Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawnski
Wrong starting point.
By all accounts, the victim broke up a fight. Where did he require to be arrested in the first place? By doing so, the police initiated force upon him. As MM noted above, simple reflex is obvious in his response to being grabbed.
Believers in the non-aggression principle would rightfully side with the victim in this case. And to have anyone condone the action is what is most disturbing.
Geezus, the man DIED! Over WHAT? Do we really value life that little that you would even take that chance in a clearly non-life threatening situation?
Yes, I truly believe in peaceful, non-aggressive freedom, as well as self-defence when I have been aggressed upon.
Look, I don't envy the role of a policeman. But they are the front line in determining whether a situation escalates or not. Why do you think trained negotiators are brought in for hostage situations instead of just going Rambo? Why is it that you seem OK with the arrest in the first place? Ever been arrested? Any idea of the costs involved in having been arrested? Twice in my early years I was unjustly arrested and had the courts rule me innocent. But at a helluva financial and emotional cost.
At least I didn't die though...
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From what I gather from the article, he was under arrest for selling contraband tobacco. Now whether or not this is an effective use of police resources is up to certain peoples opinion, however, at the end of the day the police appeared to have reasonable grounds to arrest him for that offence. Watching the video it was pretty clear that the guy was being uncooperative, it appeared that the police there advised him that he was under arrest for the tobacco and he obviously thought he did nothing wrong. The problem is that the police still have a job to do and at some point if the guy isn't gonna go along, they're gonna have to go hands on with him eventually. They can't just stand around all day waiting for him to decide he wants to come along peacefully, they are compelled to arrest by law.
He's a pretty big guy, the cops likely(I'm assuming here) felt the fight would be on if they just grabbed his wrist or something and wanted to get him in cuffs as fast as possible so the one guy choked him. I don't necessarily think it was the right course of action, but I can understand why it happened that way.
It's absolutely terrible that a man lost his life. It's sad and it could have been avoided.
I'm sorry that you had to go to court twice in your life, however it appears that the "system" worked for you. You were arrested and a judge found you innocent. Unfortunately that could have happened in this situation and we wouldn't even be discussing it right now.