THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BAD SHOOTING, SO LETS BURN DOWN A RESTAURANT AND BLOCK THE FREEWAY

by Bob Walsh

OK, from what I have seen the Atlanta police shooting on Friday night looks like it was out of policy and probably even illegal.  The cops respond to a call from Wendy's.  Guy sleeping (passed out) in the drive-thru lane, blocking things up.  Cops get there, roust the guy, get him out of the car, give him a field sobriety test.  He fails.  Presumably they prepare to hook him and book him and he fights.  He is, judging by the video, younger and bigger than either cop.  After rolling around a bit in the parking lot he snatches one of the cop's Tasers and beats feet.  The cops pursue.  He then (maybe-probably) turns around with the Taser and engages, or attempts to engage, with the Taser.  He stops three bullets.  The Mayor calls for the cops immediate firing before any sort of investigation at all has even begun.  The Chief of Police (White female) says FUCK THIS SHIT, I'M OUT OF HERE and bails.

So, was the shooter the cop who lost the Taser?  If so he KNEW the guy had a Taser and not a conventional firearm.  If not, a Taser does not really look that much like a conventional firearm.  They are bright yellow and very boxy.  If you are not by yourself (there were two cops) the guy is not likely to disable you with the Taser then stomp you to death or steal or service weapon.  That makes the use of deadly force HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE in this case.  

In addition it is being asserted that the cops policed up their brass before the shooting team showed up.  That is at a minimum grossly stupid and possibly an attempt to alter the scene.  It might tend to color the interpretation of how far away from the cop the dead guy was when he got dead.  That could be important.  Tasers have a limited range and anybody trained with one knows that.

So anyway on Saturday night a mob burns the Wendy's to the ground and keeps the fire department from responding.  So a bunch of people lost their job who had not a goddamn thing to do with the shooting.  Then a mob goes up on the freeways and blocks I-85 and I-95 for a few hours, just to piss off a lot of people who are just trying to get home or get to their next appointment or whatever.    

This definitely looks not good.