Just a follow up note here. The bodycam footage was released and has been publicized. It is pretty horrific in that my cousin was clearly not armed, and while he did approach the officers when he probably should not have, there were seven officers and one of him, so hard to understand why they felt unduly threatened or why they shot him.
Watched it - tragic. He didn't really threaten them or raise the "knife" (aka plastic fork) so it is puzzling why they felt the need to shoot him at nearly point blank range. Police will investigate themselves and find themselves to be free of any wrongdoing...of course...🤬
Again, very sorry for your loss. Tragic. And for the record, no one hates a bad cop like a good cop. Every profession has their questionable characters. This line of dangerous work is no different. I surely wish there had been a different outcome. I don’t believe that for a second in this anti-police society( right up until someone needs one) that this will get swept under the rug. We have great LEOs in this group of fine people. Let’s not paint all with the same brush.
You have hit all the standard talking points. Congrats. I could go into detail on them all, but this isn’t my thread and my loss, so I’ll just keep it short.
For the record, again this one is not my loss, but I had a good friend executed by police with no repercussions, so you will have to forgive me for not seeing things the way you do.
I know not all cops are bad, and in fact one here I consider a good friend. When I see these good cops intervening in the actions of bad cops, instead of just standing by like I see so often now, I’ll maybe feel differently...but I’m not holding my breath.
Just finished a shocking day during which I learned that my cousin, a young man, somewhat troubled but super gentle and sweet, and very bright, with an engineering degree from a very prominent local university, was shot and killed by the police a couple of days ago. Not looking for sympathy, but just sharing and making a public service announcement to be careful out there. I called my son and told him if he’s ever stopped by the police or interacting with them, just to hold his hands in the air with his palms and fingers open. No real explanation for what happened yet, although the police claim that my cousin was threatening them with a stick. Ultimately, I imagine we will see the body camera footage, but that will not change things. Thanks for indulging me.
