Houshphandzadeh wrote:why the rush to qualify the murder in the first place? if we're past the days of measuring the skirt lengths of rape victims, can't we move past this type of rationalization as well?
moreover, when people say things like 'the same thing would have happened to a white guy in that situation,' it's ignoring such a mountain of evidence compiled by so many different government agencies, universities, and non-profits as to be akin to anti-vaccine movements or climate change denial
EDIT: upon reflection, I guess we're not really past those days but it's nice to dream
I thought it was stupid to reach into his car when he knew the gun was pointed at him and I said that was a mistake. You should know me well enough by now whose side I'm on.
I should say that I also had a gun drawn on me by a cop and so my view is somewhat colored by that experience. I certainly know black people will get shot much faster than white people. I'd have to be an idiot to not know that. But I do think in a situation where the cop has his gun drawn, it's quite likely a white guy gets shot in that situation if they reach into a car. That's all I was saying. By the way, I had the gun drawn on me because I reached under my seat to get my registration. I was on a first date with a girl and she couldn't believe it happened. He also shoved my head against the hood of my car, basically because I reached under my seat without permission and then asked what the fuck he was doing drawing a gun on me. I couldn't find my registration is the only thing I did wrong beyond giving him some lip. The girl I was with was some church-going nice girl and she nearly had a heart attack. I looked like a hippie at the time and cops do target hippies, as any hippie will tell you. Not the same way they target blacks, but they certainly are targeted. Maybe I would have gotten shot if I was black. And that was in NH.
Look, I'm genuinely sorry if I gave the wrong impression. If he knew the gun was drawn (and it now seems that wasn't the case), I think it was stupid to reach into his car and bring that cop and gun near his kids. That doesn't mean he deserved to get shot. That doesn't mean that it's right that we live in such a society. That doesn't mean we shouldn't punish this cop and any others who react this way. That doesn't mean there's not racism in the police force. And it certainly doesn't mean I don't have Blake's back. I should have learned more about the situation before commenting.
Mea culpa.
