19
votes
Body camera video shows Minneapolis officers shooting Black man, Amir Locke, during no-knock warrant. Attorneys say he wasn't the target.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/04/us/minneapolis-police-shooting-no-knock-warrant-amir-locke/index.html
American needs to start giving its cops life in prison for these acts.
America either needs to stop with the no knock warrants, and stop with the firearm for self defense.
This was a no knock warrant, that a judge approved. The cops executed the warrant, and were faced with a guy wrapped in a blanket holding a gun. I'm sure the cops would have been much less likely to shoot to kill if they were busting in a rich residence, but still, this outcome would be avoidable if judges stopped with the no knock warrants.
Locke was asleep on the sofa, and had a legal firearm resting next to him, which he is legally allowed to use for self defense according to judicial interpretation of the second amendment. This outcome would also be avoidable if all gun holders were required to keep their guns locked up separately from their ammunition, which is the case in most of the western world. But this isn't allowed, according to a highly questionable interpretation of a second amendment.
It's the American judicial system which is the fundamental issue at least in this specific case.
The judicial system is part of the problem, but the police could also request fewer no knock warrants, and take a less aggressive posture towards the people they're theoretically protecting and serving. It's a set of interconnected problems, and trying to say that one of them is the fundamental issue deprioritizes the rest of the set of issues.
It's an interesting point, but I think you are confusing who is bad (the cops) with why they are bad (the judicial system.) The reason American cops are so in need of reform, is there are no effective checks or balances.
Any system over time can go bad, and you can't expect the system to naturally correct itself, so it is up to an external entity to apply corrective action.
The judicial system is incapable of holding officers accountable. Without that accountability, you end up with a number of bad apples spoiling the bunch, and with such a highly armed citizenry you end up with police being trained to treat the citizens worse than enemy combatants.
I think the legislative body also is accountable, but fundamentally the judicial system is not acting as a check nor balance.
Fair enough. I suppose expecting even the littlest portion of institutional self-control from the cops is somewhat naive.
Very well put.
Who watches the watchers?
Or Option C that doesn't have the obvious Bill of Rights fight involved:
Normal (non-SWAT) cops shouldn't have guns and all of them should require licensure and privately held insurance.
Outright ban against no-knock warrants is more likely though.
I spent the first half of my life in a country with unarmed police.
I've spent the second half of my life in USA. So I know what a fantastic difference it makes.
It just doesn't seem realistic for America, given the current interpretation of the second amendment.
We don't even know whether it was loaded.
The cops certainly didn't check whether it was loaded before they killed him.
I said Guns locked up. Ammunition locked up separately. Not good for self defense, but great for safety.
Behind this spoiler is the bodycam footage, slowed down by half, there was 9 seconds between the door opening and Amir Locke's execution while he was still under a blanket on his couch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acM2IxKg0hA
"sign in to confirm your age"
LOL they don't do anything to confirm your age when you sign up.
Somehow still works with
yt-dlp.Must have been flagged later, no sign-in was needed when I posted it.