Unrest broke out in a Salt Lake City neighborhood Saturday night after what appears to be a shooting

Not knowing the facts of what has transpired yet, I can say this:

My grandfather was an Indiana State Trooper.

He gave me this advice when interacting with police:

Do what they tell you to do.
Follow their instructions.
Honestly Answer their questions.
If you have not done or are doing anything wrong and cooperate, there will be no problems.

It has worked every time and I have never been shot and am still alive.

The one thing I hate reading about is that ALL law enforcement officers are getting lumped into a pile of being BAD or UNJUST law enforcement officers. I understand that it is easy to do and even easier to place blame regardless of the facts.

Let the facts come out and then pass judgment. (I also realize that people don't trust people and there for think that Facts are not right and go on believing whatever they want to believe. Yes the system can be corrupt at multiple levels but not all the time and everywhere.)

a reply to: wdkirk

I agree it is a statistical impossibility that all cops are bad. I met one state trooper in my state sponsored kidnapping fiasco that tried to help.... until his superiors caught wind anyway.

Thanks for your contribution, but i still think shooting a kid when you outnumber, outgun, and out train them is a pretty good sign of a POS, cop or not.

a reply to: SharonGlass

I woke up this morning, (and for that I am thankful) and it feels like I've entered the twilight zone!

So.....out of curiosity, I checked CNN to see what they had on this story and found..........nada, zip, nothing!

Granted, CNN's website is janky as all hell and its hard to find any one particular thing on it, but I'd have thought this would be headline news considering their constituency. Nothing.

Even more weird, there's nothing on Drudge about this.

Where am I?

I live in Utah, I've spent a good portion of my life in this state, and I've watched decades of change here, especially in the SLC area.

No easy way to put this but SLC is becoming another large urban #hole. I'm surprised there isn't more of this kind of madness going on there now.

a reply to: TonyS

Yeah i checked cnn first for a source. Don't you wish this was the first time they didn't report a major story?

Don't you think it might be because they only report what the government wants them too?

Even RT reported it.

Where am I?

The Circus-Circus is what the whole hep world would be doing on Saturday night if the Nazis has won the war. This is the Sixth Reich." (Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas)

a reply to: Daedalus

I'm sure your not a cop. Just saying the things you say, sound like you have been brainwashed by the police force. You wait for facts in your room. I live in salt lake. I've had guns pulled on me for snowboarding. Most of the cops out here in my opinion are trigger happy spineless, scared, young, brainwashed mormons, trained to think everyone is going to kill them. I saw the last salt lake kids dead body laying at 7-11 when the cops shot him for no reason.

stay in your room and wait for your facts. I'd rather live without the gestapo in my own neighborhood.

a reply to: booyakasha

"brainwashed by the police force" what the hell does that even mean?

Maybe it was a broomstick. Maybe not.

Maybe he was just gently holding the "broomstick" at his side. Maybe not.


Witnesses tell ABC4 News that the teen had been drinking and was carrying a weapon. There were conflicting reports from witnesses as to what exactly that weapon was, some said it was a lead pipe while others said it was a broom stick.

An altercation then took place between the teen and another individual near the homeless shelter that was witnessed by several people.

"What happened was, I was just posted up over here just chilling over here and I look over to my left and I see a little dude, he just got like a little broomstick, like a broken broomstick. So, what happened was he was trying to hit him, and he was missing them all because he was drunk you know? He was hella drunk so I see two police come over I thought they had tasers the whole time, nah these boys had guns! So, they come over here they tell him to 'freeze,' he don't hear them and he can't do nothing because he drunk, so they run up on him and start shooting, pow, pow, pow, pow!" said a homeless youth who wanted to go by the name Taylor.
www.good4utah.com...

The Root is running with the version that just has him innocently holding a broken broomstick. And of course no mention of him being out of control drunk as reported by other witnesses.

Selam Mohammad, 19, told the Salt Lake Tribune that his friend was 16 and had been shot in the chest and stomach after he got into a fight with another person. He said that the unidentified minor was holding a broomstick at his side when police ran up on him.

“They told him to put it down, once, and started shooting him as soon as he turned around,” according to Mohammad, saying his friend was hit in the chest and stomach.

www.theroot.com...

I say we sell broomsticks to the US military as replacements for rifles, at $500 a pop, and send soldiers off to the middle east with them. I bet the terrorists give up at first sight.

His friend Salem Mohammed had reported he was 16. Salem also calims he just picked up the broom right before police arrived which conflicts with other witnesses version.

He is actually 17 according to his family. And they also say he is not homeless as previously reported by other sources.

Selam Mohammed, who was walking with Abdi at the time of the shooting, said Abdi had picked up a broken broom stick right before police arrived.

“The police said, ‘drop it’, once, then they shot him four times,” Selam Mohammed recalled. “We were trying to break it up before the police even came, but the police ran in on foot and pulled their guns out already. They already had them, like, as soon as he was running he was already grabbing for his gun, not even trying to Tase him or anything.”

Following the shooting, crowds of angry people shouted and threw things at officers—prompting a massive police response.

Wilking said there were also reports of officers being injured because they were hit with objects. Some of the public reported being stung with a Taser and pepper sprayed by officers.

Mohamed is from Kenya and moved to Utah about 10 years ago, according to family. He lives in West Valley City with his girlfriend and their son.

fox13now.com...

OK so, here's my two cents. I've been hitchhiking for a while, and I've had quite a few experiences (good and bad) with local police, state troopers, etc. In all of these experiences, I've noticed there were a few things that happened consistently.

1. They'd run my name
2. They'd ask me where I was from, where I was going, etc.
3. They'd listen to my explanation, decide I needed life advice, and leave.

The point is, I never had any reason to act stupid, and neither did they. Take from that what you will

originally posted by: Daedalus
a reply to: SharonGlass

I think you may be mental...

How in the hell does what you linked to, have ANYTHING to do with what happened in SLC?

How in the hell do you conflate a corrupt CPS department in Kentucky, with a shooting in Utah, that we currently know piss all about?

I can't figure out the mental gymnastics.

It isn't "mental gymnastics", it's the ability to see the big picture without blinders. It's about an out-of-control police state, whether it's shooting unarmed people or holding parents at gunpoint while their children are kidnapped to be sold into sex slavery or delivered to the highest bidder. The "system" is broken.

originally posted by: Daedalus
a reply to: diggindirt

How about when the testimony contradicts the forensic evidence? Human memory isn't always clear.

Why would the broomstick need to be "defined", "designated", or "classified" as a "lethal weapon"? With the proper training, your hands can become lethal weapons. ANYTHING can be a lethal weapon, if used appropriately.

Hmmm, since about 95% of the population can be trained to use their hands as lethal weapons I suppose it's okay in your world to shoot people down like dogs because they "might" be trained to use their hands or feet as lethal weapons. In the Cult of Authority world, anyone who makes a roid-fueled, paranoid cop "fear for his life" can be shot, no questions asked. It is precisely that attitude that makes up the police state, something you, with your Cult of Authority supplied blinders firmly in place, can't see.
If a cop can't take down a drunk teenager with a broomstick without shooting him, that cop belongs in jail, not on the street endangering the public---and in this case, his fellow officers by his rash decision to shoot a guy who was holding a broomstick.

a reply to: roadgravel

Would you be still be making stupid jokes if you or somebody you love was assaulted with a makeshift club?

Yes, it is a lethal weapon.

More people are murdered each year by blunt objects than rifles or shotguns according to FBI statistics.

www.fbi.gov...

originally posted by: Jahari

originally posted by: Daedalus
a reply to: Jahari

Yes, if you're a cop, or a soldier, assuming you've had the proper training, it's cake easy.. i'll give you that. I've had that training, assuming you're not BS'ing me about being a Marine, you've had that training, we know it's easy. Cops aren't typically given extensive hand-to-hand training(unless you're talking some kind of SWAT, or ERT group). They are trained, primarily, to use instruments that allow them to engage threats from a distance. Yes, they have Tonfas, or collapsible batons, and they're taught basics, but nothing seriously advanced.

The average response to someone trying to hit you, is to raise an arm, or arms, to shield your head/face/neck/torso/etc. Your average beat cop isn't wearing any kind of armor on their extremities, so a downward stroke from an implement with enough mass, leverage, and inertia, applied to a forearm, is going to break said forearm.

Someone who presents a clear threat to the officer, is never going to be allowed to get close enough to actually land a blow.

My point is that the weapon, no matter how pathetic it may appear, still represents a clear threat. Police are trained to neutralize threats, much in the same way Marines are. I'm curious as to why a Taser wasn't used, the only thing i can come up with is that the officer in question didn't have one... and perhaps the department in question doesn't have them. I don't know that, any more than any of us knows any of the facts of what occurred here.

We're talking about a broom stick!!! His response should have reflected the threat. Shouldnt be so quick to shoot to kill. I was going to bring the taste up also, maybe some pepper spray, non-lethal munitions. It was so many other alternatives. I don't know the details maybe the kid was going nuts but I wholeheartedly believe shooting to kill in all situations is ridiculous. I give you more credit then your letting on, you can't see the right in shooting a kid dead with a broom stick!

how long was the broom stick? What color was it? what kind of wood was it made of? How tall was the kid? how much did he weigh?

What? you don't have those answers? Yea, neither do we. so until we do, Mr. Armchair quarterback, I suggest a time out, and a bit more information before we hang the officer in question.

Didn't the marines teach you discipline?

Salt Lake City police say they will not release footage from body cameras worn by two officers who shot a 17-year-old boy wielding a metal stick.

www.bgdailynews.com...

a reply to: SharonGlass

Police cited the ongoing investigation into the shooting and possible charges against the teenager as to why they would not release the video Sunday.

Would be nice if you included ALL of the pertinent facts, instead of, yet again, deliberately omitting information..

a reply to: Daedalus

Don't let the facts get in the way of a narrative. He was just poor innocent boy............ Beating up someone with metal stick and then not obeying LEO to disarm.

a reply to: pavil

The only narrative here is the one that shows govt. saying "obey or die"