Black woman shot dead in her house in USA

[SofaTroubles]

I opened bbc news this morning to see this headline, along with a video, bodycam from the officers, of what happened. I was so shocked. She’d called the police as she feared an intruder and they went into her house so she could get her ID. One of them
mentioned the pot of water boiling on the stove and said he didn’t want a fire. So she removed it, and as she was talking to him he literally shot her. Multiple times. And killed her. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I’ve checked mumsnet for another thread and can’t find anything and I just went back on bbc news to post the link and it’s disappeared.

What’s your point? It was in the UK news this morning.

Why three?

He's been charged with three offences - first degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct.

When the guns are pulled on her she literally crouches down whilst apologising, it would have been physically impossible for her to throw the water at them by that point.

@GloriousGoosebumps

As it is, he's going to prison for the rest of his life

I thought this about Kyle Rittenhouse, but the US judicial system being what it is, his defence will gerrymander the jury, play up the "self-defense/genuine fear" angle, a white jury will be reluctant to convict on 1st degree murder, and he'll either walk free or be convicted of a much lesser charge after negotiation.

Can't help feeling that if this poor woman was white there is no way the police would have escalated this so quickly or eagerly, and she'd still very much be alive. Police in the US act like this because they know that when it comes to white cops v's black citizens, the State and judicial process/juries begin from a biased starting point, and it's uncommon for them to ever see the real consequences of their actions. I was astonished at the outcome of the Derek Chauvin trial, because instances of cops actually receiving appropriate judgement and sentencing for mistreatment of black citizens are the exception rather than the norm.

This is so awful. Poor lady ((

I'm surprised anyone in America (especially Black Americans) still consider calling police for anything. This is not the first time I hear this kind of story - someone called the police for help and ended shot by the very same people who were supposed to give protection. I would avoid them like a plague.

By and large, POC in the U.S. do avoiding dealing with police as much as possible, and this kind of shit is why.

Makes me feel sick, their default is always the gun, why not use taser if you HAD to do something, but situation didn’t call for anything like that, hope this officer receives hefty prison sentence, he belongs in same environment as disgusting Chauvin

Well, this is hardly surprising?

Her being small is irrelevant. Having seen the video it looked like she picked up the pot of boiling water to throw at him.

Even if she was thinking of throwing the water at him, his response was insane. He had no need to respond with aggression and violence, he had many steps he should have taken prior to that if he felt threatened. And, when he started shouting at her she put the pot down and was cowering on the floor with her hands held up. He still shot her three times. Bastard.

Can you link the video you watched please? In the video I saw, firstly she was a distance away from the cop with a counter between them and secondly, you can't actually see the pot as her arms are obscured by something on the counter.

I think Kyle Rittenhouse is a bit different. It's one of the cases where I changed my mind during a trial.
But in this case, it's the policeman who does all the escalation. She seems a bit flustered/confused to me with the not being able to provide an ID etc. It's astounding people are giving that as reasons because the police in the UK/US/everywhere surely deal with much stronger levels of crazy than that.
I've worked with emergency services (not police) and you don't usually get people at their best - they are more likely to be "going through stuff", more likely to be unwell, more likely to just be super stressed out. And she wasn't abusive/threatening. At worst slightly odd.

What video is this? She is calm and trying to remove a pot from the stove. Which the cop asked her to do.

even if you thought that happened, there are ways to deal with it that don’t include firing three bullets into someone who is cowering down anyway.

Then we were watching a different video!

She was told by the cops to pick up the water because they didn't want a fire. She didnt go there of her own volition. She was clearly taking it over to the counter to set it down.

When he yelled at her she ducked and said sorry. Then he still shot her.

I don't know how anyone can watch that and think that poor lady is in any way responsible. I am absolutely sickened by it and sickened by anyone who would seek to excuse it.

@XDownwiththissortofthingX, unfortunately you're right and I was wrong. The Mail on Line has listed 4 cases of homeowners being shot and killed in their homes and the police officers have received prison sentences around the 10 year mark. That's no time at all for murder.

Indeed, anyone who tries to justify this is vile and inhumane.

Even the notoriously right daily mail comment section is overwhelmingly calling this out - shows how blatant this murder is.

No excuse.

I worked with young - middle aged black men in my teens. They'd sew their pockets shut to stop planting and were very afraid of police. Many a story about being beaten in the back of a police van.

This story is heart-breaking. A tiny, confused woman shot by two enormous aggressors. Fuckers. I hope they don't see the light of day again.

Oh my god this is just horrific, what on earth possessed him? This is crazy, how are black people in the US ever supposed to trust the police ever again? Who do they call when they are in danger when the law supposed to protect them is the greatest danger of all. This makes me sick to my stomach. I just don't know what to say its one of the worst things I've ever heard of.

Absolutely. I hope he gets a horrible time in prison - cops usually do, don’t they.

@SofaTroubles From where this poor soul was standing it would've been impossible for her to throw the water without scalding herself. These guys carried out an execution.

Wtf she was not near him

Why are they asking for her id

Trigger happy racist policeman sadly isn’t uncommon in the US police force

i hope he is charged with murder

@BigAnne “execution” is exactly the word.

Yes of course, anyone watching the video can see this. I think you meant to quote the poster above who said it looked like she was going to throw water on him. Which of course it didn’t. At all.

That poor woman. I think she was considering throwing the water at him, but I think she believed he was a demon from the way he was treating her in a mental health episode. She needed help in that moment and he shot her instead