NY cops shoot at unarmed deranged guy in crowd, hit two bystanders instead; DA says...
Three months ago a mentally-disturbed man wandered out in the street near the Times Square bus terminal in NY. A crowd watched as he jumped in front of and on cars.
Shortly thereafter the cops arrived. When the guy reached into his pocket the cops thought he was reaching for a gun and opened fire. This being New York, they missed the guy but hit two women in the crowd of onlookers. Finally, a cop tased the guy.
They initially arrested the guy on misdemeanor charges of menacing, drug possession and resisting arrest, but--astonishingly--later the DA persuaded a grand jury to charge the man with assault, with a maximum sentence of 25 years.
Specifically, the nine-count indictment unsealed on Wednesday said the guy “recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death.”
“The defendant is the one that created the situation that injured innocent bystanders,” said assistant DA Shannon Lucey.
A lawyer for one of the women shot by the cops disagreed, saying the DA should instead have charged the two officers who fired their weapons into a crowd.
I'm not reflexively anti-cop, but how the hell do you countenance shooting someone just for reaching into their pocket? Hell, in the shit-hole that is Afghanistan the U.S. military isn't allowed to shoot unless they've actually been fired on. If that rule is good enough for troops in a fucking combat zone it should be the rule here too.
But my real anger here is directed at the DA: A guy with a damn law degree who should know what he did there was utter crap--a gimmick to possibly reduce the payout to the two women the cops shot by mistake.
As Steyn says, if this stands no cop can be held responsible for any act.
Shortly thereafter the cops arrived. When the guy reached into his pocket the cops thought he was reaching for a gun and opened fire. This being New York, they missed the guy but hit two women in the crowd of onlookers. Finally, a cop tased the guy.
They initially arrested the guy on misdemeanor charges of menacing, drug possession and resisting arrest, but--astonishingly--later the DA persuaded a grand jury to charge the man with assault, with a maximum sentence of 25 years.
Specifically, the nine-count indictment unsealed on Wednesday said the guy “recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death.”
“The defendant is the one that created the situation that injured innocent bystanders,” said assistant DA Shannon Lucey.
A lawyer for one of the women shot by the cops disagreed, saying the DA should instead have charged the two officers who fired their weapons into a crowd.
I'm not reflexively anti-cop, but how the hell do you countenance shooting someone just for reaching into their pocket? Hell, in the shit-hole that is Afghanistan the U.S. military isn't allowed to shoot unless they've actually been fired on. If that rule is good enough for troops in a fucking combat zone it should be the rule here too.
But my real anger here is directed at the DA: A guy with a damn law degree who should know what he did there was utter crap--a gimmick to possibly reduce the payout to the two women the cops shot by mistake.
As Steyn says, if this stands no cop can be held responsible for any act.
posted by SF at
1:40 PM
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