Since there is no community called "Head-exploding pure rage"
I figured I would update the story about the Seattle Police officer who shot the First Nations woodcarver to death last August.

Quick recap for those who have just joined us: Officer pulled car over and leaped out in pursuit of small alcoholic woodcarver. Shouted to him to drop the knife, never identifying himself as a police officer. 4 seconds after first warning, he opened fire, shooting John T. Williams 4 times in the back and side. More info is available at the links below.

Tonight word leaked out from the prosecutor's office that they've decided not to prosecute the cop. He walks.

This doesn't necessarily mean the cop gets his job back, since the police investigation ruled it an unjustified shoot, but he won't face any criminal charges.

Emotions are running very high in Seattle tonight. Even the conservatives feel that this is a travesty. Some have said they'd be happy to join a street protest. Meanwhile the US Dept. of Justice is investigating the Seattle Police Dept. for an apparent pattern of abuse towards minorities. One can only hope they do something about this.

Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014235279_policeshooting16m.html

ETA: 2-16: The police inquiry ruled it an unjustified shoot, Birk has resigned as of 4pm today (before he could be fired), and a march is taking place in downtown Seattle as I type. Followable on the hashtags #SPDProtests and #spdprotest

(Post a new comment)

	notjo 2011-02-16 05:09 am UTC (link)
	............................................. fuck. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	notjo 2011-02-16 12:49 pm UTC (link)
	i didn't see anything in the article linked about John Williams being deaf. I'm a little surprised. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

deadrose
2011-02-17 03:37 am UTC (link)

Some of the news sources downplayed that detail, and some people involved (I'm sure you can guess on which side) have claimed that was all a sham since, according to them, it was only his family that knew about it.

Well, yeah. Probably because most of his medical records are up in BC, or are spotty. Plus it's not as if Medicaid will cover anything unless you're profoundly deaf - oh wait, that was last year. This year there are no hearing benefits at all for adults. But that's a whole 'nother rant.

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	ecchaniz0r 2011-02-16 06:27 am UTC (link)
	outraged, incoherent shriek of abject rage goes here. (Reply to this)

	quantumreality 2011-02-16 07:22 am UTC (link)
	Gettin' to be a minor miracle these days if a cop gets charged for using a gun at all in the line of duty. (>_<) (Reply to this)

	cyndra_falin 2011-02-16 08:08 am UTC (link)
	DAMN IT!!! (Reply to this)

	lil_miss_stfu 2011-02-16 11:24 am UTC (link)
	Bullshit. This is absolute fucking BULLSHIT. (Reply to this)

	snarkhunter 2011-02-16 12:18 pm UTC (link)
	WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK. I'm really, really ashamed to be from Washington right now. (Reply to this)

	napalmnacey 2011-02-16 12:32 pm UTC (link)
	YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME. (Reply to this)

	rogue 2011-02-16 12:38 pm UTC (link)
	That is the worst fucking thing I've heard. (Reply to this)

telegramsam
2011-02-16 01:35 pm UTC (link)

"Meanwhile the US Dept. of Justice is investigating the Seattle Police Dept. for an apparent pattern of abuse towards minorities. One can only hope they do something about this"

I'm not holding my breath but I really hope they do.

And cops wonder why they get such a bad reputation. I know not all cops are nasty like that, but more than enough of them show up on the evening news...

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	brennalarose 2011-02-16 03:43 pm UTC (link)
	This. Sweet Jesus, this. (Reply to this)(Parent)

issendai
2011-02-17 12:50 am UTC (link)

Problem is, cops aren't jerks because they're bad people; they're jerks because they're in a system that puts them in a jerk role. (See: Stanford Prison Experiment.) Individual bad people in the cop role just make it worse. The entire system needs to be burnt to the ground and started over.

Scary thing is, we still have one of the less feral police forces in the world. Chew on that a while.

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	telegramsam 2011-02-17 01:10 pm UTC (link)
	"Scary thing is, we still have one of the less feral police forces in the world." Oh I know. I'm grateful for that. Really, I am. I know it could be 1000x worse. Doesn't make it all not-scary though. I am paranoid around police and I'm sure it just makes them think I'm guilty of some kind of something before I blink, but I can't help it, they make my skin crawl. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	snarkhunter 2011-02-17 01:20 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, God, me too. Police make me so nervous. I'm always like, "Oh, God, what I am doing wrong right now?" (Reply to this)(Parent)

snarkhunter
2011-02-17 01:21 pm UTC (link)

I try to comfort myself with the 10% idea.

Basically, 10% of cops everywhere in the US are thugs with guns. That's a lot of cops, but still not the majority.

Ditto with soldiers. 10% are complete shitheads. The rest are trying to do their jobs.

Don't know if it's accurate, but when you think about the size of a lot of police forces, that's a decent number of people.

And the rest are, as you said, put into a situation that encourages shitheaddery.

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amadi
2011-02-16 04:36 pm UTC (link)

The chances of a successful prosecution of a police officer where their actions, even when ruled unjustifiable by their force, resulted in the death of "criminal suspect" are, in the last ten years or so, about 1 in 25. I'm no longer surprised when DAs look at the time, money and bad will they engender (from the police that they have to work with daily) from such prosecutions and just throw up their hands and walk away.

Mind, I'm not saying that I excuse that craven decision, I'm saying I'm not surprised by it.

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	deadrose 2011-02-17 03:44 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, the Washington law saying they have to have "malice" to be prosecuted really makes it hard to do anything. All they have to say is that they were afraid for their lives, even when it's patently ridiculous. I think that law needs a rewrite. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	amadi 2011-02-17 03:53 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, time for some angry calls to some legislators. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	finchbird 2011-02-16 07:24 pm UTC (link)
	GODFUCKINGDAMNIT. (Reply to this)

	missmercurial 2011-02-17 02:39 am UTC (link)
	insert rambling comment of inarticulate rage here Because, seriously, all I can think of to say is very, very dirty words about the police officer, the prosecutor, and everyone involved in this, and though that would be cathartic, it wouldn't be terribly witty or illuminating. (Reply to this)

	atreyu 2011-02-17 11:07 am UTC (link)
	FUCK THE FUCKING SEATTLE POLICE, FUCKING FUCK And there was another head-stomping incident in January. How many more people have to fucking DIE before shit gets changed around here? (Reply to this)