Police officer cleared

[Toomanywars]

Martin Blake police officer today cleared by a jury of unlawful killing of Chris Kaba

Should police officers get more support. Perhaps not release name until after trial or inquiry.

I have no issue with the criticism of the Met as being institutionally racist (and misogynist) , and their derelict standards in harbouring WC, failing to investigate his sex offending etc.

I also believe that the chances of being shot, in the heat of the moment ,of 2 different men, driving the same car in the same circumstances would not be statistically the same if one was white and one black.

Irrespective, as it happens, of the race of the police officer.

There is institutional racism, there is unconscious bias, there is the fact that unfortunately in S London, so many perpetrators of gun and knife crime are black gang leaders.

All of this wants tackling. Root and branch.

But none of it means per se that MB’s reaction, in the middle of a situation where police on foot were in the middle of a car being bashed back and forth by someone who could well have had a gun, was of murderous intent.

What ‘crap’ is being talked about him? The only unsubstantiated allegation in this thread is about his gf’s previous pregnancy.

Whatever the alternative usually is when they deal with the thousands of incidents of threatening behaviour towards them, people suspected to having committed a violent crime, thought to be* *in possession of weapons/bombs, resisting arrest, driving off when apprehended. Shooting someone through the head is a rare and significant occurrence. Its correct that the circumstances were investigated.

The police officer was brought in front of a randomly selected jury who saw all the evidence available and decided to clear him of any wrongdoing.

Are the people complaining suggesting the judge is racist? the jury is racist? where does it stop?

I don't see the need of trying to make into a martyr a known criminal who got himself shot for trying to flee when the police had asked him to stop by a cop who assessed the situation and believed he was using his vehicle as a weapon and about to hurt other people.

He would still be alive today if he had not chosen to be involved in criminal acts and behave as he did on the day. Actions have consequences.

Having just watched the footage of the incident it's very clear to me that the correct verdict was reached.

Shameful that some are trying to play the race card here.

Probably shouldn't have been shot as it did seem that the danger was limited, but the officer shouldn't have been charged.

What crap has he been accused of that isn't true

And I get that his own family will be upset, but surely they can't think this is some conspiracy to justify the "execution" of poor little innocent angel son

You seem to be very invested

Exactly

@Startingagainandagain :
"decided to clear him of any wrongdoing.".
No. that's not what the jury was asked, nor ruled. They were asked if it was murder. Not even manslaughter. Murder. They haven't been asked 'was there any wrong doing , at all'. That wasn't the question.

Yes the met may be institutionally racist. That does NOT mean individual officers are racist. There has been no credible evidence brought to suggest this to be the case. There is no doubt this case was brought to trial with the fear of claims of racism in the background if it wasn't perused. So it was, and a jury of 12 people heard all the evidence and found the officer to be not guilty. Are you saying the jury is racist?

For what it's worth, if someone well connected to gang violence, driving a vehicle that had been linked to such in the previous 24 hours was refusing to comply with police instructions and using those tonnes of metal as a battering ram near me or my loved ones, I'd want him shot, as I suspect you would if YOU were under threat. Couldn't give a crap about the colour of his skin.

So they were to let him ram his way out and possibly kill or injure a police officer or member of the public.
He saw guns pointed at him, had warnings and still continued to ram his way out, knowing he could get shot.
Having 2 hands on the wheel does not mean there wasn't a gun within reach.
The fact he was black has no bearing on the outcome.

@JayJayEl. Are people saying he deserved it?

I certainly wouldn't shed a tear and would be thankful another violent wannabe gangster was off our streets but that doesn't mean he deserved it.

If you see police flashing lights behind you , you slow down and stop.
If the police say stop you stop.
If the police create a roadblock you stop.

Duuuuh.

Just out of interest, how many black people, innocent black.people have been murdered by other black people since this incident? Any protests? Comments from the Great and the Good? Nope.

What do you mean by no one? How does that work in all cases?

Play the race card?
I think Race IS the real issue here. He shot him, killed him.
He shot, and hit him in the head. Give him credit for actually being a very skilled marksman then!! (joke)
The picture of the car, that we have 'seen', and it was stationary, shows he was hemmed in and almost couldn't get out. I don't think the threat to the police officers life, the life if his colleagues, and the life of the rest of the London population , as was claimed, was actually that threatened, that warranted shooting him in the head, dead.

If CK had finally got his car out of the space, how hard would he have hit the police office stood infront of him, at such a low speed, enough to do what damage exactly to his legs? a bump, a bruise, broken? Not life threatening is it?

"If I hadn't acted, I thought one of my colleagues would be dead. I felt I had a duty to protect them at the time."

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said Mr Blake made a split-second decision on what he thought was necessary "to protect his colleagues and to protect London".

Both statements seem ott.
I think the Met are covering themselves by claiming they are doing us all a favour, and that doesn't sit quite well with me.

The jury, who heard all the evidence, disagreed with you. Your interpretation of risk is flawed

Not just black men going abiut their daily lives though were they?
They were gun toting, murderous criminals.
Are you saying that black men should be allowed to break the law with no consequences because they are black?

The police officer standing at the front of the car could have easily been knocked down even at a slow speed and run over. At best, life changing injuries, at worst death. CK was driving an Audi Q8, a car of that size would easily cause massive injuries.
We won't know what might have happened as fortunately CK was stopped. And, again, had he got out of the bloody car, he would be alive.

I wouldn't choose to be a police officer admittedly.

"I'd want him shot, as I suspect you would if YOU were under threat. "

No.
I wouldn't want him dead. I'd want him arrested and the proper channels and procedures followed. Not shot. And not dead. My value of life is high. Plus if they had arrested him and taken him back to the police station, he would have been released, because they had no evidence nor that he was guilty of any crime. It wasn't him, ( was it? I don't think it was) in that car that was guilty of the crime the night before. 'believed to be linked to a firearms incident the previous day'.

How is my view of risk, flawed?

And the jury was asked if he was guilty of murder. That doesn't mean they would have necessarily ruled differently if they had been asked a different question.

I think you might find that since CK was shot, 6 of his associates have been charged with conspiracy to murder. At the trial it was reported that the person who actually shot the victim had died and could not be named for legal reasons
CK was a member of the particular gang whose members were charged with the offence. It therefore seems logical that he was the person who died prior to the trial. Unless we are told that another gang member has also died, of course.
The victim of the shooting survived.

@Oblomov24

If CK had finally got his car out of the space, how hard would he have hit the police office stood infront of him, at such a low speed, enough to do what damage exactly to his legs? a bump, a bruise, broken? Not life threatening is it?

Are you joking?!

Kaba would potentially have driven straight over the officer, or crushed him against another vehicle.

This wasn't someone reversing out of a car park spot at Tesco and potentially clipping someone they hadn't seen walking behind them.

And exactly how is race the "real issue"

Are we to let gangsters run free based on the colour of their skin

No. Race is NOT the issue here as much as you try and make it about it, it isn't.

And Jesus Christ, did you see the way he was ramming the car back and forward?!?! He would have killed a police officer had he managed to get free not just gently bumped them FFS.

I see it's now come out that he has been accused of being involved in two other shootings that week. This was not a good man.

Because you suggest that having a large Audi Q8, weighing thousands of kilos, driven intentionally at you might have caused a bump or a bruise. If you genuinely believe that is the risk, why dont you go outside and let someone test it out on you today? Absolutely ridiculous

And of course if the jury had been asked a different question they might have come up with a different answer. What point does that actually make?

Stop being an apologist for a violent thug.