Cops Successfully Disarm A White Person Without Killing Them Part 8

[ismnotwasm]

3. Here in Seattle, where the force is so messed up it got reprimanded by the Feds in 2011

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Feds-findings-in-Seattle-Police-abuse-2407378.php

It seemed for a while that every deadly police shooting was against a black man, or a PoC. The shooting that was most personal to be because I knew the victim and his brothers, was of John T. Williams--a Native American man shot dead--in the back-- while he was crossing the street.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_John_T._Williams

Your point is well taken. In 2002, Seattle police shot dead a mentally ill Black man waving around a sword, the man had ran out of his car during a traffic stop, and was considered dangerous. Five years earlier, in a locally famous incident, the police had an 11 hour stand off with another Black man with a sword--one that resulting in no deaths, because the police didn't revert to killing as the first option. Because it can be done, it should be done, and it should be done consistently. Just as there are standards for the use of lethal force-most involving protecting police officers, there should be strict standard and intense training on how NOT to use lethal force. Lately, it almost seems Carte Blanche, and if you are of color, especially black, internalized racism guarantees deadly outcomes.

The first incident
http://stalkingseattle.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-samurai-swordsman.html

The second incident

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020218&slug=shoot18m