Police chief: Officers gave man multiple warnings to drop gun before fatal shooting

a reply to: SlapMonkey

Just so everybody is clear and arguing the same point: as far as the law is concerned, having a firearm in your possession and brandishing a firearm are two different things.

Brandishing, in general terms and in most localities, means to display or wield the firearm in a threatening manner. That goes beyond simply having it.

a reply to: MysticPearl

This goes back to the protesters and BLM not wanting equality but supremacy. They don't want the rule of law to apply to them.

That's just completely false.

The protesters just wanted the body/dash cam videos released. Instead they have refused to do so.

a reply to: Shamrock6

While this is true, a lot of jurisdictions leave the "in a threatening manner" up to the subjectivity of the person/people who feel threatened, therefore making "brandishing" a relatively subjective law; intent by the 'brandisher' may or may not be relevant, to an extent. But, that's why there are judges and juries, if it ever came down to that.

Of course, it's impossible to really know the intent of the victim in this case, so all that we have to go on at this point (as the general public) is the conflicting stories we're getting, as I noted.

ETA: Also, here in Kentucky, brandishing isn't even noted as a crime, except apparently if you brandish your weapon in sight of other people while in the parking lot on school grounds. Odd that this is the only instance in which I can find a reference to brandishing in the whole of Kentucky law, unless I'm missing something.

a reply to: tigertatzen

The man had a firearm in his hand.

That seems to be very much in question.

Even the police chief has stated that from the video, you can't clearly see that he has a weapon.

a reply to: kruphix

Right, but one was apparently recovered at the scene within a body's length or so from him, lying on the ground. Whether it came out of his hands or somewhere else (waistband, pocket, holster, whatever) remains to be deduced, I think--at the very least, remains to be released to the public.

originally posted by: kruphix
The protesters just wanted the body/dash cam videos released. Instead they have refused to do so.

The protests started the same night, and escalated into violence and destruction before the bars were even thinking about closing.

FromNPR:

The police shooting of a man in Charlotte, N.C., sparked overnight protests and unrest. Protesters threw rocks at police, injuring 16 officers, while police wearing riot gear fired tear gas into the crowds. At one point, a major interstate was shut down as protesters set a fire and vandalized police cars.

And as one witness describes it (Nick de la Canal, a reporter):

[A]s the night wore on, more protesters arrived, and the mood turned more aggressive. They forced the shutdown of Old Concord Road, right next to the rail tracks.

Overhead, a police helicopter was swinging its search light over the crowd, which stretched all the way down the street.

Just as the 11 o'clock freight train passed, protesters began throwing rocks and water bottles at police, and smashing in the windows of police cruisers, some so badly they had to be towed from the scene. Then, at once, police in riot gear, donned gas masks and helmets, and began shooting rounds of tear gas into the crowd.

...

As police fired more rounds of tear gas, protesters began grabbing the canisters and throwing them back. And a new wave of rocks and bricks were hurled at the officers, and a cloud of gas rose over the intersection, glowing green in the light of the traffic signal.

By midnight, the protesters had moved on. They set off down the ramp to W.T. Harris Blvd., where they stopped traffic and smashed another police cruiser. They banged on the hood of the car in time to chants of 'no justice, no peace.'

And over the course of the night, they moved to I-85 and blocked traffic there and started a bonfire in the middle of the highway.

Yup...all it seems that they wanted was the video to be released...

But to be fair, the Mayor is calling for the release, and the investigation is about to handed over to (I think) the state, who may release them. We'd all like to see them, for sure, but there was nothing about the initial protests/riots that was only directed at the release of the video. Maybe by a few, but not the whole of the protestors/rioters, and definitely not in that first night.