Police shoot pregnant woman dead (USA)

[SuddenlyOld]

Ok America, since when did it become normal for police officers to point guns at pregnant women accused of shoplifting?
She didn't have a weapon or get violent. Turns out she hadn't stolen anything either.
If I was black in America I'd be scared to go out 😪😪😪
This is probably the worst thing I've seen ever.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66690408

Exactly

Maybe she didn't stop because she was guilty and had been shop lifting. Maybe she didn't stop because she was pissed off at being accused by the police and was angry. Neither of those things warrant death.

I do not for one second think the police officers life was at risk as she edged forward. He could have moved, they could have taken her license plates and followed it up later. Her poor kids, 3 and 6. How the hell do you tell them their mum (and unborn sibling) is dead?

And in many automatic cars (and in the us most cars are) you don't even need to press a pedal. Simply taking your foot off the break can cause the car to creep forward. It's a slow steady drive forward without touching any pedals at all.

I can very much imagine a situation where I was scared causing me to lose my footing in the brake pedal.

I visit the US on holidays. Have just come back. Dd is still travelling over there. But their obsession with guns is utterly ridiculous.
And it will never change.

Babies and children are killed every year, and not just one or two, by guns. And many Americans just don't care. They'd rather save their guns than their children. With that mindset it's impossible to reason with them.

I made the mistake of reading comments on Facebook posts of the article by American news outlets. Lots of "laughing" comments and how it was her fault for making herself look guilty and trying to drive off, etc. Overwhelming support for the officer involved. It's absolutely vile.

Tbf some of it is self preservation ie it won't happen to me because I will comply etc

& because they will do anything to justify their right to have a gun 🙄. It's why you get the nonsense of teachers should be armed after a school shooting.

Knock knock what was America built on???

George Floyd was killed because he was black. Whatever kind of person he was, was not the issue. The fact that a policeman thought he had the right to casually murder a black man in broad daylight and get away with it, was the issue.
The policeman was supposed to take George Floyd to the station to be charged and sent to prison if found guilty of a crime not judged and executed by a policeman.

Derek Chauvin, the murderer/policeman was also a criminal who hid behind his police badge, like a coward. Go and read about the allegations about him.

Which is why people going into professions such as the police, or the armed services, should be profiled and selected, and then fully trained, so that they don't react automatically to the flight/fight response.

When the police are going to be carrying weapons that are designed to kill then the training needs to be really thorough. If people can't show that they are able to resist the fight reaction then they aren't really suitable for the job, and should be rejected.

Anyone who stands directly in front of, or behind, a vehicle with someone in the driving seat is an idiot.

This isn’t just about the police actions it’s a reflection on society

why was she reported to be shoplifting and why are the police involved so quick to point their guns and act so aggressively towards her

They do go hand in hand. Train to draw a gun, train to aim and there will be outcomes where this happens

Having said that it’s clear black and ethnic minorities feel and are more at risk in US and as pp said some parents will teach their dc how to try and be safe

I googled to see if there was advice on how to handle get out of your car for black people

This looks handy but doesn’t seem to cover that scenario

https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-police-interactions-black-and-brown-people

Why did the police stand in front of the car in the first place?
If you think someone might drive off, you wouldn't normally chose to stand in front of the bonnet, surely?

And when the car moved it was very slow (like the forward creep of an automatic car) and he was stood to one side of the front bonnet - he had time to lift his gun and kill her. Therefore he had time to move to one side and the car not hit him.

Agreed about her driving at them - bad idea.
I really think that they wouldn't have fired if it was a white woman. I actually think they would have let her drive off. They massively over reacted and it stinks of racism.

Because there’s a massive amount of people in America carry guns it’s not an unreasonable assumption to think the uncooperative person they are confronting is carrying a gun

I think the officer's criminal culpability will be greater reduced due to her driving into him. It is hard to argue there was no threat (in that moment) given she was using her car as a weapon to cause bodily harm.

Now the fact they got to that moment could be argued as the root of the issue but what will be determined in court will be if his life was in danger at the moment he fired and a court will likely determine that yes it was given she had just hit him with her car. That action also creates a further public risk if she then flees and hits others with her car. His shot will be seen as the action that stopped her from running him or potentially others over.

Agreed about her driving at them - bad idea.

Standing in front of a car was also a really bad idea. Surely a trained officer should know that.

Which is why people going into professions such as the police, or the armed services, should be profiled and selected, and then fully trained, so that they don't react automatically to the flight/fight response.

Yeah in an ideal world but in the real world people aren't fighting to be a police office here or the US. I wouldn't do the job for double the money?

This is awful and terrifying. Trigger happy idiots in a gun culture - there are just going to be more and more terrible cases like this.

The fact that the car continues to drive forward, remaining at the same slow steady pace would also make me think that it was more than she released the brake pedal more than actively drive forward.

This is what many auto cars do, as has been mentioned many times.

The car doesn't rev, you can barely hear any car sound at all Infact.

So we just let untrained unsuitable people join the profession and just hope for the best, or just accept innocent people will be killed (in the case of the gun crazed US)

And yes - I know not all Americans are gun obsessed.
Sadly too many are, including their armed police officers.

Agreed about her driving at them - bad idea.I really think that they wouldn't have fired if it was a white woman. I actually think they would have let her drive off. They massively over reacted and it stinks of racism.

I don't think you can be sure tbh, everyone is at bloody risk, although risk is higher for block people & native Americans. There was that white woman who was shot after calling 911. She approached the response car & the police officer for whatever reason (panic again) shot her. He did get convicted of murder, I remembered it as it's unusual officers get charged.

@gillygeey
"Yeah in an ideal world but in the real world people aren't fighting to be a police office here or the US. I wouldn't do the job for double the money?"

That's just untrue. Less than 1 in five applicants for the police are successful. There's literally people queuing up to join.

@Qilin I don't understand your post? American people are happy for children to die because guns come above all else. Of course it would be great if there was a huge investment in police training & recruitment. Do you think that will actually happen though? As I said upthread many Americans will just blame the victim because many don't want to see guns are the problem.

I do find it a bit odd on these threads that what you state something that is realistic but unpalatable many posters think that's your opinion or you are in favour. My opinion is the US needs to get rid of guns, not going to happen though & zero point in me posting it repeatedly.
I remember saying on a Trump thread that he did have a chance because he was popular. For some reason me saying that meant I was a Trump supporter 😂. Nope, but what's the point in pretending reality is not reality!!

Even given the obvious problems with guns in the US, maybe we could wait until more is known before declaring instant verdicts of murder - unless of course those who claim to know sufficient facts were there, in which case it must have been pretty crowded?

In the meantime it appears that even Ta'Kiya's own grandmother had a protection order against her, so while nobody with sense would say she "deserved to die" it's just possible there may be more to this:

https://eu.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2023/08/25/takiya-young-kiya-blendon-township-woman-killed-police-shooting-kroger-columbus-ohio-mother/70681554007/

That's just untrue. Less than 1 in five applicants for the police are successful. There's literally people queuing up to join.

and the calibre of those people are the best society has to offer?