pbmom post about this topic and have commented at the unfairness of all these cases.
If this is what really happened, then it seems to me that this is a case of extremely poor judgement (having the weapon drawn when it was not warranted), negligence (firing the weapon when it was not warranted), and an extremely unfortunate accident (the bullet ricocheted - the gun was not aimed at the victim). But, again, if this story is what really happened, it does not sound like police brutality.
I agree. This just has a very different vibe. A tragedy, to be sure, but not the same kind as, say, the virtual execution of Tamir Rice (which has become my āgo toā example of criminal behavior by the police).
āā¦believe he was a scapegoatā
Iāve thought a lot about this case and agree 100%. I rarely holler āscapegoat,ā but I believe he certainly was offered up as a sacrifice. This light sentence is the DAās way of stopping short of turning him over to the hangman.
And yes, I think the shooting was more accidental than deliberate. These shoot-donāt shoot scenarios just cannot be rehearsed except in training environments.
My son, not now a cop, graduated police training maybe 15 yrs ago. told me about shoot-donāt shoot training and how stressful it was. They made it quite realistic. Someone might have, say, a phone in his hand that could be mistaken for a weapon. Or the person might be deaf or not speak English. Maybe poor lighting. Maybe a hostage. Maybe a person with with some disability.
And with all that ambiguity one has to make a decision. Shoot. Donāt shoot.
It was all an accident. He had no way of telling if someone might be hit by his random gunfire. It was dark, fer chrisāsake.
I wholeheartedly agree that it was an accident, but he should still be held accountable for his actions in the same way the rest of us are when we accidentally kill someone. He didnāt accidentally shoot a guy who was able to go to the hospital, get patched up, and carry on with his life. This poor man is dead, his family will grieve him for the rest of their lives and some of them will be forever broken by this manās accident. They deserve some measure of justice and this isnāt it.
Were his supervisors punished?..the ones who allowed him to be sworn in as a cop, when clearly he didnāt have the temperament, at least to be a beat cop? From what I recall, there were signs that he just wasnāt cut out for this job.
I am ok w/ the prosecutorās decision not to send this guy to jail, but I think that the police administrationā¦whoever makes that final decision as to who passes and who failsā¦they need to be accountable for their failure hereā¦ a man died because this guy was ill suited for his job.
Police admin should be accountable for the cops they put on the street.
Agree one hundred percent, as do many of my fellow New Yorkers, who have a lot of sympathy for this kid. What happened in his case happened out of fear, not malice.
Heās lost his job, heās been turned into a pariah, and his life is ruined for the foreseeable future. Thatās not enough for you?
Great. Maybe Mr. Gurley can also get a 5-year probation from death and rise from grave and get a second chance to be innocent again.
People calling this a mistake are being willfully ignorant. Liang DID NOT listen to his commanding officer about vertical patrols AND once he shot the guy and realized his mistake he provided NO aide to the victim. Just watched him bleed to death.
I personally think he should get SOME jail time, but if we canāt have that then he at least should be prevented from ever being a cop AGAIN. That includes any kind of security apparatus private or public.
Cops that donāt follow orders make the world a much more dangerous place.
This also show why we should employ people from the community as cops.
He wasnāt even suppose to be there. His commanding officer told them not to do vertical patrols. Liang did not listen and an INNOCENT man is died now.
If they arenāt cut out to be cops they should leave. The State gives them cover to take life if the need arises. If a trainee cannot handle the stresses then donāt become a cop. The same would apply to someone becoming a surgeon. I donāt want a rookie doctor operating on me nor do I want rookie cops patrolling by themselves or with other rookie cops
You seem to have followed the prosecutionās line very carefully and paid very little attention to the defense. Not quite fair.
But youāre absolutely right that cops should know the people in the communities they serve.
If only.
He fired the weapon. It is curious, however, that the other officers closed ranks (for lack of a better term) until it was time to place blame. And then they fled. Not to say they should protect their own, just saying some honesty is sorely lacking.
No. For the exact same reason that when parents accidentally shoot their children or their children get hold of handguns and shoot themselves/other people, there should be jail time for the parents. With great power comes great responsibility. I donāt care if it was an accident, he should serve jail time. If I accidentally hit and kill someone with my car, Iām going to jail.
You donāt go to jail for hitting someone with your car unless you committed a traffic violation doing it, and even then, itās doubtful youāll go to jail. Blame yourself for the rest of your life, yes. But jail no.
And youāre missing a main point of the issue here, which is that this (non-white) cop was scapegoated and fed to the public while cops like those who killed Eric Garner are exonerated. All the time.
Now I imagine youād say no deal. They all should go to jail. And thatās your prerogative. But I donāt tend to view things as open and shut cases. And I think this boy, who apparently blames himself and spends his days banging his head against a wall, is probably suffering sufficiently. Could be wrong about that. He could be totally calloused, but I think more that this case was very colored by politics.
If I am negligent, I will more than likely go to jail (negligence doesnāt necessarily mean violating a traffic law). He was absolutely negligent by disregarding his supervisorās orders and firing off his gun in a dark stairwell. There is no difference here between him and a guy who shoots his baby accidentally while cleaning his gun. In fact, there is an argument for a higher standard because heās a trained professional.
Iām not comparing the issue with Eric Garner to this, that policeman should have been in trouble also. I said nothing about Eric Garner. Just because they screwed up Eric Garnerās case doesnāt mean they let this guy off the hook regarding jail time.
I donāt care if heās āsuffering sufficientlyā. Plenty of people commit crimes, kill people, etc., and feel bad about it during and later. Iām sorry he feels terrible and Iām sorry he is in this position. I have plenty of empathy for him. Iāve stood in courtrooms and watched defendants who agonize over their actions still face the consequences. Who gets to decide which defendant is 'suffering sufficiently?" I promise you if that became the legal guideline, the racial bias there will be unimaginable.
Iām not suggesting he should go to jail forever. Iām saying he should still go to jail. A life is gone, a family is suffering because of negligent choices he made.
Ta.