Young black men are afraid of police officers. It is legitimate to estimate the one young man that was drifting away from the scene was reasonably scared of being shot for no reason, except, he and his friend was talking.
The other aspect is investigating the gun 18 year old Mr. Martin was carrying. Was it his? Where did he get it? Why was he carrying it? If he was carrying it because he was frightened to police killing him that is problem.
December 24, 2014
Staff
The other aspect is investigating the gun 18 year old Mr. Martin was carrying. Was it his? Where did he get it? Why was he carrying it? If he was carrying it because he was frightened to police killing him that is problem.
Staff
BERKELEY • Several dozen protesters (click here) gathered tonight near the Mobil gas station where an 18-year-old man was fatally shot Tuesday night.
The protesters chanted and screamed at officers who were guarding the station.
Some of the protesters marched from there onto Interstate 170 nearby, at times closing the highway. Police used pepper spray on some of the protesters.
The crowd included the mother and the stepfather of the teenager who was killed.
The protest came a night after a Berkeley police officer fired at least three shots at a suspect who pulled a gun on him....
...The officer's attorney, Brian Millikan, said one of the men spoke with the officer, while the other kept wandering away despite the officer's commands to stay near him, Millikan said....
...Belmar said one round struck the suspect, Antonio D. Martin, 18, and one struck a tire of the police car....
His parents would know him and can estimate their son's actions when he pulled a gun on the police officer. I am not questioning the right of the police officer to defend himself, I am saying there are other questions here that need to be answered.
It is unclear why the police officer, who was alone in his police cruiser, would stop when there was no crime being committed. Harassment as a chronic condition in a neighborhood or city will raise tensions between citizens and police. This is the second time there has been confrontation first by police before there was any killings. There was the case in St. Louis where three African Americans were talking together and the police stopped without responding to a crime and now this. This may be unjustified harassment and the cities young black men have come to a conclusion about their self-defense.
There is a difference between responding to a crime and harassing citizens.
His parents would know him and can estimate their son's actions when he pulled a gun on the police officer. I am not questioning the right of the police officer to defend himself, I am saying there are other questions here that need to be answered.
It is unclear why the police officer, who was alone in his police cruiser, would stop when there was no crime being committed. Harassment as a chronic condition in a neighborhood or city will raise tensions between citizens and police. This is the second time there has been confrontation first by police before there was any killings. There was the case in St. Louis where three African Americans were talking together and the police stopped without responding to a crime and now this. This may be unjustified harassment and the cities young black men have come to a conclusion about their self-defense.
There is a difference between responding to a crime and harassing citizens.
